On one occasion a man was coming out of church one day, and the preacher was standing at the door as he always was to shake hands. He grabbed this guy by the hand and pulled him aside. The Pastor said to him, “You need to join the Army of the Lord!” The guy replied, What do you mean? I’m saved!” “I’m already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor.” The Pastor questioned, “How come I don’t see you except at Easter, Mother’s day and Christmas?” He whispered back, “I’m in the secret service.” But do you know what Dottie Peoples said? She sings a song entitled “Closet Religion.” Dottie says, “I don’t have a closet religion, I can’t hide the God I serve, I’ve got to let the world know, wherever I go, I’ve got to praise and serve the Lord!” Dottie says I don’t have a part-time religion, but I want to let the world know wherever I go, I’ve got to praise and serve the Lord! God has not called us to be secret service leaders, but servant leaders who live for him openly and without shame. Did you notice how Jesus performed his ministry? Mostly outside or in public view. When he healed the sick, most of them were healed outside. When he raised Lasarus from the dead, that was done outside. He performed miracles outside! When he died on the cross, it was done outside. Even though they buried him in a borrowed tomb, He rose on the world’s first Easter Sunday morning, outside! So where should your ministry be performed, privately, no, outside. People should see the resurrected Christ in your life in public view, outside. My friends, God is looking for men who do not make excuses about being drafted into his Army. He is looking for some men who are willing to come along side the Pastor of this church, or wherever you membership may be. Men who are willing to come along side their Pastor and help lighten the load. The text that we will study for just a few minutes is Exodus 18:13-21. Reading from the New Century Version, it says: “13 The next day Moses solved disagreements among the people, and the people stood around him from morning until night. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, "What is all this you are doing for the people? Why are you the only one to solve disagreements? All the people are standing around you from morning until night!" 15 Then Moses said to his father-in-law, "It is because the people come to me for God’s help in solving their disagreements. 16 When people have a disagreement, they come to me, and I decide who is right. I tell them God’s laws and teachings." 17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, "You are not doing this right. 18 You and the people who come to you will get too tired. This is too much work for you; you can’t do it by yourself. 19 Now listen to me, and I will give you some advice. I want God to be with you. You must speak to God for the people and tell him about their disagreements. 20 Warn them about the laws and teachings, and teach them the right way to live and what they should do. 21 But choose some capable men from among the people -- men who respect God, who can be trusted, and who will not change their decisions for money. Make these men officers over the people, to rule over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. That is my subject, “Leaders who help lighten the load. Up to this point, the children of Israel, who are known as God’s chosen people have been delivered out of Egypt from the bondage of Pharoh. God had taken them through the Red Sea on dry ground, fed them manna and bread from heaven, allowed them to be victorious in the fight against the Amalikites, and now they are camped in the Sinai desert next to Mt. Sinai. This chapter is prior to Moses’ receiving the ten commandments from God. When we catch up with Moses in verse 13 we see Moses settling the disputes and counseling the people from morning to evening. Moses’ father-in-law saw this and pulled him aside and asked why was he doing this job all alone. Jethro, who by the way is a Midianite Priest, gave Moses precise instructions in this matter. The first thing he told him was “this is too big for you to handle by yourself. Secondly, you are going to wear out both yourself and the people. First of all I have to commend Moses and Jethro. Why? First because Moses could have easily been intimidated by his father-in-laws’ counsel. For example in our day, you can’t give this kind of advice to the average old-school preacher. Because he would have been intimidated. He would automatically think you are trying to take over. When the Pastor is gone the roaches can’t move until he returns. Let me tell you something, that kind of old school mentality will not grow a church. Because if the Pastor dies, he is no different from the queen ant. You’ve seen the commercial, when the queen ant dies the whole mound dies. If that Pastor dies, the whole church dies. Why, because it was all about him and not about God. His attitude is don’t bring in any new ideas, just do what I tell you to do. But when you reverse this attitude of making the Pastor big to making the people big, then you will have growth. In other words, build into the lives of the people and allow others around you to help you carry the load. This is called discipleship. I commend my Pastor for allowing men to come around him and help him carry the load. He recognizes,like Moses, that he can’t do it alone. How many of you remember Earl Campbell? Earl Campbell was one of the greatest running backs in the game of football. Earl Campbell played for the Houston Oilers in the late seventies and early eighties. Earl could run the ball better than just about any running back to this day. He would simply run flat over you if he could. Earl ran for more than 10,000 yards in his career. Bum Phillips believed in one play, give the ball to Earl and let him take care of the rest. But, that was the problem. Bum ran Earl so much that his career as a professional football player was short-lived. He only played for about 6 or 7 years. It just goes to show you, one man can’t run the entire show. For every batman, there is a robin. For every Green hornet, there was a Cato. For every Lone Ranger, there was a Tonto. Superman was not too super when you put some Criptinight next to him.
