Exodus 18:1-27
Jethro, Moses' father-in-law had received word of the great exodus of the children of Israel, led by the great patriarch Moses out of Egypt and wanted to congratulate Moses personally. Upon his arrival in the wilderness, Jethro was glad to hear of all the great things that God had brought them through. The two spent the day blessing God, providing offerings and sacrifices to the Lord, and eating with their close friends and family.
The next day, Moses was once again bombarded with questions and concerns brought to him by the Israelites. Moses did his very best to tend to all the needs of the people all by himself. This was a very tiring process which undoubtedly led to unnecessary stress on the man of God. But because there was no body offering their help and Moses failed to delegate some of this responsibility to some capable men, Moses suffered greatly. Jothro stood by, observing the less than ideal circumstances until he couldn't withhold his concerns and wisdom any longer.
Jethro first explained that this was not healthy for Moses nor the Israelites. By Moses trying to handle every need, and pastor this large group by himself, Jethro warned that this would ultimately wear down him and those he was trying to help in the end. Jethro went on to give some very good words of wisdom that we can also learn from today. Jethro was telling Moses, "if you listen to these instructions, I promise, it will make you a better leader". Jethro told Moses to choose several men that meet a certain criteria and instruct them to assist you in meeting the needs of the people. Let's first look at the requirements of those men who were to assist their leader:
They must fear God. (In most cases, when the Bible talks about "fearing" God, it is talking about reverencing God; respecting God. As leaders and assistants to out pastors, we must first and foremost respect the God we serve. We do this by being obedient to the Word of God and also by respecting the office of our pastor. We are called to serve, just as Jesus was. We must serve God and the man of God.)
They must be men of truth. (Honesty is one of the most important aspects of being a leader, especially in God's kingdom. We must be honest with God, honest with our pastors, honest with our family and friends and even honest with ourselves. The Bible is clear about those who are not honest and what happens to them. While a lie may seem like the best option in the moment, it will always lead to more sorrow and regret. The Bible says, "the truth shall make you free". Freedom from the shame of our sins is the result of first being honest.)
They must hate covetousness. (This is one of the hardest tasks for leaders in the day that we currently live. With all the "stuff" we can accumulate and a growing love for material items to try and fill the void in each of us, we must be intentional not to love things created more than our creator. Also, we must avoid the desire to acquire what others have that we wish were ours. Contentment is a valuable lesson to learn. No amount of stuff is worth losing our soul.)
Jethro goes on to tell Moses to place some leaders in charge over thousands, some over hundreds, some over fifties, and some over tens. The lesson to learn here is that while pastor may ask Bro. John Smith to be in charge over something that is important and "in the spotlight" but asks Sis. Jane Doe to do a task that nobody will see and nobody knows about, both should realize that the Kingdom of God is being built because of their obedience and submissiveness to their pastor. Not every job in the kingdom is going to be the one you want but every job in the kingdom is important. We must remain faithful in whatever our pastor tasks us with doing, even in the "tens". The Bible says that the last shall be first.
Also notice that none of the chosen assistants were to take on the role and responsibility of the pastor. Jethro told Moses to instruct them to bring every "great matter" to him as the pastor of the people but allow them to handle smaller matters. We too must learn to heed the instruction of our pastor and trust his judgement. We need to remain faithful in every task and never step outside of our submission to our pastor. Working with, and not against our pastor is what will propel us into great revival.
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