Have you ever had a Jethro moment? When someone who loves you enough to be honest looks at the load you have been carrying and says, “This is not good.” Here comes that moment, and with it some practical leadership lessons for us all.
“Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” 24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.” (Exodus 18 v 19-27)
We have a lovely British custom of welcoming someone to our home who has travelled a long way. Almost immediately after saying, “Welcome, it’s good to see you,” we ask, “How was your journey?”
You see, how we got there is as important as getting there. It’s not about achieving, but how you achieved it. Not about successful work, but how you got there. Not about staying married, but how you stay married.
According to his father-in-law, Moses wasn’t doing too well with the how of life. Day after day he sat as judge from morning until evening, a nation of newly freed slaves lining up to have him alone settle their disputes. It looked like faithfulness. It was actually a slow road to collapse.
You may not be doing too well with the how either. So here’s some advice from old man Jethro:
1. Find out the ‘must’. Highlight the very important matters (v19). Not everything that lands on your desk deserves your personal attention.
2. Realise, in thought and deed, that you are not God. (v19) Moses stood as the people’s representative before God, a vital role, but a limited one. The moment we forget the limits, we start carrying weight we were never built to bear.
3. Focus on the DNA. Culture is more important than command (v. 20). Jethro’s first instruction wasn’t about structures. It was about teaching decrees, instructions, and a way of life. Get the culture right, and the systems will hold.
4. Break the task down. Smaller sections, chapters, seasons so that nothing is missed or overlooked (v21-22). Officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. Even a nation’s worth of disputes becomes manageable in pieces.
5. Know you cannot get through life’s journey without trusting people. (v21, 25-26) Capable men, God-fearing, trustworthy, free from dishonest gain. Moses had to let go of the illusion that only he could be trusted with the load.
Moses listened. He didn’t defend his old way of doing things, but he simply obeyed. And the whole camp went home satisfied.
The hard cases still came to him. The role as the people’s representative before God remained his. He carried what he was meant to carry not what people expected him to. Shared leadership is carrying the right responsibility.
Missions Paul 