What Jethro told Moses (and what it means for your Tuesday)

The Jethro Plan gets its name from a short scene in Exodus 18 that's easy to skim past. But I think it may be one of the most practical passages in the Bible for anyone leading a small church.

Here's the story. Moses has led Israel out of Egypt. His father-in-law, Jethro, comes to visit. The next day, Jethro watches Moses sit from morning until evening while a line of people waits to bring him every dispute and every question. That evening, Jethro asks him, in effect, "What are you doing? Why are you doing all of this by yourself?"

Moses explains that the people come to him to hear from God. Jethro's answer is kind and blunt: "What you're doing isn't good. You'll wear yourself out, and the people too. This is too heavy for you. You can't do it alone" (Exodus 18:17 to 18, paraphrased).

Then Jethro gives him a plan. Here are four things that plan teaches us.

1. Sometimes you need someone outside the boat

Moses didn't see the problem. He was too close to it. It took someone who loved him, standing a little outside the work, to say what was obvious.

Who is your Jethro? A mentor, a retired pastor, a friend who leads in another church, or your spouse. Invite someone to look at your week and tell you plainly what they see.

2. The load was the problem, not the leader

Jethro didn't tell Moses he was failing. He told him the work was too heavy for one person. That's an important difference. If you're worn out, it may not mean you need to try harder. It may mean you're carrying something that was never meant for one set of shoulders.

Notice, too, that Jethro said the people would wear out as well. When one leader carries everything, the church waits in a long line.

3. Keep what only you can do

Jethro didn't tell Moses to step back from leading. He told him to keep the weighty matters: representing the people before God, teaching them God's ways, and showing them how to live (Exodus 18:19 to 20). Those were Moses' work.

You have a few things like that too. For many leaders, it's preparing to preach or teach, caring for people in crisis, and prayer. Everything else is a candidate to share, shrink, or schedule.

Notice that the first thing Jethro told Moses to keep was standing before God on behalf of the people. Sharing the load isn't mainly about getting more done. It's about protecting your time with God, so you have something from him to give his people.

4. Choose capable people, and trust them

Jethro told Moses to find capable, trustworthy people who honored God, and to let them handle the everyday matters while Moses took the hardest cases (Exodus 18:21 to 22). He didn't just hand off tasks. He handed off real responsibility.

That's harder than it sounds. Sharing the load means letting someone else do it their way, and sometimes not quite the way you would. But it's how more people get to use their gifts.

The promise at the end

Jethro closes with this: if Moses follows this plan, he'll be able to endure, and the people will go home satisfied (Exodus 18:23). That's the goal. Not a leader who does less, but a leader who lasts, and a church where more people are served well.

What it means for your Tuesday

Try this before the week ends:

1. List everything you did for the church last week.
2. Circle the three things only you can do.
3. Pick one thing that isn't circled, and write down the name of a capable person who could take it.
4. Ask them, kindly and specifically.
5. Call your Jethro and ask what they see.

Moses led for forty years. I suspect this conversation had something to do with that.