Nehemiah
5 discusses an interesting topic about treating believers
“differently”. Is there a benefit to being part of the church?
I think the Bible is clear that “as
we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who
are of the household of faith”
(Gal 6:10), however, we also have a obligation to put others first.
“Let
no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being”
(1 Corinthians 10:24). I grow weary of those that talk about “their
right”, but neglect to consider their
responsibility
to others. The chapter begins with the workers that were rebuilding
the walls in Jerusalem crying out to Nehemiah, their leader. “In
order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain…
We
are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain
during the famine.”
Apparently the workers were spending all their time working on the
wall and not tending to their land. On top of that they still had
taxes to pay and some were taking advantage of their situation.
“We
have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax… we are of the same
flesh and blood as our countrymen… yet we have to subject our sons
and daughters to slavery… but we are powerless, because our fields
and our vineyards belong to others“.
Jesus said, “Render
to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that
are God’s”
(Mark 12:17). We have to pay our taxes, but beyond that, famed
Christian financial counselor,
Larry Burkett used to say, “show me your checkbook and I will show
you where your heart is”.
Nehemiah’s
reaction was interesting, “I
was very angry. I pondered them in my mind“.
Don’t you wish you had “pondered” before reacting a few times?
He spoke to the nobles, “What
you are doing is not right“.
I
believe he consulted scripture and found Deuteronomy
23,”Do
not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or
anything else that may earn interest. You may charge a foreigner
interest, but not a brother“.
Nehemiah
continued,
“I
and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and
grain. But let the exacting of usury stop!“.
I hear people excuse their behavior by saying things like “Hey
man, I am no longer under the Law of Moses”. I believe the Bible
is clear, that our Christian liberty has two limitations. If
something interferes with our relationship with God or each other; or
if it causes a brother to stumble, we should willingly
lay it aside. 1 Corinthians 9:11 asks rhetorically, “Because
of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ
died?“.
The nobles responded to Nehemiah’s urging. “We
will give it back… And we will not demand anything more from them.
We will do as you say.”
How do you respond to godly rebuke?
Nehemiah
then went a step further explaining, “Neither
I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. But the
earlier governors… placed a heavy burden on the people and took
forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine… But
out of reverence for God I did not act like that. Instead, I devoted
myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for
the work; we did not acquire any land“.
Similarly the Apostle Paul worked as a tentmaker at times to support
himself, but,
1
Corinthians chapter 9 is very clear that we need to financially
support those who minister to us.
“Who
serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and
does not eat of its grapes?”
Ultimately Nehemiah’s desire was to please God. “Remember
me with favor, O my God, for all I have done for these people.”
It
is interesting that when we strive to honor God, we end up blessing
those around us almost by accident. God desires to use you to
minister to those around you. Will you put other first?
“All
things are lawful for me, but not all things edify”
(1 Corinthians 10:23).