Exodus 18, Luke 15

Thursday, February 28, 2008 - Brandon Hatmaker (Exodus 18, Luke 15)

"We're not alone: Leadership "content" and "style"

A few days ago a good friend of mine from Global Action (amazing ministry) forwarded an email to me asking my thoughts on Mark Driscoll's teaching on "tough times as a Christian" in response to a sermon Joel Osteen did. Initially, I thought to myself, oh, geeze... how can I avoid this. But I've realized that I have an opinion on it (certainly leaning towards Driscoll) and those thoughts probably helped shape how I read Exodus 18 today in the area of hardship. I'm so thankful for friends asking tough questions because if we let them, we'll find new perspective and fresh encouragement.

God’s Word is so full and complete. There is so much to learn as we study the stories of old and we unfold the teachings and life of Christ. In both Exodus 18 and Luke 15 we see amazing illustrations of leadership. There are two elements that cannot be ignored, leadership content and leadership style.

(Exodus 18) Leadership Content… and a little perspective to boot.

“Moses told his father-in-law about everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them.” Vs.8

You can’t discuss Exodus 18 and not bring up the topic of leadership. Leadership is certainly hard. Even with God’s hand on the nation of Israel, there were hardships along the way. But those hardships were not accidental and ultimately had one primary goal: Glory was brought to God as he saved them.

There is a significant word found in verse 8 that can easily be missed. The word is, “they”. “Moses told his father-in-law… about all the hardships THEY had met along the way.” Moses was speaking of himself and the Israelites as a group.

Hardship is not reserved only for those in authority. If we forget that, we can easily slip into thinking we’re all alone. I’ve done that. I’ve found myself in moments where I think no one understands what I’m going through. But, I'm not alone, especially in hardship. Not only is God with us, but we also share a common thread with all who are leaders as well as with those who are not. Everyone has hardship, believers and skeptics alike. We have to remember this or we are at risk of losing our compassion and/or ability to empathize and relate with each other. This is true for those who we lead, for those who we partner, as well as for those who lead us. If I lose compassion and my ability to empathize, I will lose my ability to connect and potentially lose my sense of community.

I’m sure there were many within the Israelites who struggled with doubt, fear, confusion, and exasperation. From Moses’ officials to the youngest father worried about his new family, there was hardship for each. We have the advantage of learning from their experience and Christ’s teaching. It’s important for all of us to remember Christ’s words, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Why did he tell us this (among other related things)? He answered it in the prior sentence, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.” Jesus said that our peace, will come in HIM, not the circumstances of our journey.

What was Jethro’s response to what Moses said? He was “delighted” and gave praise to God. (vs.9-10) He didn’t ask, “Bro, why did you struggle so much? That’s not God’s will. Is there un-confessed sin in your life? What was God trying to tell you? If you just have faith, you won’t have trouble.”

If we expect to go without hardship or trial, whether we are a leader or follower, we are setting ourselves up for massive disappointment. That’s not a Biblical concept. If this is our heart and mindset, it can easily keep us from reaching out to God when we struggle. Instead, we will begin to accuse God, or become bitter as we wonder where He went.

Then when we ask the question as the Israelites did at the end of Chapter 17, "Is the LORD among us or not?" we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is.

Another amazing leadership theme of Exodus 18 is delegation. Moses had slipped into the pattern of doing everything himself… I don’t know if that was a trust issue or a control issue, but both are bad. Jethro gave incredible instruction to Moses on leading such a massive group. I heard an amazing message a couple years ago by T.D. Jakes on Jethro’s leadership advice. It was very inspiring. In it, he focused on our need to determine our leadership structure based on the magnitude of those we lead. Granted, very few of us are leading more than a million people on a single mission at one location, but there are some great lessons to be learned on leadership content.

Here’s what Jethro said starting in verse 17, "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 the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. 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."

This scripture is so rich and speaks to itself. Many thoughts are obvious, but we need to be reminded to give stuff away often.

But here is something not so obvious. Jethro instructed Moses to delegate judges for the people at ALL times. They were responsible for each case, all of them. But in vs. 22 it says to have them bring every difficult case to him. It does not say that at that point, Moses took that case, and the burden that came with them, and decided alone. It says that they would share the burden of this difficult decision with him. “That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you”, even better yet, “you’ll be able to stand the strain” and just as great, “these people will go home satisfied” (vs.23). He's saying that he's even more likely to make a better decision... or better yet... avoid a bad one when he shares the load even on the tough decisions. This is a Biblical concept not new to us. "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." - Proverbs 15:22

This was not a situation of isolation. Let there be no doubt, there were moments Moses made ultimate decisions. That may or may not have been because of a “tie-breaking-vote”… he was indeed in charge, had the responsibility before God, and had the authority before God. But he was not alone.

The power of delegation is the team and community that comes with it. The freedom from dealing with details we consider unimportant is just the icing on the cake.

(Luke 15) Leadership Style

The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son are all amazing word pictures found in this chapter. They are laced with the concepts of value, relationship, and compassion. Jesus told these stories as he was leading others. They reflect a way of life that is an example to all of us. They reflect who Jesus is. Among many other things, the Old Testament is laced with incredible stories and teaching on leadership content (the what). Jesus in the New Testament is such a great teacher on leadership style (the how).

Our “style” is so significant. Style is the reflection of a person. It’s defined as a particular, distinctive, or characteristic mode of action or manner of acting. Jesus most certainly had a “style” in which he did things. It was a style motivated by love, but even more so, illustrated through compassionate action. As believers, our goal is to become more like Christ not only in our hearts, but also in our actions. That means we must lead like Christ. That’s one of the reasons Jesus said, “…wisdom is proved right by her actions.” And that changes things…. ask Saul… I mean Paul. We all have our personal style that we have to overcome in order to lead more like Jesus. My natural "style" is completely jacked up, and I have to try to surrender it every day. Unfortunately, some days I don't, and I mess things up.

In the secular world, we can lead by content alone and see measurable success. There are moments we can lead with style alone, and see types of success as well. But when used exclusive one another, often that success is temporary (I acknowledge also that there are many “non-tangible” or even uncontrollable elements of success such as timing, culture, and trends). I spent a couple hours this week with an incredible group of Church Planters and established Pastors in the Austin area and we discussed how we “should” measure success. It was a great conversation but exposes how relative this question really is to us.

As Christ followers we cannot lead with only "content", without regard for the "style" of Christ, and consider it PERSONAL success. Often, I give myself way too much credit. One thing for sure, God will always succeed. The question is, did I have the honor of Him using me in that success, or did He have to go around me to do it? In a similar way that Jesus brought completion to the law, He also brings completion to Christian leadership.

I’m reading a book right now that is challenging me in this area called, “Brothers we are not professionals” by John Piper. It’s a tough read, not academically but personally. But it's also a refreshing read. It’s a great reminder to keep my eye on the “style” of Jesus. What came to my mind today as I read Luke 15 is that if I was to truly study the life of Jesus, I would gain the same perspective every time I opened the Bible.

Father, keep us compassionate people. Help us to stay in tune with the lives of those we lead and minister to. Help us to know and trust the leadership ways of Jesus. When we fail to lead with both content and style, I pray that we always fall towards the side of style.