The Gift of Administering
- Rev. Jerry Lepasana
- Oct 26, 2008
- Series: Uniquely You In Christ
Uniquely You in Christ: (Part VI)
THE GIFT OF ADMINISTRATING
Nehemiah 1:1-3 (NIV)
1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,
2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire."
Throughout the Bible, God has demonstrated that He was able to accomplish great things even with the most ordinary instruments. Consider some of them:
· When He needed to free the nation of Israel from 400 years of slavery in Egypt, He chose Moses, a shepherd who has been a fugitive for the last 40 years because he murdered an Egyptian soldier.
· When He needed a king to lead Israel so that as a nation they can experience God’s prosperity and victories from their enemies, He chose the young shepherd boy, David.
· When He needed to bring the Gospel of Christ to the world, He chose 12 ordinary men, and majority of them were fishermen.
Perhaps, you are one of those people who have the tendency to think that you need to be extraordinary in your abilities or super special in your intelligence before God can use you. You are seriously mistaken! His glory shines the greatest through the weakest of vessels. When it seems impossible that good can come from an ordinary or highly dysfunctional life, God shows up and accomplish the impossible. The apostle Paul puts it in these words:
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NIV)
26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are,
29 so that no one may boast before him.
Evidently, God is still doing this today. In His church, He has guaranteed the enabling of ordinary believers through the Holy Spirit, so great things can be accomplished for His glory. Please don’t miss this truth – we all exist to bring glory to God, and the best way to fulfill this is to allow Him to use us.
The one thing that really excites me is the fact that today all believers had been given the privilege to have some kind of enablement. All of us have the potential of living a life with significance. What do I mean? Reflect again on the lives of Moses, David, and the disciples of Jesus; if they did not get involved in the work of the Lord, their lives could have been meaningless or insignificant. So, would you consider getting involved?
As we continue our series on spiritual gifts, our main subject today is the gift of administration. In the Bible, we will discover that this gift is perfectly demonstrated by Nehemiah. While he was serving in the palace of Shushan as the official cup bearer of King Artaxerxes, king of the great Persian Empire, he heard the call of God to get involved in the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem after his brother shared to him the depressing conditions of his home city. When he acted on the vision God has given him, he was able to mobilize the men and women of Judah and restored the walls of Jerusalem in just 52 days. More than the walls, Nehemiah’s leadership restored dignity and order in Jerusalem. Let’s examine the gift he represents:
I THE DESCRIPTIONS:
Romans 12:8 says, “if it is leadership, let him govern diligently.” In the Bible this gift is often translated as the gift of headship, ruling or leadership. The Greek word literally suggests “someone who stands up in front of” or presides over” others. What are some of the significant descriptions of a person who possesses this gift?
A. Ability to receive vision from God and effectively cast to others:
Vision has often been defined as a vivid mental image of the future. In other words, this is the picture of where an individual or organization is going. In the work of God, vision is never dreamt by the leader. It is given by God. For Nehemiah, after he received the sad news concerning the ruins of Jerusalem, he sought God’s direction on what should be done through fasting and surveying Jerusalem. And God gave him the vision of restoring walls of Jerusalem:
Nehemiah 2:11-12 (NIV)
11 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days
12 I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
Once a vision is received from God, the leader takes the responsibility of casting this vision to others to solicit involvement. A clear vision always produces the energy that creates actions. Today, every church must have a clear vision in order to advance the causes of Christ. The Bible clearly says that without vision, people would not be able to focus and reach their goals.
Proverbs 29:18 (ASV)
18 Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.
B. Ability to turn chaos into order:
For the people of Judah, the desolation of the city was a manifestation of deeper spiritual needs. Literally, without proper leadership, the nation remained weak and defenseless.
When Nehemiah came into the picture, he was able to organize the people to work together. He orderly broke down the project into smaller tasks that people would be able to handle. He obviously was able to identify people’s skills and gave them appropriate responsibilities. You will also see him effectively building different teams to work together. Nehemiah chapter 3clearly reflects all of these.
C. Ability to know what resources are available and needed for the job:
In order for any project to be successful, the leader must determine project needs and acquire resources required for it. Nehemiah did not hesitate to approach king Artaxerxes for the resources he needed.
Nehemiah 2:6-8 (NIV)
6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?" It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
7 I also said to him, "If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah?
8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king's forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?" And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.
Leaders don’t hesitate to be the Chief Resource Raiser for the project. If you are the delegated CRR, remember that people give to vision, not to needs.
D. Ability to delegate:
Delegation is one of the most important skills of a leader. When you are a leader, you can effectively assign authority and responsibility to another person. This was reflected by Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 4:13 (NIV)
13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.
Why delegate? Someone has aptly said, “Good delegation saves you time, develops you people, grooms a successor, and motivates.” With all these benefits, the leader cannot afford not to delegate.
II THE DANGERS:
Once again we need to identify some dangers as leaders exercise their gift:
A. The tendency to be task-oriented:
Leaders are usually task-driven because they want to accomplish their projects. They usually enjoy people, but they really enjoy accomplishing things with people. Great leaders must develop a good balance between task and people. There are always advantages to the leader when he or she had maintained good relationship with his or her co-workers.
B. Delegation may appear to be lazy or avoiding work:
Since delegation requires you to give assignments to others, this could be construed by both superiors and subordinates as the manager trying to avoid work. To avoid being misunderstood, make sure you also keep the more critical responsibilities. Nehemiah delegated the building of the walls, but he retained the responsibility of dealing with the enemies and guarding the walls. He knew what he should and shouldn’t delegate to others.
C. The desire to complete tasks swiftly may appear to be insensitivity to the schedule, weariness or priorities of workers.
Nehemiah finished the walls in 52 days. That’s a great accomplishment. Typically, leaders want to complete tasks as soon as possible. So, they always value punctuality, and often the lack of it can be perceived as indifference or unreliability. Leaders must be careful not to over-extend their co-workers.
III THE DISTINCTION:
Here is a contrast between a leader who is spiritual and carnal. To be more efficient, the leader must strive to be more mature and spiritual.
Spirit Flesh
Orderliness Disorganization
Initiative Unaggressive
Responsibility Unreliable
Humility Pride
Decisiveness Doublemindedness
Determination Faintheartedness
Loyalty Unfaithful
The book of Acts adequately illustrates this truth. When the first church needed some leaders to assist in some ministries, they did not just appoint anyone who was available. They placed so much value on spirituality and maturity:
Acts 6:3-6 (NIV)
3 Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them
4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
IV THE DELIGHTS:
Indeed, leading is hard work, but it also produces some profound benefits to leaders. Allow me to highlight at least two:
A. Accomplishing the Vision:
The task of re-building the walls of Jerusalem was such a great task that their enemies cannot help but ridicule them for even attempting:
Nehemiah 4:1-3 (NIV)
1 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews,
2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble--burned as they are?"
3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building--if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!"
What a great sense of accomplishment when God allowed Nehemiah and the people of Judah to finish the project. God is surely honored when we attempt to do great things for Him. The father of foreign mission, William Carey once said, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” We should remember what Jesus said:
John 14:12-14 (NIV)
12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.
14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
B. Empower People:
Because leaders mobilize people to be involved in accomplishing the vision, the reward for the leader comes when he or she sees that involvement produced highly motivated and well developed followers. Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators, said, “Activity is no substitute for productivity; productivity is no substitute for reproduction.”
We can be involved in many activities that bear no fruit. Yes, we must bear fruit, and the best fruit is producing our lives in others. We can literally invest our lives to reproduce future leaders. Paul reminded Timothy:
2 Timothy 2:2 (NIV)
2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.