Giving God a Bad Reputation

Nehemiah 5 & 6

The key verse here is verse 9 where Nehemiah said: The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? He challenged them about a community sin that they were putting up with. He asks them whether it seems right that God should be dishonoured by their wrong-doing, because their behaviour gave unbelievers ammunition to mock and disregard God?

This teaches us in two ways:

1. It forewarns us that as we get serious about getting our personal lives in sync with the Spirit of God and as we stand together to build up the church, that our wrong ideas and behaviour will be brought out into the open. This is a good thing that will cause us to grow stronger and be much more fruitful in God.
2. It suggests to us that we should consider what qualities of Christ-like living that we as a church family might be neglecting or plain wrong about.

The problem that came to light in the Jerusalem community was to do with money and status in the community. Greed was causing some to rip off others and the people with money were looking down on the people with none.

The economy in those times was in ruins. Food was expensive and hard to get. Many people in the community had to sell their property or at least mortgage it so they had money enough to buy food for their families. Some had to lease out their own children as slaves to the wealthy, in order to get an income to buy food and pay the taxes to the Persian king. A great divide was opening up between the rich and the poor. The four complaints were:

1. People with no land couldn’t grow food and had to buy it from others – but they didn’t have the money to do so.
2. People with land were having to mortgage or sell their land in order to support their families.
3. Because money was short, those who lent it did so at astronomical rates and everyone had to have money to pay the king’s taxes.
4. Some had nothing more to trade with except their own children – who they were selling into slavery.
5. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer.

Nehemiah called a meeting of the community to get this unequal treatment sorted out. Remember that this was not just a social problem in the world at large. This was a problem occurring among God’s people. Of course we should help those outside the church as God gives us resources and opportunity to do so. That’s why there was a garage sale yesterday. But inside the church family, there must never be people using people.

Nehemiah pointed out that he and some others had paid to free Jews who had been enslaved to outsiders - but people in the community were selling on their employees to outsiders who were then being purchased back into the Jewish community and set free by Nehemiah and his supporters. This could not go on and so Nehemiah confronted the community about it. He went right to the core of the issue and identified it as a God-dishonouring practice. The thing you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? (v9).

The community accepted Nehemiah’s challenge. They restored people’s land and children to them and began working together to make sure that no one went without. Nehemiah shook out the folds of the clothes he was wearing and called on God to shake out any person and his family like crumbs, if they would not keep this promise. The people responded with ‘Amen’ – so be it – and they praised the Lord.

I don’t think that there is anyone oppressing others within our church family. However, what goes on behind the closed doors of our houses may not be known to others but might as well be done in a shop window as far as God is concerned. So before moving past this point, each of us should check that we are not the oppressor of anyone. This dishonours God’s good name, contradicts everything Christ said and did and offends the Holy Spirit. I will leave that matter hanging for each of us to answer before God.

What is important for us to notice together as members of this church family is that when we get serious about developing and building ourselves up spiritually, the Spirit of God brings Jesus Christ and his will more sharply into focus. Things become less vague and general. We begin to hear and understand more precisely what he wants our lives to become. As he comes closer to do his work in a fuller and more dramatic way, he also exposes those things that are hindering his work. And that his the point of this teaching: If we expect to be a lively, growing, effective church, then we must expect that the Holy Spirit will shed his light on the ideas and behaviours that lead outsiders to taunt and mock Christians and their God.

If you were the owner of a hairdressing salon and one of your employees constantly arrived at work with ‘bed-hair’ and dandruff on her shoulders, you would be offended. Because the very person who is supposed to be promoting healthy attractive hair in your salon, is turning people off your business. A zillion times greater on the scale of importance, God is offended when those who claim to be his representatives in the world have lives that give godly living a bad name.