Finding Your Place in God’s Work of Restoration
Ask the Pastor with J.D. Greear
Audio By Carbonatix
By J.D. Greear, Crosswalk.com
When God starts to restore a society, what does that look like in practice? Is it primarily a matter of spiritual awakening, or economic flourishing, or of social reform? Which of those three is the most important building block for God’s plan of restoration?
I’m sure you have an answer. And I’m sure you have reasons for your answer. Let’s see if it lines up with Nehemiah's experience.
Nehemiah was the third leader in a three-wave restoration project that God was bringing to his people. The first wave had been overseen by Zerubbabel (incredible name, by the way), who had overseen the rebuilding of the Temple and the restoration of public worship. That took place in 538 BC and is recorded in the first half of the book of Ezra. The second wave was led by a priest named Ezra, who reacquainted the people with the Word of God. He literally read the Word over the people, explained it to them, and called them to obey it. The third wave was led by Nehemiah, who in 445 BC led the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem—walls that gave the city an identity, restored order, and allowed economic and civic life to flourish again.
Another reformer who worked alongside these three was Esther. Esther served as Queen in Persia, in the very place Nehemiah served. In fact, some scholars suggest that the queen mentioned in Nehemiah 2:6 was Esther. Esther had been married to King Artaxerxes’ father and was the queen of the realm. It’s also possible she was still alive, even after her husband had passed. The fact that Nehemiah mentions the presence of the queen on the throne in Nehemiah 2:6 (seemingly randomly) suggests that the queen had some kind of special significance to him, so it could be Esther. But whether Nehemiah 2:6 is about Esther or not, Esther had a key role in the restoration project, too. You can read all about it in the book that bears her name, but here’s a spoiler: Through her own cleverness and God’s divine intervention, Esther protected her fellow Israelites from a horrendous act of racial genocide.
Interesting, isn’t it? Spiritual renewal came through Zerubbabel and Ezra; economic flourishing came through the work of Nehemiah; and social reform came through Esther’s courageous work within the civil government. Tim Keller, looking at all of this, makes an insightful point: “Here you have male and female, lay and clergy. You have people working for spiritual maturity, economic flourishing, and better public policy, in cultures that defined and valued these ideas differently from the Jews. God uses them all in his restoration project.”
So … spiritual, economic, or social? If these OT stories provide any pattern at all, these three elements arrive in a troop. God’s plan of restoration always involves spiritual awakening, economic flourishing, and social reform. They are all woven together into one intricate fabric of restoration. Wherever the gospel is preached, renewal comes to all three areas.
There is, however, a priority. Even though God renews all three areas, the spiritual always comes first. Tony Evans points out that this is what made the Civil Rights movement so effective. The Civil Rights movement in our country wasn’t perfect, he says, not by a long shot, but the movement leaders almost always prayed before they marched, and they always put God and his commands about justice at the center of everything, which gave the movement not only a grander purpose but also a lasting permanence. But, importantly, they didn’t stop with the spiritual. Wherever the gospel is preached, social reforms follow, and economic flourishing is the result.
Barry Asmus, an economist who co-wrote a book with theologian Wayne Grudem titled The Poverty of Nations, demonstrated that in societies where the populace adopts a Christian worldview, human and economic flourishing have consistently followed. They argue that the Christian worldview is an expression of God’s design, so it shouldn’t surprise us that we flourish when we operate according to it. We’re operating the machine according to the owner’s manual, duh.
Some of you might read that and say, “Well, of course they think that; they’re Christians.”
Fair point. But they’re not alone in their finding. Take Nicolas Kristof, for instance, who writes for the New York Times about human progress and the end of human rights abuses around the world. Kristoff is an atheist, but in an article of his I read years ago, he said that wherever he went in the world studying social reform, he couldn’t get over the fact that just about everywhere he found social reform, he found Christians at the center—hospitals, nonprofits, empowerment programs in poor neighborhoods. Over and over, it was Christians who were driving the work. In fact, he said, it drove him nuts, because he was trying to convince secular people to care for the poor, but he had to admit that Christians had a centuries-long head start on him.
Noted British Historian Tom Holland (no, not that Tom Holland) says the same things. Also, not a professing believer, he says, look through the best parts of our history, and you’ll find Christianity at the center of our best social reforms—the abolition of slavery, the rise of women’s suffrage, child labor laws, universities, hospitals, the social safety net—those leading the way in these things were Christians.
What’s the point? When it comes to changing society, we all have a role to play—spiritual, economic, and social. None of us can pick up all three, but all of us should pick up something. And we do so, remembering that all of these endeavors play a role in manifesting Christ’s kingdom on earth.
Perhaps God is calling you to be an “Ezra,” a full-time minister of the gospel, whether here or abroad. If that’s you, then go for it! What a calling! What a privilege!
Perhaps God is calling you to be a “Nehemiah,” building the infrastructure of society. If that’s you, then go for it! What a calling! What a privilege!
Perhaps God is calling you to be an “Esther,” bringing social reforms to dark and broken parts of your community. If that’s you, then go for it! What a calling! What a privilege!
Whether you’re an Ezra or a Nehemiah or an Esther, God has a place for you in the work of his kingdom. So don’t believe the lie that what you’re doing is insignificant. God has appointed it; God has empowered it; and God will be with you, all along the way.
J.D. Greear is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. He hosts Summit Life, a 30-minute daily radio broadcast and weekly TV program as well as the Ask the Pastor podcast. Pastor J.D. Greear has authored many books, most notably Gospel, Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, and Gaining by Losing.
Pastor J.D. completed his Ph.D. in Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Chick-fil-A, serves as a Council member for The Gospel Coalition, and recently served as the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Pastor J.D. and his wife Veronica are raising four awesome kids.
"Editor's Note: Pastor JD Greear's "Ask the Pastor" column regularly appears at Christianity.com, providing biblical, relatable, and reliable answers to your everyday questions about faith and life. Email him your questions at [email protected]."
