If the modern Church of God had heeded the lessons from the book of Nehemiah, the disaster that has overtaken us would have been avoided. The state of the Church of God would be radically–and refreshingly–different had we listened to this ancient prophet of God. But it is not too late for YOU to listen to this relevant prophet.
The first chapter of Nehemiah reveals a man whose heart was totally wrapped up in the work of God. There was no greater passion that Nehemiah had than for the people of God and their work on behalf of God. When he saw the parlous state of Jerusalem he wept and “mourned for days.” What about us today? Does it bother us that the once great Work that used to rock the four corners of this world has been so greatly diminished and that the effective witness that the world should be getting is muted? Does it bother us that we have a message so powerful and a set of doctrines second to no other church, and yet we languish in lukewarmness and stagnant growth?
Nehemiah did not long for the glory days of Jerusalem so that he could boast against the other nations. Likewise, the truly converted child of God does not mourn the state of the church today because he envies the success of others. We mourn because we know we have the true gospel and that this is the only hope for the world. But what did Nehemiah do when he was depressed over the state of Jerusalem? He poured out his heart before God in prayer.
It seems simple, but we often don’t do that first. We mourn and mourn and mourn, and then we blame and blame and blame, and afterward we complain and complain and complain.
Nehemiah did two important things. He took his cares and concerns to God, and he confessed the sins of his people before God. We in the Church of God need to do that. Rather than the blame game and attacking certain leaders for “taking the church off track” and lambasting them for being “used by Satan the Devil,” we should collectively acknowledge that we as a church have sinned and
that we have not been faithful to God and, therefore, the once-great work is no more. “We have acted very corruptly against thee,” Nehemiah confessed. Do we have the humility to make this confession?
The problem is not just the “wicked, rumor-mongering, spiritual grave-robbing dissidents” who have published “slander” against “God’s ministers.” We as ministers and leaders have acted corruptly against God and His people. Full stop. The more we cover up our sins and our role in our present condition, the longer we will stay in this condition. Notice the prayers of Nehemiah in the book. They stress Israel’s unfaithfulness and God’s mercy (chapter 9). The Church of God will never escape its spiritual captivity today unless it confesses, repents, and forsakes the sins that led us into this condition.
Next, notice the faith of Nehemiah. We can’t build the work of God without faith, for “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Hebrews 11:6). We must have the confidence to know that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), and that He who is in us is “greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). We can do it! We must firmly believe this. We must have faith that we can build strong, growing congregations of love and good works. We must have the faith that we can be effective in getting the gospel to our world.
We must also expect discouragement. This is Satan’s favorite tool. We must expect that there will be gainsayers who will say we can’t do; that we are too weak, too small, too ineffective to accomplish anything really important for God. We in the CGI and the Church of God movement in general are small and insignificant to the world. One anti-Church of God source recently commented that even some of the larger Churches of God are not even a blip on the radar screen. That’s true. But this work will be done not by might nor by power but by God’s Spirit!
“Now when Sandballat heard that we were building the wall he was angry and greatly enraged and he ridiculed the Jews and he said…‘What are these feeble Jews doing?’ Will they restore things? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish and burned ones at that?” (Nehemiah 4:1-2). How impossible! How ridiculous! How crazy of these Jews! The same with the Church of God today: We are small. We are despised. We are often ridiculed by the big churches of the world and by those who were once a part of us. There are all kinds of negative articles on the Internet and in publications about us. Many “painful truths” are being told.
I have one article by a former member titled, “Why the Churches of God Will Not Survive.” Many are predicting that in only a few years the movement will literally die out. And they say the world will be better for it!
Don’t be discouraged, saints of God. These are ancient tactics. Don’t attack or get depressed. Turn to God and have faith! “Hear O God,” Nehemiah cried, “For we are despised; turn back their taunt upon their own heads…” (Nehemiah 4:4). And the Scripture says, “So we built the wall…for the people had a mind to work”(verse 6). Do you still have a mind to work, or are you burnt and “disillusioned”? Have you lost your zeal? Have you been discouraged once too often? Do you feel it no longer makes sense to get fired up over the work? You found it easy to be fired up in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and early ’80s when the church was growing, but you are too beaten down now to put one foot forward?
Notice Nehemiah again: The more the enemies taunted and planned to sabotage him, the more he turned to God in prayer. “And we prayed to our God…” (Nehemiah 4:9). The Church of God has lost the art of prayer, if we ever had it in this modern era. We have used politics instead of prayer. We have used control tactics instead of prayer. We have preached more “church government” sermons instead of prostrating before God in prayer. We have used all kinds of human responses–including fear, blame, and criticism–instead of simply praying and fasting.
If we were not so afraid of looking like “the world’s Protestant churches,” we would have convened prayer and fasting sessions, and prayer vigils like the early disciples when they faced crises like Peter’s imprisonment, instead of panicking and politicking. It is not too late. Nehemiah still speaks to the churches. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear.
Chapter 5 is very critical. If this chapter had been followed, the entire modern history of the Church of God would be totally different. The crisis of 1978 would not have happened. And 1995 (when the Worldwide Church of God rejected the Sabbath) would certainly not have happened. But
the seeds of our destruction were sown in part by negligence of the issue of justice in the Church of God.
“Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brethren” (verse 1). The people were complaining because there was injustice, and those with authority and power were not acting in the people’s welfare. Notice that Nehemiah said he was “angry when I heard their outcry” (verse 6). But, unlike in our case as pastors and church leaders, he was not angry with the people for complaining and being in the “rotten, REBELLIOUS spirit of LUCIFER!” He was angry with LEADERS who should have acted justly. “I brought charges against the nobles and the officials” (verse 7). IF we of the Church of God had expressed the courage, dignity, and the righteousness to bring charges against our “nobles and officials,” can you imagine the credibility we would have had in the eyes of the brethren and the genuine loyalty it would have engendered? Instead we allowed corruption to continue. We turned a blind eye to the sins of our leaders. We made excuses for them while every year keeping a festival that reminds us forcefully that sin must be put out!
We danced around the plain Word of God and fiddled with the righteous standards of God while the Church of God burned. And now we are wringing our hands and wondering how we have come to this? Nehemiah, a leader if ever there were one, brought the situation under control and brought about reforms. Nehemiah led by example. “The former Governors who were before me laid heavy burdens upon the people and took from them food and wine besides forty shekels of silver. Even their servants LORDED IT OVER THE PEOPLE. But I did not do so because of the fear of God” (verse 15).
Oh for leaders like that! We as pastors ought to be that kind of leader. If we are not, then we are risking the judgment of God on our work and our ministry.
Nehemiah shows how important leadership is and what disasters can occur when there is bad leadership. But there are some even more critical lessons for the Church of God in the remaining chapters of this profoundly important book.
By Ian Boyne
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