INTRODUCTION

My wife and I used to enjoy watching HGTV. We love to watch the decorating and design shows and how they can totally makeover an old home into a new one. One show we have enjoyed is the show Flip or Flop. The show is all about a couple who had a business flipping houses. They would find an old, rundown, or poorly kept home and totally redesign the insides with the hope that they would make a profit. The whole show was about whether they would be able to flip the house to make a profit or whether it would just be a flop.

I’ve noticed certain realities about this show or even the concept of flipping houses. There are usually certain things that determine if a house is going to make a profit—flip, or if it will flop. What it usually comes down to is the bones of the house—if the house has good bones, and good structure, there’s a good chance they will be able to flip it for profit. Usually, the houses that flop are ones where they get into it and realize there is termite damage to a main part of the structure, or a sagging ceiling, or a load-bearing wall that is ready to give way. Many of these things cannot be diagnosed at face value. You really don’t know what you’re getting into until you start taking things apart and really look behind some of the walls. But if you have a good structure, the good bones of the house, there’s a good chance that you’re going to be able to get all of your work done and meet your budget, and flip the house for some profit.

In the same way, churches need to have the right underlying structure. There are certain unhealthy ways of viewing ministry or ways of doing ministry that lead a ministry to essentially flop when it could thrive. I think we can all agree that we want a healthy church, right? We want a healthy church—we’re all on the same page there!

But how do we get there? Are there some things that we can turn to that contribute to a ministry’s health? Are there some principles that we can plug into a ministry, whether it be a church or another Christian institution that contribute to the institution’s overall health? Yes, there are, and I think we can learn a lot from the example of Moses and Jethro in Exodus 18. I think there are principles found in this text that we can take and apply specifically to church ministry, even though it was not written about a church. And if we do some of the things in this text, I think they will be healthy changes. I think churches that follow the example found here will be the type of church that will grow and thrive spiritually. This does not mean necessarily that the pews will be packed, but that churches will be poised to take the next steps as a church and thrive and grow according to God’s will. So, let’s look at our text today, and as we do, I want to leave one big idea with you this morning:

BIG IDEA: Ministries that just survive, won’t thrive

If a ministry is just focusing on surviving, they may last, and they may last for a long time—a ministry can eke out an existence for a long time, but they are probably not going to thrive. But ministries that focus on thriving, they don’t do things the way they’ve always done things for no other reason than they’ve always done it, and they emphasize creating a healthy ministry structure, those ministries are setting themselves up for the future and preparing to do more than just survive. Those are the type of ministries that thrive by God’s grace. And if any church is to not just survive but thrive, its leaders and its members need to set up the ministry to thrive! I think our text his morning shows us a description of the type of ministry that does this.

Exodus 18:13–23 NASB95

It came about the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from the morning until the evening. Now when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening?” Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. “When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws.” Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. “You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. “Now listen to me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people’s representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, then teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do. “Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. “Let them judge the people at all times; and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. “If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.”

BIG IDEA: Ministries that just survive, won’t thrive

TRANSITION: from our text we see FOUR CHARACTERISTICS about ministries that thrive:

1) Honest evaluation of their progress (vs. 14)

Explanation: first, ministries that thrive are honest in their evaluation of their progress. As we begin to unpack this text, we encounter Moses, Jethro, and the people of Israel, and we see them honestly evaluating where they were at.

Now let’s get some understanding of what was going on here in this story. Israel had just left Egypt. We are a few chapters beyond their Red Sea experience where God parted the Red Sea to allow Israel to get away from the Pharaoh of Egypt, that was chapter 14. Then Israel went into the wilderness and they began complaining against God and Moses their leader, and God had to provide for them: water when all the water was bitter, manna from heaven, quail from the sky, water from a rock. Eventually, they went to battle against Amalek and God gave them victory and they built an altar to the Lord. And so we cross into chapter 18 and things seem to be going fairly well in Israel. There is celebration over the works of God, and more importantly, the people who had been grumbling against Moses were apparently respecting his leadership because the text says they were lining up to seek his wisdom and advice. And as the chapter begins, we see that Moses gets a visit from his father-in-law Jethro. Jethro had been caring for the wife and children of Moses while he was in battle, so he brought them back and paid Moses a visit. And Jethro sees how Moses was leading the people, and he offers some constructive criticism. Things could be improved upon in the leadership style of Moses, and so Jethro gives him some friendly advice.

