Lesson Material
Phase #4 MOBILIZATION
How to Mobilize People for Maximum Productivity
Nehemiah 3
In the 1700s, a mighty revival swept across England and the American colonies. Among the primary leaders God used were George Whitefield and John Wesley. Most would agree that Whitefield was the more popular preacher, and his ministry resulted in more conversions. Where Wesley excelled was in his administrative skills.
In an article in Christian History, the editors said,
Wesley was a brilliant organizer whose influence over his followers was so great that the historian J. H. Plumb asserted that Wesley could have successfully led a revolution if he had not been so wedded to the political status quo… Wesley formulated a practical church organization that worked on many levels, from the repentant individual to the class to the society to the conference to the church (or in the early days to Wesley himself). Wesley stressed the involvement by lay persons on each level, and he differentiated his workers according to their gifts as exhorters, lay preachers, stewards, and the like.[i]
In his biography of John Wesley, Stephen Tomkins argues that the biggest difference between Whitefield and Wesley was not their theology (Whitefield was a Calvinist, and Wesley was an Arminian) but their “job description.” “Wesley was a preacher, pastor, leader, administrator, and an architect of religious organization; Whitefield was a preacher. Although he founded some successful ‘tabernacles’, he had very little interest in organizing converts and left this mostly to others.”[ii]
In a letter to John, Whitefield said, “My business seems to be chiefly in planting; if God sends you to water, I praise his name.” Wesley’s concern for the spiritual growth and well-being of those who came to Christ led him to organize Methodist groups to fortify their faith. He and his brother appointed and supervised circuit riders to expand their outreach and organized numerous charities such as schools, hospitals, orphanages, and free medical dispensaries.
By his death in 1791, the Methodists had more than 70,000 members in England and more than 40,000 in the new United States. They were a growing global movement of effective evangelism, renewal, church planting, political influence, and mercy ministries. Although many Methodists have now departed from Wesley’s biblical orthodoxy, strong strands continue to bless our world with their continued progress.
John Wesley, like Nehemiah, knew how to mobilize people for maximum productivity. And through our study of Nehemiah three, we, too, will expand our understanding of how to do the same thing.
But first, let’s review the Nehemiah success process. We have looked at three phases: Passion, Intercession, and Promotion. That brings us to MOBILIZATION, the theme of the fourth phase. This chapter will show that if you desire maximum productivity, you should organize your project into achievable tasks and mobilize your workers into effective teams.
There is a thrill when others catch the vision, raise their hands to enlist, and jump on board. Oh yeah, that’s good stuff! But many are better at giving motivational speeches than organizing people for action. It’s exciting when folks walk down the aisle to make a commitment, but it’s all in vain if we can’t get them to walk up their street in mission.
If you are a convincing motivator, you may now have a team, but do you have a playbook? Do the players know their positions and responsibilities? Is the team ready to take the field? If you’ve been successful in rallying people to your cause but don’t know how to align them strategically, chaos will occur. Motivation without mobilization leads to frustration.
In Nehemiah 2:17, Nehemiah challenged the people to carry out the task God had given them. “Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.’” What was their response? They said, “Let us start rebuilding.” This step of public commitment was a critical step for the people—but so far, it was just talk. It is in chapter three that their commitment is proven by action.
Am I wrong, or are we guilty of talking too much and not acting enough? These Israelites weren’t. As soon as they had resolved to build the wall around Jerusalem, they lost no time but immediately launched a concerted, all-out effort. Within fifty-two days, they had roughly completed their project. And we’re not talking about a picket fence; the walls were nine feet wide and approximately 4,500 yards long. That’s the length of forty-five football fields!
How was their feat accomplished? It was accomplished because this was a full-force, cooperative effort managed with strategic organization. Few elements are as practical as being organized. A healthy organization makes it easier for ministries to excel, resulting in more results with less energy expended. We need to organize our work and mobilize our workers. These are two sides of the same coin.
This topic makes some people uncomfortable. Perhaps they’ve observed churches that act like corporations or persistently use business slang to describe their structure and systems. I agree with that concern; the church is the body of Christ with a mission and make-up totally unique. While we can certainly learn some lessons from the business world, we dare not be squeezed into its mold.
That being said, we must remind ourselves that God designed His body with a skeletal structure. First Corinthians twelve teaches that each Christian is a part of, or a member of, this body. Since the Holy Spirit gifts all believers, they should exercise their gifts for the good of the rest of the body. Verses 18-20 state, “But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” Who arranged the parts? God. He has divinely organized the church. The church is not just an organism—that is, a group of believers; it is also an organization. It’s both. This theme is prevalent in the many places in the New Testament (Rom. 12, Eph. 4, I Tim. 3, Titus 1, Acts 6, etc.) that speak of the offices and organization involved in a true church. Never apologize for organization within a church, for if there is no organization, there is no church.
