Biblical Leaders: Jethro

As we continue to look at some of the leaders throughout the pages of scripture we want to take a look at a lesser known leader from the Old Testament, Jethro. This is also following up with the Biblical Leaders: Moses post I did last week. If you don’t know who Jethro is, you’re probably not alone. Jethro was a priest of Median as well as Moses’ father-in-law (Exodus 3:1). It’s there in Exodus 3 that Moses is called back to the land he ran from to lead the Israelites out of captivity. After some conversation with God, Moses returns to Jethro and asks his blessing to return to Egypt and do what God has called him to. Jethro’s response is,

“go in peace” (Exodus 4:18).

Moses heads back for Egypt and we don’t hear about Jethro again until Exodus 18. Moses has led the Hebrews out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and are camped out at the foot of the mountain when Jethro comes back into the picture.

When Jethro arrives he sees Moses sitting out in judgement over the people, making decisions of right and wrong and giving guidance. Jethro asks him,

“what are you doing?”

After Moses explains to Jethro what’s going on, Jethro puts on his father-in-law hat. This is one of the earliest instances of leadership coaching we see. There are three things Jethro tells Moses on what he needs to do.

First, he tells Moses to teach others. Much like Paul to Timothy, entrust to faithful men… (2 Timothy 2:2). Jethro told Moses to delegate. That he couldn’t continue to keep up at this pace, he would wear himself out. I know for myself, the art of delegating isn’t one that came easy for me. I’ve had to work at it and at time work even harder to not step in when someone is doing something differently than the way I would. I’ve said for a long time,

“the best leaders teach their team to lead and then give them the lead.”

Jethro was on to something!

Secondly, Jethro told Moses to appoint trustworthy officials to handle the day to day. To let them sit in judgement over the people and answer those questions. This, again, can be tough for a lot of leaders but when we come to a place of releasing some of the medial we can move into the magnificent. Allow for others to serve in their gifting and make a difference. In doing so you are not only giving yourself some margin but you’re also developing leadership in those around you.

Lastly, Jethro said for Moses to only handle the really tough cases. It doesn’t necessarily say the ones others couldn’t but I think it’s safe to assume that. There will still be times as leaders we have to answer the tough questions and even make the hard decisions. The burden of leadership eventually rests on the shoulders of the one at the top.

So what lessons can we learn from Jethro? We must learn to delegate. Not only to give them opportunities to serve and lead but to also teach them what leadership is all about. When we pass along things for our team to do, we are passing on small pieces of ourselves to them. When this occurs we create an empowering community that will continue to grow.

Who are you giving opportunity to? What leadership are you passing along to those you lead? Let us empower them for their good and ours as well!

Photo by Pawan Sharma on Unsplash