In Exodus 18, we read that Moses had a reunion of sorts with his Jethro, his-father-in-law. who was a "priest of Midian." When he heard all that the Lord had done for His people, Jethro offered sacrifices to the Lord and worship Yahweh, Moses' God. Then Jethro observed Moses' work habits and gave his now famous and oft-followed advice:
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" (Exodus 18:17-23).
Every commentary or sermon on this passage indicates that Jethro taught Moses how to delegate and this model is accepted as the gospel truth. (Well, maybe not gospel because it is in the Old Testament, but you get what I mean.) Because that is the standard interpretation that is accepted without question, let's spend just a brief moment to see if there could be another way of looking at Jethro's advice.
In the New Testament, no hierarchy of leadership was established such as the one in Exodus 18. In Acts 6 when the widows were not being cared for, the apostles put the burden back on the people to solve their own problems, so they held an election and the apostles gave all the authority to handle the issue to those elected officials. Then in another instance, a man cried out to Jesus for justice:
“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:13-15).
In essence, Jesus, like the apostles in Acts 6, refused to get involved, instead describing general principles that should be followed and leaving the problem for others to settle.
Could it be that Jethro imparted a Midianite technique to management that seems to be wise but is not? (Keep in mind, this did not help Moses with his work overload for the people continued to look to him to do what only the Lord could do.). Does the Bible include this story to endorse this method of leadership or is it included simply because it was factual and indicated the dysfunction of the people and their deficient spirituality? Where have you accepted a biblical interpretation without examining it for yourself or challenging the commonly-held conclusions? Where have we set up a system that establishes our leaders as problem-solvers they are not equipped or called to handle?
At the end of the day, the lesson of this story may very well be the usual interpretation preached and taught everywhere. Then again, part of your creativity may be to vary your approach to stories whose truth you have assumed you knew only to find that there are other lessons you failed to examine because you accepted what others had to say and didn't study it for yourself.
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