Audio Transcript
We all know the feeling of biting off more than we can chew — committing to too much, thinking we could do it all, confident in our own skills. And then comes time to do the work, and it’s too much. We needed help, but we didn’t get the help. Now we’re buried; we overwork and we burn out. That happens in life, it happens in leadership, and, of course, it certainly happens in ministry, as we see in Exodus 18, which we read together next week. Jethro warns Moses that effective and productive leadership requires shared responsibility. It’s not a one-man show.
All of this is on the mind of Mark in Chicago, Illinois: “Pastor John, hello and thank you for helping me and countless other pastors to lead better through this podcast. In Exodus 18:17–23, Jethro tells Moses to learn how to delegate by saying things like:
What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. . . . Look for able men . . . and let them judge the people at all times.
“Effective ministry requires pastoral wisdom and administrative stewardship, including the ability to delegate, equip others, and maintain sustainable structures. As a pastor, how did you personally approach the administrative responsibilities of leadership, such as organizing ministry teams, managing church finances, or overseeing internal communication, all while staying anchored in your primary calling to shepherd souls? What principles shaped the way you led and delegated within your church?”
Layers of Leadership
There were key seasons in the life of our church in my 33-year pastorate where this passage from Exodus 18:17–23 was very significant. I think especially of a growing season in which we needed to provide pastoral care for hundreds and then thousands of people, and how to do it became a major issue: “Are we going to take membership seriously, and not only care for members as pastors in the church — but also, are the members going to be known and accountable so that church discipline becomes feasible and normal?” And it became clear to us that this was simply not going to happen if all the church members looked only to the staff pastors for that kind of care and accountability. If we were going to provide pastoral care and accountability, it would have to be through several layers of leadership.
Now, not everybody knows the story from Exodus 18, from which we learn so much, so let me read it for the folks so they can see what we’re talking about here. Moses was trying to settle all the matters of dispute in Israel himself. That’s impossible, right? And his father-in-law comes along and sees how unworkable this is, and here’s what he says in Exodus 18:17–23:
What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.
Four Guidelines for Leaders
We as a team of pastors and elders saw at least four guidelines in this story.
1. God’s appointed leader should embrace his leadership role but renounce any Superman syndrome, as though he can do this on his own. So, yes to leadership, no to Superman.
2. The leader should put in place an effective process of finding and equipping qualified partners in the accomplishment of the task at hand. That’s a huge responsibility that the main leader has. Right here, the whole thing can go off the rails if you aren’t careful to find qualified people. If you put unqualified people in place who are theologically unsound or personally ill-equipped for the task, the whole thing can go awry. Even though a beautiful organizational structure can be put in place, the senior leader needs to take responsibility for teaching about what kind of people should be in these shared leadership roles. That’s what I found to be my primary responsibility in the process.
3. This emerging team of leaders should create structures in which these partners can effectively minister. In Moses’s case, it was thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. It might be different. I don’t think that’s a prescription for all the details of every church, just whatever is helpful.
4. This is often overlooked in this text. In Exodus 18:20, Moses, the leader, continues to speak to all the people concerning the word of God and thus provides overarching vision and inspiration for the people and for his partners in ministry. That trumpet from the senior leader — week in, week out from the pulpit and in the elder meetings — was essential to make the whole thing work. I used to say that I was simply the spark plug at Bethlehem that exploded once a week in the pulpit on Sunday. My colleagues (especially Tom Steller in those early days) built the drivetrain for the car and all the other parts that made the vehicle move, and I was just the pow, pow, pow in the motor.
“Leadership is crucial, but leadership is not intended to be a one-man show.”
A similar principle of administration is found in Acts 6:3–4, where some of the widows were being overlooked, and the apostle said, “Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And a similar principle is expressed in Ephesians 4:12, where the pastors are “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
In all these texts (and others), the principle is that leadership is crucial, but leadership is not intended to be a one-man show. The leader exists to serve the health of the body of Christ and the mission of the church, and he puts in place whatever administrative structures and gifted people are needed to get that done. The Bible speaks in terms of elders and deacons.
No Room for Passivity
One of the things that I have seen the longer I’ve watched the processes of personnel and administration and growth is that leadership is just as important as shared leadership. In other words, I think some leaders — I’m thinking here mainly of pastors — use the principle of shared leadership to abdicate their role as leader. Organizations do not function dynamically, effectively, or fruitfully when leaders are passive as they wait for the structures they’ve put in place to somehow take initiative.
No matter how many administrative structures are created, there is always a need for strong, initiative-taking, creative, inspiring, hard-thinking, executive leadership. Jethro’s thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens were essential, but they could not replace Moses. I think that’s true today as well.