This is where our passage picks up, and here’s where we come back to our first lesson about a thriving ministry—thriving ministries are honest in their evaluation of their progress. We see there was some healthy evaluation of how Moses was leading in Israel here. Look at verse 14: Now when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?” Jethro talked to Moses, and he and Moses began to evaluate things to see how he was doing and if there were changes to be made. They did some honest evaluation. And if your church is to thrive, you need to do some honest evaluation. Notice two truths about honest evaluation of ministry:

a. Honest evaluation keeps Ministry efficient

Explanation: as they took an honest look at the ministry, they discovered that they were not doing things in the most efficient manner. Look at verse 13—And it came about the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses from the morning until the evening. The ministry they were doing was not efficient—people were standing before Moses all day long. Israel as you remember was a warm climate, they probably didn’t have shade from the sun—it was a big deal to try to get Moses to hear the issue you wanted to bring to him. So they concluded that they needed a more efficient way to do things, and they were able to deal with this because they did an honest evaluation. Things were not as efficient as they could have been, and as we’ll see later on in the text, they changed that.

b. Honest evaluation keeps ministers effective

Explanation: notice also that honest evaluation keeps ministers effective. We see that there was this problem—a problem with Moses. Moses was the one ministering to all the people and this was not a good setup. Jethro pointed out to Moses that this was not good—he was going to get tired. He was going to wear himself out. So, Jethro helped Moses to honestly evaluate the ministry so that they could get back to a healthy place.

Application: what can we learn from this for a church? We learn that it is a good thing to honestly evaluate our ministries! That is necessary and important! Churches need to honestly evaluate their ministry—see what is working and see what isn’t and make necessary changes. You shouldn’t just do the same thing you’ve always done just because you’ve always done it. Here’s what one of my pastoral mentors says: Doing something because we’ve always done it is a horrible reason to do anything! We need to be strategic and intentional about ministry and change and adapt to meet the needs of a changing culture.

And this is hard, right? Especially for Baptists! I mean, there are jokes about this stuff! People have a hard time with change. And many times, we think that change equals compromise. It doesn’t’! Our entire Christian experience is built on the concept of change—that we are continually evolving and growing in our Christian life! Churches need to change and grow and evaluate or they die! Our text teaches us the important lesson that ministries that just survive don’t thrive. If any church, or this church here today in particular, is going to thrive, you need to do some honest evaluation. COVID and its after-effects give a great opportunity to do this. Many churches have had their ministries put on pause and then slowly brought back. This is a great time to see where your church can thrive and perhaps where you were just surviving. Churches should not look the same coming out of COVID as they did going into COVID. Why? Because our world has changed! And if we don’t adapt our ministry to meet the needs of our world, we are going to become irrelevant to our world and our church will survive instead of thriving. We need this same type of evaluation that Moses and Jethro did, because

Big idea: ministries that just survive won’t thrive!

2) Realistic expectations of their leaders (vs. 15-18)

Explanation: there’s a second description of ministries that thrive that I think we can learn from our text today, and it’s that ministries that thrive are realistic in their expectations of their leaders. They have realistic expectations. Notice in our text there was a leadership problem. There were these expectations about the leadership—Moses, and they were not really healthy expectations; they were not realistic or sustainable. I think we learn two principles here about the expectations that ministries have of their leaders:

a. Realistic expectations reduce ministry bottleneck

Explanation: first, realistic expectations reduce ministry bottleneck. That phrase, ministry bottleneck, isn’t original with me, but it stuck out to me as I read it in my study for this sermon. Realistic expectations reduce ministry bottleneck. In our text today there was a ministry bottleneck. Everything went through Moses, and he was only one guy and could only do so much, so there was a bottleneck. There was a backup.

Application: This is what happens many times in churches when ministry is viewed as the pastor’s job, or all the ministry goes through the pastor. There is a ministry bottleneck. He is often focusing on things other than he ought to be—prayer and ministry of the word, and there is a bottleneck in ministry because it all relies on one guy. What’s the problem? Unrealistic expectations. The expectation either by the pastor or the people that one guy can do it all. That’s what Israel had, and it wasn’t working for them! Growing thriving ministries are realistic in their expectations of their leaders and understand that if they don’t have realistic expectations of their leaders—, there is going to be a bottleneck in ministry getting done.

b. Realistic expectations reduce ministry burnout

Explanation: notice also that realistic expectations reduce ministry burnout. This was Jethro’s complaint to Moses in verse 18—you will surely wear out . . . this task is too heavy for you, you cannot do it alone. Thriving ministries don’t let their leaders burnout. They don’t let them or expect them to do everything or get to the point of breaking. They understand that if one guy does it all he will burn out, and if he burns out so does the ministry!

