I love Nehemiah 3 (Please take a few minutes to skim it.) where nearly everyone is working on the wall. It’s the theme of my book Everyone on the Wall, and I write often about God’s intention that all his people are on mission. I wrote yesterday that the first people mentioned in Nehemiah’s list of wall builders was the high priest and the other priests:

Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set its doors. They consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Tower of Hananel. (Nehemiah 3.1, ESV)

The high priest and his fellow priests would have had to leave the daily duties of the newly rebuilt temple. That’s really important. I frequently challenge pastors to invest in people (Please see 2 Timothy 2.2, where Paul tells Timothy precisely that.), but the number one excuse for pastors is they’re too busy doing the work of the church. (Too busy doing the work of the church to do the important work of the church!) These priests just had their temple rebuilt. Now they can get back to the daily sacrifices! No. Leave that and go build the wall.

Continuing with Nehemiah. The list of laborers in chapter 3 includes only one set of non-laborers:

And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord. (Nehemiah 3.5, ESV) 

Except for them, a lot of people worked. Identified by where they were from, their family names, their occupations, etc. Daughters were mentioned. In chapter 3, the work was getting done because everyone was involved. The famous English preacher Charles Spurgeon said:

Each of us must give personal service to Christ. Do you not know that all God’s people are priests? God’s priests are those who are alive from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, and every man and woman who loves Jesus is a priest to God. Let us never say, “We have a minister; let him serve God for us.” I can do nothing to carry the responsibilities God has given you. Serve God yourself. It is as much as I can do to serve Him, and it is only by His grace that I am upheld under my own load. But as for being a proxy for you, I cannot do anything of the kind. – Charles Spurgeon, The Power of Prayer in the Believer’s Life, pages 88, 89

We can’t hire pastors to do our work even though that’s part of the assumption sometimes. A friend of mine told a story years ago about a young man called to be a missionary. His father said, “I’m really glad, son. I think God was calling me to be a missionary, but I didn’t do it. You can go for me.” The son replied, “Dad, I’m going for me. You have to go for you!”

I’ve written many times that before we can be a “missionary” to some far-off land, we are already missionaries here. On mission. Doing the work that God has called us to. “On the wall.”

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2.10, NLT)