This episode applies the "half-and-half" strategy of Nehemiah to the body of Christ, in which, on the one hand, we're called to actively work in ministry, but on the other, we protect the progress we've made up to that point. All of Nehemiah's men participated in building the wall, but carried swords while they were building. Every Christian should work in ministry in some capacity, while adopting a defensive posture to protect what the Holy Spirit has done. Interestingly, the primary adversary of the Christian is not the "evil" out there, but his own residual sympathies towards evil, in which casting down thoughts, imaginations and strongholds is the responsibility of every Christian when dealing with himself. This defensive posture is absolutely necessary when actively working to build up the body of Christ.
Build the Wall and Bring Your Sword
This episode provides a realistic picture of ministry based on Nehemiah 4:16-23. Opposition to the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem necessitated that half defended while the other half worked. This strategy is carried over into the New Testament where believers are called to aggressively seize the kingdom while putting on the whole armor of God (Luke 16:16, Eph. 6:10-17). While all believers are transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13), we are nevertheless all under construction, where the Holy Spirit progressively drives out our remaining sympathies with the evil one. This suggests that a balanced approach to ministry is preserving what God has already done while He directs us to build and expand His kingdom. And the local body of Christ, where "every joint supplies,"