There is a great misunderstanding in the life of the church today that implies that if our efforts aren’t spontaneous, it can’t be the work of the Holy Spirit. That’s nonsense. As we have already noted in the past, the Holy Spirit can lead us in planning just as much as He can lead us in the spur of the moment. If you study the Bible, you will see that part of the role of leadership is the act of planning and strategy—not planning apart from God but planning from God.
If anyone needs this lesson, it’s me. I’m a rather poor administrator. To make up for this deficiency, I’ve read books and taken classes on management. But I’ve been most helped by people who have shown me how to improve. When I was a young youth pastor of a church in Albion, Michigan, my senior pastor was Marvin Kannengieter. He was able to blend his incredible people skills with administrative expertise to move happy people toward positive accomplishments. Later, after I became the Lead Pastor of another church, I persuaded my friend, Doug Fagerstrom, to become my co-partner. He may be the best administrator I’ve ever known. While I will never match the abilities of these two men, I am much better in this sphere because I watched them closely and learned from their modeling. That is what we want to do with Nehemiah as we watch him strategically arrange the people and the project.
Nehemiah three can teach us great things about the art of mobilization if we can resist the temptation to just skim through it. When you read an Old Testament book and suddenly come upon a chapter filled with dozens of hard-to-pronounce names, what do you do? Scoot through it? Skim over it? Slide right past it? That is certainly my temptation. But we need to learn to resist that urge, for God inspired the entire Bible and put every single verse in it for a purpose. Nehemiah Three isn’t just packed with names; it’s also packed with profitable lessons. Just the first five verses give a great snapshot of the bigger picture of the people at work:
1 Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They dedicated it and set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred, which they dedicated, and as far as the Tower of Hananel. 2 The men of Jericho built the adjoining section, and Zakkur son of Imri built next to them. 3 The Fish Gate was rebuilt by the sons of Hassenaah. They laid its beams and put its doors and bolts and bars in place. 4 Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz, repaired the next section. Next to him Meshullam son of Berekiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs, and next to him Zadok son of Baana also made repairs. 5 The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.
How do we lead our team to maximum productivity? Ministry can be an all-out, cooperative effort done by coordinated teams. But that’s often difficult to achieve. Nehemiah, however, did it in two ways: He organized the project into achievable tasks and mobilized the people into manageable task forces.
ORGANIZE THE PROJECT INTO ACHIEVABLE TASKS
This was not work done chaotically, with people running here and there; some putting up blocks and then suddenly saying, “You know, these blocks are heavy; I think I’ll work on the gate,” then discovering that the gate work gave slivers and moving on to something else. No, this was organized work. The wall was divided into sections, with a specific group under a supervisor responsible for its section. Individuals took on projects that coincided with their abilities. Everything was planned out and, therefore, went smoothly. From the Nehemiah model, here are some practical suggestions for your project:
The Tasks Should be Divided
You will find the word “section” thirteen times as you read Nehemiah three. An obvious lesson is that we must section off our ministries and break down big jobs into smaller ones. According to a Utah University’s white paper, there are two main questions that should be asked when deciding on an organizational structure: 1) How do you divide the work among the organization’s subunits? 2) How do you coordinate and control the efforts of the units?
Your mission might appear large and intimidating to some volunteers. Help them by slicing it into smaller pieces and showing them how to contribute in one of those zones. God did this for the Israelites when He told them in Joshua One how they would conquer the land of Canaan.
3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. NIV
How were they to conquer the land? Just one step at a time. The land of Canaan and all the forces in it looked invincible. But God promised to give them the land in a step-by-step fashion. Jordon! Jericho! And on you go!
The Tasks Should be Defined
Each of these sections was clearly defined so that the people knew exactly what they were responsible for. This shows the importance of job descriptions. All volunteers should know where they are to serve and what they are to do.
When I was a teenager, I helped build a couple of houses with my dad. On one occasion, he had me dig a long (very long!) trench while he ran an errand. He returned just as I finished, only to tell me it was in the wrong spot and that it would have to be re-dug. Aargh! I wished he would’ve given better instructions the first time.
The Tasks Should be Distributed
It has been said that “Everybody’s responsibilities are nobody’s responsibilities.” Tasks need to be defined and then appointed to specific people. Learning how to delegate well will bear much fruit.
Delegation can be difficult for different reasons. If management is hard, you might find it easier to just do the job yourself. But this means your mission will always be confined to your own particular abilities and time.