So I commend Pastors who allow men to help them. But as the church grows, we will need more men to come along side and help their Pastor. The question is what are the characteristics of men who help lighten the load. The first characteristic of a man who knows how to lighten the load is They must be men of sound character. Verse 21 Jethro says to select capable men. Men who have sound character. Men who can make sound decisions in meeting the needs of others. Sound decisions in counseling others. When you counsel others, you don’t give them your opinion, you tell them what thus saith the Lord. The word “capable” actually describes a man that is respected, influential, powerful, and looked up to by the community as a leader, and will have the needs of the community in mind. In other words you have a good reputation. It does not mean that you are some big-baller and shot-caller, but what it means is you always have the needs of others in mind. You put others first! You are always seeking a biblical solution to the problems of the people. When you are respected by others in the community it means you have a good reputation. Now, if the word on the street is that you are a womanizer, then you don’t need to be involved in ministry until you have been ministered to. So he says get some men who have a sound character. Secondly, if you are going to be a leader who helps lighten the load, you must be a fearful man of God. It is in verse 21 again, “men who respect God.” Question, are you saved? OK, how do you know that you are saved? When you trust Christ as your personal Savior, you are saved. We need saved men who respect and believe in God. Let me tell you something that is somewhat new to the world, but there is nothing new in God’s Word. There are men who call themselves living on what is called the DL, that simply means “Down-low.” It is a reference to husbands and single men who sleep with other men and women. Now watch this, the first thing they will say is, I’m not gay! OK, hold the phone, how in the world can man say all in one breath, I sleep with men and women, but I’m not gay. The last time I checked God’s word, it has not changed! Romans 1:26-27 26 Because people did those things, God left them and let them do the shameful things they wanted to do. Women stopped having natural sex and started having sex with other women. 27 In the same way, men stopped having natural sex and began wanting each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and in their bodies they received the punishment for those wrongs. A fearful man of God will share all of his money with his wife. He has no secret checking accounts! No secret relationships on the side! He does not have a secret get away cottages in the country! No Secret children! Will not cheat on their taxes. Men who fear God will have God’s best in mind. They will always ask themselves in everything they do, "Will this glorify God?"
So if you are going to be a leader who helps lighten the load, then you must be a man of sound character, secondly a man who fears God, but third you must be a truthful man. Look again at verse 21, it says select men who can be trusted. We are talking about men who are reliable. Men who can be counted on to get the job done. Trustworthy men! This is the kind of man that we don’t have to search for, because they are always available. They will not be MIA, missing in action. They will not go AWOL on their wife and kids or the ministry. Now our church does background checks. I don’t blame them. We want to know the kind of people who are working with our children. We want to know what kind of people who are working with our adults, youth. We want to make sure we can trust you. If by chance you have a weakeness around children, you don’t need to be in youth ministry, but we should be ministering to you. These kind of men that Moses was looking for were men who understood the task of giving true judgment. These men were faithful, reliable, trustworthy. The very words that they spoke were reliable and true. You can trust what they do and say. You don’t have to keep looking over their backs, or listening to their counsel, because they use words of truth. Even when the facts say you no longer have an income, the truth that they will share with you is “But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory. The facts may say you are lost and on your way to hell, but the truth says, If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you are saved! The facts may say your husband has left you for someone else, but the truth says, I will not leave you comfortless! Fact is you are so over burden, but the truth says “and we know that all things work out for our good according to his riches in glory.
