KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–As Nehemiah led the exiles who had returned to Jerusalem, so must Southern Baptist ministers lead their people to rebuild the walls of the Great Commission, said Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Ken Hemphill.
“The exiles had returned, the temple had been rebuilt under Ezra, but the wall lay in ruins,” Hemphill said of Nehemiah’s day. “And I think indeed in our denomination, we’ve rebuilt the temple, we’ve re- established the authority and inerrancy of the Word, and now it’s time to rebuild the wall of the Great Commission.
“We’re at a point where we’ve got to move ahead with a vision for the next generation,” said Hemphill, speaking at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. “We’ve got to re-establish the reality of who we are as a Baptist people to take the world with the gospel.”
Speaking March 3 in Kansas City, Mo., Hemphill compared the modern church to his own college football team, which looked great in the huddle but was unable to score when the ball was snapped.
“Sometimes I wonder if that’s not true of our churches today — that in the huddle we look like a church,” Hemphill said. “We ask questions like this: What would happen in our church this year if every person led one person to Jesus Christ? Well, we would double our churches in a year! Now, we don’t expect it to happen, we don’t plan for it to happen. We wouldn’t know what to do if it did happen. You see, we’re playing it in the huddle.”
Hemphill, author of “Revitalizing the Sunday Morning Dinosaur” and “The Antioch Effect,” urged seminarians to adopt six leadership principles found in the Book of Nehemiah in their effort break out of the huddle mentality.
He began by pointing out how in the first chapter of Nehemiah, the prophet sought to listen to God when he heard that the walls of Jerusalem were in ruins. Hemphill compared this with Jesus’ words in John 17:8, where the Lord declares that the disciples believed in him because he passed on the words he had received from the Father. Ministers must therefore begin their efforts by hearing from God, Hemphill said.
“We must hear from God before we speak to his people,” Hemphill told the seminarians. “So many times I’m afraid that we go to the pulpits with a word from us that has not come from God.”
Hemphill moved on to the second chapter of Nehemiah, where, at great risk to himself, Nehemiah made his burden for Jerusalem known to the king. Baptist leaders today, Hemphill said, must also possess a burden within them that ignites in passion for the Great Commission.
“Folks, I want to tell you something,” Hemphill exhorted: “If you want to lead a great church, you’ve got to have a passion for the cause of the Great Commission that would make you willing to die for it.”
In order to impart this passion to others, Hemphill challenged ministers to lead others into the spiritual “birthing room” where they can see firsthand sinners coming to Christ.
“You know the reality is, most of our people have never been in the birthing room,” Hemphill said, speaking of the moment of conversion. “Now, they see them on Sunday morning, yes. But we’ve washed them off and cleaned them up and dressed them up, and they look kind of respectable when they walk the aisles.
“Listen, if we are going to ignite this convention again, we’ve got to get pastors and ministers of education and ministers of music that are willing to take laymen with them into the birthing room, to see these babies born anew to the kingdom of God.”
Nehemiah also possessed great vision, Hemphill said, noting that in chapter two “he dared to dream that the wall could be rebuilt.” Since “vision without strategy is wishful thinking,” in chapter four Nehemiah developed a strategy to accomplish the vision. Hemphill said Nehemiah then demonstrated leadership as he endured opposition in order to make the vision a reality, a characteristic required of ministers today.
“Oftentimes in the church the great majority of the people will stand for the Great Commission, but a lot of folks don’t endure through the process,” Hemphill said, noting Nehemiah’s opponents in chapters four and six. “No matter what your dream, there is someone who won’t like it, and they will gladly tell you so. The people who are with you in the Great Commission may never tell you. The critics will tell you 10 times over.”
He challenged ministers to imitate Nehemiah’s commitment to a task which precluded negotiating with his opponents.
“Never come down from the wall,” Hemphill urged, observing, “… over the years too many pastors lose their direction when they come down from the wall of the Great Commission.”
Finally, Hemphill said, ministers today can gain commitment to their vision only as they, like Nehemiah, focus attention on a great and awesome God. He pointed out in Nehemiah 4:14 when the people are fearful Nehemiah called on the them to remember the magnificence of the Lord.
“Almost every challenge, every time there’s an issue, Nehemiah does not point to himself and say, ‘Listen, I’ve got the answers. I’m seminary trained. I know how to do this. I’ve got the material from Nashville,'” Hemphill noted. “He says, ‘Remember the great and awesome God, and fight for your brothers.'”
