Exodus 18:13-23 [NIV] | 13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.” 17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 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.”
We all look for a hero, that special person who can do it all, right? The Israelites looked to Moses for answers to fix the community problems. Moses sought out the challenge and made himself available to everyone thinking that was God’s will for his life – to handle the full load. We do the same thing in our churches. We seek a leader who has the gifts and talents to meet the needs of all people. Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, witnessed how inefficient Moses was to the people in his struggle to be all things to everyone who approached him. We can learn a great lesson from Moses in how we can be a part of the solution, and not the challenge.
History repeats itself and today we see churches burning out their pastors and key leaders over unimportant matters that only distract the church from its key purpose – making disciples of all nations and teaching them to obey Jesus. We place unrealistic burdens upon our leaders drawing them away from the purpose for which they were called. When the purpose of being the church of God gets diluted by the business of church, people get tired, restless, and eventually lose site and hope. Satan would have it no other way than for the people of God to be distracted from the true purpose for which one serves.
Being and doing church is a team effort woven together with many gifted people whom God has called to lead. God chooses capable men and women to serve those entrusted to the churches care. As God’s people serve together in harmony, each can stand the strain and challenges. It takes everyone in the church doing their part together to build thriving ministries and opportunities to grow God’s kingdom. We must ask ourselves, “What is my role in the church of God? How can I help, and not hinder, as God leads?” Yes, we all want a Moses leading the way, but God tells us it is not good to have a leader take on a heavy load. It takes team doing their part together and you are on the team.
Prayer:
Lord, open my eyes to the opportunities to serve you and your church. Lead me to be an instrument of your mercy and grace. In Jesus name. Amen.
Action Plan:
Today I will seek God’s will for my life in being a team player in the mission of the church to be God’s instrument.
Pastor Rod Lindemann
I Can’t | Jesus Can | Jesus Can Through Me