Another common reason we don’t delegate more is that we think we can do it better or faster than the others, or we just don’t trust them. These streaks of perfectionism often lead to self-depression and the suppression of the growth of others. Closely related is the tendency to micromanage when we delegate. This happens when we allow our weaknesses and fears to dominate.
Delegation should be a win/win opportunity. It not only takes work off of the leader’s already full plate, but it also gives a chance for others to shine, grow, and share in the joy of collective accomplishments. So, distribute tasks with authority, set clear expectations, and anticipate greater success.
The Tasks Should be Dedicated
Nehemiah 3:1 shows the priests dedicating their parts of this great project. What do you think of when you hear the word dedication? A boat that someone christens with a champagne bottle? A building that someone opens with a ribbon cutting?
In the many dedications in the Old Testament, it is clear that the two-fold purpose was to set something apart for a special purpose and to recognize God’s ownership. Here in Nehemiah, the priests recognized they weren’t building this for themselves but for God. All that we do, possess, or create should likewise be dedicated to God. As we participate in the glorious pursuit of kingdom building, let’s make sure it is God’s kingdom we are building, not our own.
Even a seemingly mundane task is magnified when it is done for God’s glory.
MOBILIZE THE PEOPLE INTO MANAGEABLE TASK FORCES
We have looked at the need for organization and some suggestions on how to do it well. But good organization without cooperative mobilization is like a machine with no fuel. The Oxford Dictionary defines mobilization as “To organize and encourage a group of people to take collective action in pursuit of a particular objective.”
In Nehemiah three, all aspects of Israel’s society are represented among the workers. There were priests and nobles, rulers and tradesmen, goldsmiths and merchants, rich and poor, men and women—all working shoulder to shoulder, some building gates and others rebuilding walls. The word “next” is used over twenty times. “And next to him was…” The lesson for us is fairly simple. When God gives us an awesome type of task, He doesn’t intend for that task to be done by a minority of God’s people; He wants each believer to get involved.
Bud Wilkinson, former football coach at the University of Oklahoma, was in Dallas some years ago for a series of lectures on physical fitness. A television reporter interviewed him about the president’s physical fitness program and asked, “Mr. Wilkinson, what would you say is the contribution of modern football to physical fitness?” The answer was, “Absolutely nothing…I define football as twenty-two men on the field who desperately need rest and 50,000 people in the grandstand who desperately need exercise.”
Is this not the state of many churches? A faithful few who are super active cheered on by an uninvolved majority?
Christianity is not a spectator sport! Each of us needs to be active, and in our activity, we need to work in cooperation with each other. God has given each of us the responsibility of building up the church. Eph. 4: 15-16 says, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
As a leader being used to accomplish one of God’s projects, you will want to mobilize your volunteers into manageable task forces. From the biblical narrative, we can glean some ways in which this should be done.
The Task Forces Should be Incentivized
You will want to match the right people to the right jobs by giving desirable jobs tied to their areas of interest. Great managers don’t just define and distribute the work; they also ensure that the workers understand how they benefit from that work. This will give them a greater incentive to work hard.
Nehemiah often gave people walls to construct adjacent to their homes. This not only was efficient and saved travel time, but it was also wise because people would do a good job building a wall that protected their homes. This also gave them a sense of ownership. Another example is the priests who worked on the sheep gate—the gate most critical to the temple worship they oversaw.
The Sheep Gate was where the sheep and other livestock were brought into the city for sacrifice at the temple. As the priests labored to rebuild the gate, they were not just restoring a physical structure but also renewing the city’s spiritual life. Of all the tasks they could have been given, this one would have been the most precious to them.
Try to plant tasks in the soil of someone’s heart. Study the nature of the work and the worker to ensure you have a good match.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t sometimes work outside our comfort zones. I am sure the perfume makers weren’t excellent builders (in fact, no construction experts are noted in the chapter) but they still did what needed to be done.
The Task Forces Should be Optimized
This was a natural organizational structure. They pulled together different task forces and formed them of natural groupings of people—like families, priests, and people from a certain area (like Tekoa). All this involved teamwork and cooperation.
That is the case with all ministry teams. Fifty-eight times in scripture, the phrase “one another” is used. Even geese can fly 72% further when they are flying in formation with other geese. Management of Christian organizations is to be people-centered and participative.