Therefore if you are going to be a leader who helps lighten the load, you must be a man of sound character, a man who fears God, you must be a man of truth, and finally, A man who hates dishonest gain. Last time, verse 21 says, “Men who will not change their decisions for money.” Jethro advised Moses to select a man who hates dishonest gain by way of a bribe. What is a bribe? A bribe is any valuable consideration given or promised with a view to corrupting the behavior of a person in a position of trust. That was the dictionary, my definition is a bribe is a motive to turn the truth into a lie by monetary means, thereby resulting in the corruption of the person being bribed. You see evidently, the people have been guilty of making bribes before. God also included this in the law later on that they should not be guilty of this sin. It goes something like this, the people go to one of the selected men in order to get their disputes settled. One of them will say, hey if you allow this thing to be judged in my favor, just between you and me, I’ve got some sheep over there with your name on it! OK, let me bring this to 2004, you are speeding down 610, HPD pulls you over, gives you a ticket clocking you at 100 mph. You go down to the courthouse and approach the bench where the judge is and say, can you hook a brother up with this ticket. In other words, if you throw this ticket out, I’ll give you a bill for you troubles. I guarantee you, if that judge is an honest man, you will spend some quality time in jail. Can you imagine how many court cases were thrown out because of a bribe? What about football games, elections, all because somebody was just as corrupt as the person who bribed them accepted it. But the man who hates dishonest gain will not be swayed by personal gain. His aim is not to enrich himself, but he seeks the truth of the matter at hand and gives an honest judgment.
When Fred Phillips, retired public-safety director and police chief of Johnson City, Tenn., was a regular police office, he and his partner pulled over an unlicensed motorist. They asked the man to follow them to the police station, but while en route they spotted a North Carolina vehicle whose license plate and driver matched the description in an all-points bulletin. The officers took off in a high-speed chase, and finally stopped the wanted man’s car. Minutes later, as the felon was being arrested, the unlicensed motorist drove up. “If y’all will just tell me how to get to the station, I’ll wait for you there,” he said. “I’m having a heck of a time keeping up with you.” How many men are willing to remain honest in your ministry to your wives? You do know that ministry starts at home? Did you know that it takes honesty to play a game of golf? Why? Because you and you alone will record the number of strokes taken on each hole. For every shot that you take, you write down the number of strokes. The object of the game of golf is to have the least amount of total strokes. They call this game “A gentleman’s game.” Why? Because men should be kind and courteous to one another on the course. Men are said to be honest. You keep the score while nobody is looking. It takes integrity to write the true score. No matter how badly you played, integrity. Somebody said that integrity is doing what pleases God, when nobody is looking! Men, it is easy to stand here and preach! But God is not concerned about how high you can jump in ministry, but what do you do when you come back down? It has been said that the majority of Christian leaders who have fallen all have one thing in common. No accountability. Nobody held them in check. No accountability is often coupled with no integrity. The leader who isolates himself away from people and refuses to be held accountable has something to hide. How honest is your walk? If we hired a private investigator to follow you around for the next six months without your knowledge, what would it reveal? A bribe is not just money that is offered in exchange for a favor. A bribe can involve a woman who solicits you to sex, in exchange for a favor. God is not looking for men who are swayed by personal gain, but men who hate unjust gain. Therefore, if you are going to be a leader who helps to lighten the load, you must be a man of sound character, a man who fears God, a man of truth, and a man who hates dishonest gain.
Closing Illustration: Don’t take a position of leadership in church unless you are prepared to be honest, pure, and loving in your lifestyle. Leadership is a privilege, and with privilege comes responsibility. God holds teachers of His truth doubly responsible because we who lead are in a position where we can either draw people toward Christ or drive them away from Him.
