Monthly Archives: August 2025

Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” Nehemiah 4:1-2

Two Distinct Categories of Opposition

As a congregational mediator, the simple reason I have always had plenty of work to do is that there is no shortage of conflict among people…even in the church. But more than that, we (as the church) are not doing a very good job of equipping our leaders to deal with conflict. Thus, plenty of work for me.

Conflict comes from a variety of places for church leaders. There are lots of ways to categorize it. But perhaps the easiest and clearest general distinction is between inner conflict (from within the church) and external conflict (from the outside). Even as I begin discussing external opposition–the topic of this post–many church leaders will want to stop me and say: “but it is the INTERNAL conflict with which I struggle the most.” I get it. I see it. And I agree. But bear with me as I take up the external first, because that is the order we find it in Nehemiah. I promise, the discussion of internal conflict will be next.

There is a significant distinction between internal opposition and external opposition. The internal hurts us way more, because it is coming from our own “family”. Likewise, in terms of how (and, indeed, WHETHER) we engage any particular opposition, we have a much higher duty and responsibility to engage opposition from within than we do external opposition. They are different, and it is important to recognize that from the outset.

Our Revolution is Counter-cultural

Any student of this revolution we call Christianity will immediately recognize that facing external opposition is pretty much baked into our DNA. Over the course of God’s story throughout human history, there has always been opposition to God’s people. Always. Surely we should start by recognizing that reality. Jesus said it himself: “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.” John 15:18-19.

Indeed, over the course of history, in every circumstance where the church became aligned with the social and political powers of this world, it has died just a little bit more. On the other hand, where it has been persecuted and working against the mainstream culture, it has thrived. So, opposition from the outside is to be expected if we are making the impact we are called to make.

Nehemiah’s experience informs our understanding here. When he arrived on the scene of Jerusalem with plans of fortifying the city against neighboring factions by rebuilding its wall, he immediately felt the opposition of those outside forces. It would not have surprised him. Cities in those days were simply not safe without a wall. And, to those who have thrived by taking advantage of the weakness of a city,  building a wall would have been seen as an act of aggression. Nehemiah represented a threat to the existing power dynamics in the area.

Likewise, the upside down values of God’s kingdom often make no sense to this world and even present a threat to the world’s existing power dynamics. When that happens, we can expect opposition. Indeed, when it comes to being the church, if there is no tension at all as we engage our communities, if all our ways and our worldviews blend seamlessly with the world around us, then we are probably not doing it right.

Looking for a Fight

This, of course, does not mean we should go looking for fights for the sake of fighting. In some ways, church leaders are like any other leaders.  There are some who seem to thrive on conflict. If they can’t find any, they will create some, because it gives them a sense of importance. In other words, it gives them a sense of power. If these leaders can’t find a good fight in their own communities, they can always go online and join a fight against someone somewhere in the world. They become keyboard warriors, fighting fights against people they have never met in places they have never been. Not to belabor this point, but some of our pastors and leaders probably need to spend less time on social media and YouTube and more time in the homes of their own people.

Jesus did not warn us about being hated by the world so that we would make that a measure of our effectiveness. In Jesus’ case, there was only the occasional case of him intentionally engaging opposition in a premeditated way. In those cases, it was only after hours and hours of agonizing prayer. And even then, it came from a place of absolute knowledge of the hearts of those he opposed. So, for the church leader who uses Jesus’ angry outburst against the moneychangers in the temple as his/her excuse for starting fights online, maybe he/she should take a beat and refrain from claiming our Lord’s sinless righteousness for himself/herself.

So, as leaders of Christ followers, we do not go looking for fights. Rather, we go looking to love others in ways that befuddle the watching world. In that way, we make an impact that often ends up challenging the power dynamics of our communities. When that happens, we can expect to face opposition.

Pray First

When faced with external opposition, Nehemiah demonstrated how to respond: he prayed. And we have come to expect that from him. No less than nine different times in his short story in scripture, we see Nehemiah using prayer as his first and foremost response to pretty much everything. And so it should be with us as church leaders.

And, wow, what a prayer he prayed! “Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land!Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders.” Nehemiah 4:4-5. It is what we might call a desperate prayer for God’s justice, not unlike David’s imprecatory psalms. 

Also, Nehemiah’s choice to pray rather than engage in his enemies’ war of words show us something important. His enemies’ tactics were mockery and ridicule as a means of using social or political power against Nehemiah. Mind you, Nehemiah was not without political power himself. His tight relationship with (and blessings from) King Artaxerxes would have made it easy to destroy these enemies with his own political power. But his calling, like ours, was not one of social or political power. It was one of spiritual power. And that was the only power he was interested in engaging. As church leaders, may it be so for us as well.

Then Get Back to Work

After that prayer, Nehemiah demonstrates the second step in engaging this external opposition: At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm. Nehemiah 4:6. Nehemiah led the people to get back to work doing what God had called them to do. They did not retaliate. There were no social media campaigns. No public protests railing against the unjust power dynamics of the region. There were no press releases. No strategizing in back rooms about how to organize political forces against them. It is actually pretty instructive about how NOT to respond.

This is the point where having cast our vision correctly makes a big difference to our people. When we cast a vision that says the work is all up to us, then our people will mobilize against every opponent. But when we cast a vision that says we are merely joining God in work He is already doing, then our people feel permission to just get back to work and leave the fighting to God. Once we have prayed and led our people to do likewise, then we lead them to get back to work doing the last thing we know God called us to do.

The truth is, with most “external opposition”, the engaging of the enemies is the Lord’s work. A little later in Nehemiah’s story, he replies to the continued nagging of these enemies in this way: “I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?” Nehemiah 6:3. What if this were our attitude as well?

In my next post, we will talk about engaging opposition from WITHIN the church. It is a lot of work. And you will see then that you really have precious little time to be fighting battles outside the church.

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