The Task Forces Should be Supervised
Nehemiah supervised the whole project and also placed further supervisors under him. Repeatedly, you see that the workers worked under the authority of supervisors (5, 7, 18). Organizations always work more efficiently when there are clear lines of authority. People do what you inspect, not what you expect. Trent Cotton, in an article for Christian Church Development, said,
“If you were to work in the HR Department for any major corporation, the first item you would want to have in your hands is an Organization Chart. Why? It tells you who does what, who they report to, what their function is, and in my case… do they have any real authority? This is a critical measure of success for any organization. Everyone, at their core, loves structure and understanding where they fit in the whole scheme of things.”
“So if you are in a church, is this really something you employ?
… “The old adage, “the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing,” comes to mind. I have seen great mission statements destroyed by a lack of organizational structure in companies, but do we really have this luxury in the church? If we are to be held accountable for our mission, would it not make sense to move in the right direction, and all together?[iii]”
Google’s founder Larry Page once decided that they were top heavy with administrators and management was getting in the way of productivity. Though this is often true with organizations, his solution took them from one extreme to another. He fired all the managers and had four hundred engineers report to a single person. He did this without consulting the Vice President of Engineering, who was quite alarmed to suddenly have 400 direct reports! Needless to say, when pandemonium broke out, Larry modified his decision and acknowledged the need for sufficient supervisors. If he had read the advice that Jethro gave his son-in-law, Moses, he may have avoided this mistake. Moses was killing himself with too many responsibilities until he followed Jethro’s counsel to divide up tasks and place them under various supervisors (Exodus 18:15-26).
The Task Forces Should be Recognized
An important role of this chapter is to show recognition to and appreciation for these people who worked so hard. Three thousand years later, we still applaud their efforts. Thirty-six people are specifically named in this honor roll. Wise leaders will honor good workers (Phil. 2:19-30). Look at verse twelve, where special recognition is given to the daughters of Shallum for their efforts. That is pretty remarkable for a culture where women didn’t do “men’s work” and seldom received proper honor for their work.
Nehemiah three has only one negative spot. It’s in verse five where it states that the nobles of Tekoa refused to put their shoulders to the work. Those who follow their ignoble example will be the ones who miss the blessing. But how do you, as a leader, handle the uninvolved? John Maxwell says that every church will have workers and shirkers. Love everyone, but move with the movers and invest less in those on the sidelines.
* * *
Everything is quite simple when you shrink-wrap the lessons we’ve learned in this chapter. First, you organize the project into achievable tasks. These tasks are divided, defined, distributed, and dedicated to God. Second, you mobilize the people into manageable task forces that are incentivized, optimized, supervised, and recognized.
Simple is good.
Over-organization and the dangers of impersonal programming and bulky bureaucracy must be avoided. One of the most important factors of success is an agile workforce. Agility is critical to long-term viability as ministries must quickly respond to opportunities and threats. So, try to keep your organization streamlined. It’s just like disciplining your child, use just enough to do the job. Your goal is not excellent management per se; it is merely a means to the end of serving God in the best way possible.
From an article by Rick Warren called, Organize Your Church on Purpose and Giftedness, I selected some of my favorite quotes:
“When organization is over-emphasized, a church can lose its focus on ministry. If you streamline your structure, then you can maximize ministry and minimize maintenance. If you cut out about half of your meetings, your church would be more effective.”
“The more successful a person becomes, the more impatient they will become with meaningless meetings.”
“Structure will be as creative as you allow it to be. If you allow people to expand and stretch, then you’re going to have a creative church. But if you have bureaucracy — ‘We’ve always done it this way’ — then creative people are going to leave your church. They’ll go find a place where they’re allowed to blossom.”
“A simple structure is more stable. The more complicated a structure is, the easier it is to break.”
“How do you simplify your structure? Reduce the number of meetings you have in your church. Reduce the number of items you vote on. Release ministries to make their own decisions.”[iv]
Thank you, Rick, for the good suggestions! I don’t agree with you on all matters, but you are on target here. (Have I mentioned that Rick and I went to seminary together and were “good friends,” or should I say, “casual acquaintances,” or should I more honestly admit we once met in a hallway and talked for five minutes? Whatever; it was quality time.)
Conclusion
We want to unite around a common pursuit and work together cooperatively. As a leader, you will want to design a simple system to accomplish this goal. The purpose of management in your ministry project is to create a fertile climate and an effective pathway for spiritual service with a sense of shared vision, mutual support, and wise stewardship of resources. Your ministry team is to be a “family” of people who care deeply for each other and the project God has given them.
[i] https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/wesleys-gift-for-organization/
[ii] Stephen Tomkins, John Wesley: A Biography (Eerdmans 2003), p. 128.
[iii] https://christianchurchdevelopment.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/church-organizational-structure/
[iv] http://pastors.com/organize-your-church-on-purpose-and-giftedness/