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By Mike Caton

Exodus 18:21-23, “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.”

Jethro’s suggestion is really solid advice. He tells Moses to select Godly men, men who will be faithful to the Lord, not swayed by human influence or money, men who know God’s word (as it has been passed down to them) and put those men in charge of smaller groups. That way when the people have a dispute, they can go to someone closer to them. And if the problem is too big, it can go up the chain, all the way to Moses if it is necessary. That will make your load lighter, because you won’t have to hear every single case, the people can get the attention they need, and everyone (well, most folks) will be happy.

This is all about delegation of authority. One of my Bible college professors told us, “It is better to get ten men to do the work, than to do the work of ten men.” There is no doubt that is true. But the problem we so often run into is, how do we get those men to be willing to do the work? And this problem seems to have gotten bigger lately, no one wants to volunteer for any organization. We all see this, and too often the ones who do join up are not willing to do the work that needs to be done. What’s the old statistic? 10% of the people do 90% of the work? How can we change that? What will it take to get folks involved and willing to really step up?

I wish I had a good answer for that. But I suppose the solution has to begin at the individual level, each of us has to decide we are not just going to stand on the sidelines, we are going to get involved. And then those of us in leadership positions need to make sure we are willing for those folks to do, and we need to make sure they are trained to do, and we need to actually let them do. Honestly, some things might not be done as we would have done them, but that is probably OK. There is often more than one way to accomplish a goal. I think too often, at least part of the problem, is jealousy among the leadership. And so, there is plenty of responsibility on both sides.

Father, help me involve others. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Mike Caton is the preacher at Mount Olive Church of Christ in Belhaven. He volunteers at the Ponzer Fire Department and works full time with Hyde County EMS. If you would like to receive daily devotions in your inbox, email mikecaton@centurylink.net.

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