Application: this is so important for ministries today, especially in our setting of the church. If we expect one man, the pastor, to be the one to do all the ministry—all the visiting, all the house calls, all the major decision-making, all the grunt work for this or that initiative, he will burn out. And if he doesn’t burn out, it’s going to come out in other ways, most likely in his family. I’ve had so many pastors who you and I would perceive as faithful and thriving in ministry who in private acknowledged that they were not there for their families and their family suffered so that they could do ministry! I don’t want to be that person! Your pastor doesn’t want to be that person! It starts with our expectations. We need to follow the example of Jethro and Moses. They realized that there were some unrealistic expectations of Moses, and they changed and adapted their ministry to accommodate that. Churches today need to do the same, because ministries that just survive, will not thrive.

3) Intentional dedication to their calling (vs. 21-23)

Explanation: there’s a third lesson we find here about growing, thriving ministries, and it is ministries that thrive are intentional in their dedication to their calling. They know their calling and they give themselves to it. Notice we see this in our text today, they understood that everyone had a role, but not all the roles were identical. Notice what they discovered about the various calling of those involved:

a. The leaders are called to lead

Explanation: notice, the leaders are called to lead. Look at what Jethro says in verse 19—You be the people’s representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, 20 then admonish them about the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do. There was leadership involved here. Moses was called to handle the disputes of the people that he had been handling, he was called to lead. He represented them before God, and taught them about how to live rightly. In verse 21 we even see that Moses was also to lead in the selection of other leaders. He was the leader, and he was to lead. Jethro called Moses back to his own personal calling.

b. The competent are called to serve

Explanation: notice that the competent were called to serve. Verse 21 lays out what Moses was to look for in those who would assist him in ministry—select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 22 Let them judge the people at all times; and let it be that they will bring to you every major matter, but they will judge every minor matter themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will carry the burden with you. Moses was to look for competent, spiritually qualified men whom he could place into ministry to assist him. This ministry was according to their ability—some men had a greater capacity for ministry and were given a greater responsibility—some over thousands, others over hundreds, and fifties, and tens. But we see this division of responsibilities put into place to help streamline the ministry, take the burden off of Moses, and engage others in the ministry. Competent men were called to serve.

c. The people are called to support

Explanation: notice the people had a role in this, they were called or expected to support. This is more implicit in the text, but the whole system would only work if everyone followed the process. They could try to buck the system and say “well I’m going right to Moses,” that would mess up the flow. But the people were called to support the ministry structure that they had designed to help with the flow of ministry but also to help them all understand their calling—they all had a role!

Application: and this is true of ministries today—especially the church. We each have a role—a calling if you will. Leaders are called to lead. There are certain things expressed in Scripture that the pastor is to give himself to—preaching, and study, and ministering the Word, shepherding those who need to be shepherded and training leaders. Make sure your pastor can follow his calling, and part of the way you do that is by following yours. What is your calling at this church? I know you have one—I Corinthians 12 makes that clear, but are you practicing it? Maybe you’re one of the competent in the church who can be called to serve—you have the capacity for a larger area of ministry. Are you doing it? Are you willing to step up and accept the responsibility so that your church cannot just survive but thrive? Maybe for you, it’s a matter of support—supporting the ministry structure. Can you do that? Can you get behind your leaders and those who are leading ministries and setting the vision so that we can grow? We all need to be intentional in our dedication to our calling. These are the types of things that make a difference in churches—everyone intentionally dedicates themselves to their calling. This is how ministries don’t just survive, they thrive.

4) Concentrated preparation of their members (vs. 21-23)

Explanation: as we come back to our text, there’s one final lesson I think we learn here about a ministry structure that helps a ministry thrive. Ministries that thrive are concentrated in the preparation of their people. We see Jethro instructing Moses in how to invest in the people that were there. Notice what we see in their model here of ministry and preparation their people:

a. Through investing

Explanation: Moses was to represent the people before God and show them how to live according to his law—that’s investing. And presumably, some of this had already been taking place. But Moses is called to invest in teaching the whole congregation what God requires of them and how to follow his law.

b. Through identifying

Explanation: As this happened there would be individuals, in this case, men, who stood out as spiritually mature and able to handle more ministry, and Moses was to identify them. His preparation was through identifying men who would be capable of greater ministry. As he faithfully taught the people and represented them before God, other leaders would emerge, and he was to identify them based on their spiritual qualifications.

c. Through appointing

Explanation: and then Moses was to put them into ministry. And he was to guide them in how to do it verse 22—Let them judge the people at all times, and let it be that they will bring to you every major matter, but they will judge every minor matter themselves. This isn’t just throwing people into ministry and letting them go, this is giving them opportunities and them helping them learn, grow and lead, through it.

