Developing Others as Leaders
1.3 Assignment Devotion. Moses Develops Leaders to Help Him
Getting Started
Moses had allowed himself to become a leadership bottleneck. As he tried to be all things to the Israelites, Moses began running himself ragged. He oversaw an estimated 2 million people and all day and night sat as a judge, putting an end to the people’s disputes. Moses was keeping an unsustainable pace. When his father-in-law, Jethro, came to visit, Jethro wisely realized that Moses would never be as effective as he could be unless he learned to multiply his leadership. Jethro reminded Moses of his unique calling as a leader and his responsibility to raise up more leaders. This was one of the first examples of organizational leadership in the Bible. Many people now recognize the father-in-law’s advice as “Jethro’s Principle”.
Read the following excerpt, When God Tells You to Stop(new tab) , about Moses and Jethro from Craig Groeschel’s book Divine Direction.
Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:
· Integrate faith perspectives with personal development and professional practice as a leader.
Background Information
Throughout this course on leadership development, we are going to consider how people in the Bible developed the leaders around them. This week, we will consider Moses and his father-in-law, Jethro.
Read(new tab) or listen(new tab) to Exodus 18:17-23:
Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 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. 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. Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 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. 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. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”
Reread verse 20 again: “Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave.”
This verse is often overlooked in this passage. That is, Jethro's advice is not just structural in nature; it is also spiritual in nature. The people had spent 430 years under Egyptian rule. They did not really have to think for themselves, as they woke up each morning and did what they were told. Deviation resulted in punishment. Now, under Moses’s leadership, they are experiencing freedom without (yet) a clear moral and behavioral code –– it took them three months to get to Mt. Sinai where the Ten Commandments and moral law were given. At this point, the Israelites have to bring everything to Moses because they have no other frame of reference for what God expects.
Thus, the small group and nested group structure that Jethro advises is not just to create structure but also to integrate moral law and understanding (i.e., the spiritual dimension) throughout the people. They need to learn what God expects... and live it out. The structural component has great organizational leadership implications but so does the spiritual component.
Instructions
1. Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
2. Review the information in the Getting Started section.
3. You may want to refer to your personal Bible for a preferred translation of the story of Moses and Jethro in Exodus 18.
4. Write a half-page reflection paper (Word document) that shares what sticks out to you about Moses in his development of other leaders. Consider his motivations for developing others, how he began, and how having more leaders impacted the people under his care and authority. Include your thoughts/perspectives on your motivations for developing other leaders.