Rainer states that leaders must “confront and communicate a sense of urgency.”[5] Until people understand why change is critical, they will resist it. Jim Collins refers to this as confronting the brutal facts (yet never lose faith). He writes, “You must maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, and at the same time, have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”[6] This is exactly what Nehemiah did when he said to the people of Jerusalem, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” (Nehemiah 2:17). He helped the people see the great urgency of the dilemma they faced, yet he gave them hope. This leads to the next principle for leading change.

Change is rarely easy, especially in a church. But pursuing healthy change is always worth the cost. Nehemiah proved himself to be a great change leader and has much to teach us by his example. Hopefully these three principles will be useful in your church context. Please check back next week for part two where we discuss the final four principles in a biblical theology of change.