Steps to Success.
Notes
Transcript
Neh 2:9-20
Last week, we talked about Nehemiah rebuilding the walls that the enemy had destroyed.
According to Neh 6:15, the wall was finished in only 52 days.
How could they do in such a short time something they did not do in 72 years? (516-444 BC)
The answer lays in the five administrative steps Nehemiah followed to face the task. Steps that, if you apply them to your life, will lead you to success too.
Background:
Nehemiah was a man who might have thought that God wouldn’t use him. He was not a priest, nor prophet, nor scribe; he was just a bartender; a royal one, in this case.
I wonder if he was even well seen by his peers because he was serving the king.
He did not go to seminary; God had not called him to full time ministry, but shows to be a great administrator.
God used him effectively, because he was available and followed the necessary steps. What are those steps?
Seek God’s direction.
Seek God’s direction.
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
God has made us administrators in His kingdom, and as such, the first question we must ask is what does the King wants us to do?
He has given us His manual (the Bible) and the resource of prayer to ask for direction.
Acknowledging your own limitations.
Acknowledging your own limitations.
Nehemiah was not an engineer; the task he faced was phenomenal and he did not know what to do. That’s why he went to God in prayer!
He might have said, “I have never built a wall!” “I have never led a people!” “Please, tell me what to do!”
If you want to be effective serving Him, you must learn to let Him tell you what to do.
Acknowledging God’s omniscience.
Acknowledging God’s omniscience.
He did know what was on people’s mind…, he did not know all the details…, but he knew that God did.
That’s why he went to the one who knows it all.
“God tell me what to do, where to go” should be our daily prayer.
Analyze the situation!
Analyze the situation!
So I went out at night by the Valley Gate in the direction of the Dragon’s Well and on to the Refuse Gate, inspecting the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were consumed by fire. Then I passed on to the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was no place for my mount to pass. So I went up at night by the ravine and inspected the wall. Then I entered the Valley Gate again and returned.
The failure of many is that they engage in the execution of a project without observing and analyzing the situation.
Why do you think companies offer “free inspections” before they give you a estimate? Because the plan and the cost will depend on the Observation.
Not speaking if you do not know the details.
Not speaking if you do not know the details.
The officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; nor had I as yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials or the rest who did the work.
One of the best ways to create problems is to speak what you do not know.
The old wise advice given by the grandmother to the grandson was, “do not speak if you do not know, do not go if you are not invited, and do not meddle in what is not your business!”
Nehemiah was a wise and trustworthy man, that’s why he occupied a position in the king’s palace.
If you do not know, ask! Do not assume!
Sharing it with key people.
Sharing it with key people.
Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.”
Nehemiah, after the inspection, realized that the task was big and he could not do it alone. No matter how hard you try, you cannot do it all.
God has made us part of a body where all the members are expected to do their function.
Therefore, he was inviting others to participate: “let’s rebuild”. Let’s do it together!
He couldn’t be foreman, mason, and guard at the same time. So, he encouraged others to work too. Observe: he didn’t say “rebuild”, he said “let’s rebuild”.
He appealed to their heart and dignity: “so we will not longer be a reproach”.
Every church has key people, movers and shakers, that must participate in the task.
He encouraged them by sharing how God had intervened in his desire to return and how God touched the king’s heart to let him go and provide whatever he needed.
I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king’s words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.
God will provide whatever you need to rebuild this church.
He will provide a leading builder (pastor), the finances, any resources needed, and the motivation to do the work.
Make a plan.
Make a plan.
The passage does not say it specifically, but it is implied: he made a plan.
You cannot skip the step because this is the most important of all steps.
“Planing is the time best used in any project.”
“The one who does not plan, it plans to fail.”
Even God Almighty has a plan for His Creation and for salvation. Christ came to this world at the right time, according to the plan...
The purpose of planning is to determine the goals and objectives we want to achieve. In other words, it determines “what we want to do” and “how we will do it”.
Organize the people.
Organize the people.
Assessing their gift, talents and interest.
Assessing their gift, talents and interest.
Every member has received a spiritual gift from God, everyone knows how to do something. Let’s organize them accordingly!
Every one of them was interested that their house was safe, that the wall had no holes close their home. Not all were expert builders, but all could do something
Do you know what your gifts are? Serve according to those gifts, talents, or experience.
Delegate them a job to do.
Delegate them a job to do.
Delegation:
“El proceso por medio del cual el administrador asigna responsabilidades y autoridad adicionales a sus subordinados.” (Luna)
Chapter 3 gives a detailed description of the position, and the job every family was assigned to. Take a fast look at it!
Everybody was doing something, there were no “bench warmers” among the people.
That has been the problem in many churches: some people come to receive, not to give; to consume, not to contribute; to subtract, not to add!
If we want to rebuild the walls fast, as the ants, we all must bring something to the ant hill!
Instruct them on what and how.
Instruct them on what and how.
In Administration, this process is known as Direction.
You have to instruct every worker on the what and the how.
If you do not teach them, you cannot expect them to do it well.
For every position or ministry, the church mus have a job description.
I bet that among the Israelites of that time, some had never lay a rock or a brick. Someone had to teach them how!
Priests, levites, goldsmith, merchants, politicians, etc., were instructed and became builders because the need demanded it!
Supervise the workers.
Supervise the workers.
These last two steps is where most churches fail!
They assign jobs to the members, but do teach them how and do not supervise them.
La Supervisión consiste en asegurarse que las actividades que se están desempeñando están siguiendo el rumbo predeterminado por el plan.
The Greek word “episcopos”, translated as “bishop”, literally means “supervisor”.
The pastor is “the main supervisor” of the work, but, under him, there are other supervisors, those in charge of a ministry.
Supervision will allow us to make the necessary corrections to the way the task in being done.
Nehemiah and the people were able to finish the walls in 52 days, because there was a plan, there was organization, direction, and supervision.