Explanation: And this is what ministry is about! It’s about investing in people, identifying those who are capable of being given responsibility, and then appointing them to that responsibility all the while disciplining them through the process. What Jethro is really teaching Moses is how to establish a discipleship culture! Traditionally, Baptist churches haven’t been great about this. We want warm willing bodies, and that’s all we need before we throw people into ministry and let them figure it out. That’s not the model we see here! There is careful selection and investing and training.  If ministries are to thrive today, especially churches, they need to focus on the preparation of the people. They need to focus on discipleship—both individually and corporately as a group. They need to focus on training the next generation—too often conservative, traditional churches have chased all of the next generation away by holding on to preferences as principles and not being willing to adapt ministry to better meet the needs of people in a changing culture. Friends, you don’t want to just survive, we want to thrive, and I think Jethro gives Moses some incredible advice that we can apply even to our church here in MN.

CONCLUSION

So where does this leave us? How does this apply to us today? Let’s draw some application points—both individually and the church body as a whole.

1) You need to be able to honestly evaluate our ministries

We see Jethro and Moses doing this, and this led them to change how they were doing things. We need to be willing to change how we do ministry, not cling to the way we’ve always done it for the sake of always doing it that way. Personally, this means we need to check our preferences and make sure they don’t become principles. We need to be willing to put our thoughts aside for the good of the body—what would have happened if the people said “Moses, I don’t like it this way, I like it how it used to be?” You can see—ministry would not be effective; ministers would not be efficient. Personally, we need to be willing to evaluate and let go of some of the preferential things that are not a core part of a church. Corporately, this means we need to not be afraid to have open and honest conversations about where we are and how to get out of it. We need to make decisions as a body based on health, not tradition; we need to put principle over preference and the truth of God’s Word needs to govern our direction over what has always been done. Churches need to be governed by their mission, not their tradition. All churches need to be able to honestly evaluate their ministries.

2) We need to have realistic expectations of our leaders

We need to remember the primary focus for people like our pastors isn’t to do everything or be in charge of everything—he is not the CEO! This creates bottleneck and burnout, and we don’t want either! Individually, this means I’m not going to be upset if a deacon ministers to me instead of the pastor—that’s actually a good, healthy thing. I’m not going to expect that our pastor do everything or be involved in everything or have his hands in everything. I think it also means that you are going to do your part to free your pastor of some of the mundane aspects of ministry so he can focus on what he ought to do and there is no bottleneck or burnout. Maybe it means you step up and offer to help in an area where you can actually relieve the pastor of a duty so that he can focus on his mission. Corporately, this means you need a structure that protects the pastor and his calling and gets others involved.

3) We need to be dedicated to our calling

Individually, we all have a calling. We all have a task we are gifted to do, and we need to be faithful in doing that. But some of us could have a greater responsibility in ministry, like the men that Moses appointed. We need people to step up, especially coming out of COVID, we need people to step up to help with the ministry of the church. We need people to take responsibility to lead ministries—whether it be kids ministry or Sunday school. Churches need people to fill the appointed offices and elected offices—they need men who will step up and serve as a deacon and people to step up with other areas in the church. Maybe for you, this means you ought to join the church so that you can better fulfill your calling of service. We all have an individual calling.  Corporately as a church, you need to remember your purpose, and why you’re here, and not let things distract you from doing Gospel ministry here in your community.

4) We need to prepare our people

We need to all be involved in this process of investing, identifying, and appointing people to ministry. Individually, this means you need to find someone whom you can disciple and mentor—someone to invest in. You need to do one-on-one discipleship with another believer in our church so that you can be involved in preparing our people. You need to be training your replacement in whatever ministry you are involved in, because you will not be doing it forever.  I like what Dr. Les Ollila, chancellor of Northland International University, where I went to college, used to say:

“Everyone needs a Paul: a pattern, a Barnabas: a peer, and a Timothy: a project.”

-Dr. Less Ollila

Corporately, you need to focus on this together as a whole. Your pastor needs you here when we have preparing opportunities—Sunday school, small group ministry, discipleship studies or training, Faith Bible institute, whatever it is—these things are designed to help prepare your people for future ministry, be here! Come along with your pastor and the church as you move toward these types of emphasis!

Well, these are some practical next steps that you can take in your life to apply this passage to your life and to our church. You don’t want to just survive. In our text today, Israel was just surviving. Ministry was being done, but it wasn’t being done well. Jethro gave Moses some very practical insights for how to structure ministry so that it can be more effective and efficient. We can apply these truths to the church as well. What if every single person here or watching today put this text into practice this week? I think we would see the change Israel saw in their ministry—leaders could focus on their calling, people would be equipped and placed into ministry, ministry would not be bottlenecked, and this church would be set up to do more than just survive, Faith Baptist Church in Sauk Centre would be ready to thrive. Would you join together in working for the health of this church so that you can be the type of ministry God wants you to be?