The king asked, "Well, how can I help you?"
With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied, " If it please Your Majesty and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried."
Nehemiah 2:4-5

An important leader in our church told me that his work schedule had stretched him to the limit and he didn't know what to do about his church commitments. In these situations my default mode is to cut a person some slack. "Why don't we relieve you of your responsibility for a time," I'll usually say, "and you tell me when you are ready to serve again." Sometimes that is the right course, but I didn't think so in this case. I felt he needed to cut back on his work schedule (which he himself had set) rather than curtail his church involvement.

I told him I would pray and get back to him. Prayer only reinforced my view, and at that point I faced a decision. I knew that challenging him to sacrifice for Christ in this manner posed a big risk. He might ...