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Monday, April 4, 2016

There is a big difference between having authority and having moral authority. Authority grants you power, but moral authority affords you influence. There exists a big difference between power and influence. You can twist people’s arms by using power but you can impact their hearts through influence. You can force people through the use of power, but you can lead and guide them through influence.

Nehemiah was a man of both authority and moral authority. In his capacity as Governor of Judah, he had the positional authority and the power to govern the people of Jerusalem. However, it was his moral authority which was a result of his character, that gave him influence over the people he governed.

Nehemiah and the people of Jerusalem were more than halfway done with the rebuilding of the walls when things suddenly went south! There was a group of men, who instead of participating in the project, decided to take advantage of the workers. They loaned them money at high interest rates and took their businesses and properties as collateral and then repossessed these when the loans could not be repaid. This situation created great problems among the people who went and complained to Nehemiah about the practices of these men. After giving it some thought, Nehemiah addressed these men publicly, requesting that they refrain from their abusive practices and that they return to the people their properties and businesses. The incredible thing here, is that they actually accepted Nehemiah’s request. They did so not because of the power Nehemiah had as appointed Governor of Judah; surely they could have chosen to ignore him. They accepted his request because of the moral authority Nehemiah earned during a twelve-period in which his integrity was on display.

Nehemiah 5:14-18 NLT

For the entire twelve years that I was governor of Judah—from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of the reign of King Artaxerxes neither I nor my officials drew on our official food allowance. The former governors, in contrast, had laid heavy burdens on the people, demanding a daily ration of food and wine, besides forty pieces of silver. Even their assistants took advantage of the people. But because I feared God, I did not act that way. I also devoted myself to working on the wall and refused to acquire any land. And I required all my servants to spend time working on the wall. I asked for nothing, even though I regularly fed 150 Jewish officials at my table, besides all the visitors from other lands! The provisions I paid for each day included one ox, six choice sheep or goats, and a large number of poultry. And every ten days we needed a large supply of all kinds of wine. Yet I refused to claim the governor’s food allowance because the people already carried a heavy burden.

Authority gives you the power to govern, but moral authority gives you the power to lead. There are many powerful people in the world who govern through laws and decrees. There are however few people with moral authority who can lead through their character and integrity. We must learn to develop moral authority because God created, designed, crafted, and purposed us to lead people through our character and integrity as opposed to governing them through positional power or authority.