Exodus 18:10-27 – Jethro’s tips to Moses
Evaluation Skills
Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.”
After observing, Jethro asks, plain and simple: ‘What is this that you are doing for the people’?
In the same way, before we actually go ahead and produce any standards, we need to look at what’s already going on… Just as Jethro observed, so we evaluate by observation, and when we need to, we ask: What are we doing for the people?
Moses is quick to respond, by being clear and specific with his purpose. It’s as simple as being present ‘when they have a dispute’… and there must have been lots of disputes, considering ‘the people stand around (him) from morning till evening’!
He’s also clear and specific with his task – He decides (‘between one person and another’), and he teaches (‘I make them know the statutes of God and his laws‘)
I feel if we were to make some sort of application out of this, I could start off by listing down what’s already being done out of observation… and then explicitly and intentionally answering ‘What am I doing for myself/others/God(?)?’… And I’m already anticipating how I could probably quit at all this as early as here, considering the possible inconsistencies between actual (observation) and theoretical (intention), but I feel that it helps (1) to be brutally honest with myself, and (2) with that in mind, still find a way to reconcile between the two.
We can find ourselves playing the role of Jethro as an Evaluator, or Moses as – what, the Client? Or, we could be introspective and do both. But seeing all this from another point of view, we can say that in our evaluating, we should be straightforward and honest in our observations as Jethro was… and as Moses responded, we should be clear and specific with our responses.
Let’s continue.
Feedback Skills
Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
I used to work in Quality Analysis, particularly in Technical Support. When we disclose our results and evaluation to actual agents (mostly), we follow a pattern, one that’s apparently ages old in substance. The arrangement isn’t necessarily the same (this isn’t a feedback sandwich, as those of you who are familiar with the term will notice immediately), but the elements are there:
- Negative effects: ‘You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.’
- An advice header. Whether it’s in email, chat, or actual face to face conversation, I’d usually tread lightly here, saying things like ‘I’m sure you already know this’, or ‘This is for your consideration’, or even Robin Sharma’s ‘With great love and respect’; But I do like how straightforward Jethro is here – I will give you advice, and God be with you!; And really, he may be onto something here, especially when it is a fellow member of the Body of Christ whom we are giving feedback to; To me, ‘God be with you’ usually implies ‘you can choose not to take offense.’
- Acknowledgement of what is already being done right. Notice that Jethro paraphrased Moses’ answer: ‘You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws,‘… But then he appends more of his own perspective on the approach: ‘make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do‘
- Actual advice, or added value as an SME (subject matter expert) and/or an impartial/outside observer: ‘Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves.‘
- Story time, in my days in Customer Service a hierarchy of support is followed, and any ‘great matter’ we used to encounter was escalated to a (no joke) Presidential Team, provided certain conditions were met.
- Positive effects: ‘So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.’
It’s one thing to be brutally honest, but it’s another thing entirely to deliver feedback with elegance.
Now, while that’s a substantial takeaway from this part of Scripture, I still see it as a segue – see, there’s just a little more to this text that I do want to add.
So far I guess I’m establishing that any asset I do develop should have practice in both Evaluating and being Evaluated, as well as giving and taking Feedback… But if I decide to go to the final verses of this set of Scripture from here, I’d be missing out on why I pulled up these verses in the first place. Besides analyzing the conversation and the exchange of Jethro and Moses, let’s take a look at what Jethro ACTUALLY said…
…On the next post.
Not gonna lie, I’m pretty excited about this… well, it’s looking to be a series. Although I am being bombarded by distractions in and out of the computer, Lord knows that every time I come back to this, I know things are getting there…. one step at a time, one post at a time.
With that said, thanks for being here so far, and I pray that the Lord just continues to bless you through all that you’re going through. Cheers, to this reality’s complications, and the Life that shines through no matter what. God bless you. God bless us all.
40631 (-582 after repurposing) /365000
#OperationBrentbriar #PracticalChristianity #BibleStudy #BibleInOneYear #Bible #Brainstorming #Discipleship #LearnRelearnUnlearn #AlvinToffler #Moses #Feedback #Evaluation #StrategicPlanning #Analysis
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 