Article
How to Lighten the Leadership Load
Minimizing problems and being too embarrassed to ask for help will not help tumor-like issues resolve. Moses found himself in a similar situation.
In 1991, doctors at Stanford University Medical Center removed a 300-pound tumor from the stomach of a 34-year-old woman. The tumor was twice the size of her natural body weight! Reporters asked her the obvious question, “Why did you wait so long to get help?” She talked about denial. She was sure that it would get better. “I’m sure I can fix this. How much worse can it get?” But then, after she spoke of denial, she got to the gist of her concern. “By the time I realized it was a problem, I was too embarrassed to ask for help.” In other words, the more embarrassed she was, the bigger the tumor grew. And the more the tumor grew, the more ashamed she was to ask for help.
There’s a lesson here for many church planters. Minimizing problems and being too embarrassed to ask for help will not help tumor-like issues resolve. Moses found himself in a similar situation.
Take the Advice
In Exodus 18, the children of Israel were just freed from slavery in Egypt. This was Moses’s leadership opportunity of a lifetime, but very quickly, Moses became overwhelmed by the nation’s daily operations. Get the picture of Exodus 18:13, “The next day Moses sat down to judge the people, and they stood around Moses from morning until evening.” Have you ever felt like everyone was standing around while you were doing all the work? And what if it’s our fault?
We are often happy when people come to the church and watch us preach. Who doesn’t love encouragement? But if all we ever do is focus on building a crowd, then we will have discipled passive followers who can easily drain and chain our zeal. The children of Israel were a blessing to Moses, but their problems quickly turned Moses’ newfound freedom back into slavery. Moses’ father-in-law saw the toll that leadership took on Moses, and he came to him with this advice.
“Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and God be with you. You be the one to represent the people before God and bring their cases to him. Instruct them about the statutes and laws, and teach them the way to live and what they must do. But you should select from all the people able men, God-fearing, trustworthy, and hating dishonest profit. Place them over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They should judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you every major case but judge every minor case themselves. In this way you will lighten your load, and they will bear it with you.” (Exodus 18:19–22)
Get Help
Jethro wanted to make ministry more manageable for Moses, and he knew that the only way for that to happen was for him to share his load with others. So, Jethro tells Moses first to select capable people. This doesn’t mean that Moses made a simple announcement at worship service. This doesn’t mean that he put out a social media post. Moses had to go out and look for the right person and not wait for the available person. Action had to be taken. You will have to get, recruit, and train others for the mission. You will need to know your people enough to know who is ready to help.
- Planter, what duties in ministry are draining you because you aren’t asking for help?
- Have you started praying for someone to take that role from you?
Because I’ve realized the more I pray for someone, the more my antenna is up when that person ends up crossing my path. Don’t look for help without first looking to the Lord.
Who to Get
Jethro tells Moses to select capable people who fear God and are trustworthy.
The fear of God doesn’t mean being afraid of God; it’s the fear of dishonoring God. This is the kind of person who lives for the glory of God. Show me someone who loves God with all their heart, and you’ll see someone who is a lightning rod for the Holy Spirit. A trustworthy person is someone you’d let drive your kids, check your email, count the offering, and give counsel to a grieving family. You can entrust with responsibilities that you’d normally do. Do they fit the task? And will they do it in a God-honoring way?
Lastly, Jethro tells Moses to find someone who is capable. Character matters—and so do skills, talents, and gifts from the Spirit. Competency might get a person into leadership, but character keeps them there. Don’t compromise on any of these three attributes. Unless you want a negative, cancerous growth.
Coach Bear Bryant, one of the winningest coaches in college football history, said, “I’m just a plow hand from Arkansas, but I have learned how to hold a team together—how to lift some men up, how to calm some men down, until finally, they’ve got one heartbeat together as a team.” The greatest leaders have always known that acquiring and keeping good people is an essential task of leadership. Why? Because there are two different two handle a heavy load. At church, we can make the load easier by shrinking the church or by selecting great people to help carry the load. Choose the latter.
