Why "Jethro"?
We believe that Christian pastors, missionaries and leaders are Moses, shepherds of God's people. And sometimes, like Moses, they can feel stuck in the desert.
Moses is certainly one of the best-known and most emblematic characters in the Bible. God spoke to him and used him in powerful and spectacular ways! While Moses is unquestionably the main character of the story, Jethro is only a supporting character. He appears only 4 times in the Old Testament, under other names (Reuel, the Cainite, the Midianite). But of these 4 passages, one entire chapter illustrates his heart and character: Exodus 18. It's this story, rich in parallels, that inspired us to borrow his name for this blog and encourage the "Moses" in their ministry.Â
Verse 3: Moses had called his son Guerchom - which means "immigrant there" - saying, "I have become an immigrant in a foreign land." When Moses had his first child, he was a Hebrew living in Egypt.Â
> Sometimes, we can be called to serve God and his Church far from our culture of origin, our landmarks. You may move to a different region, country or even continent. Missionaries know all about it!
Verse 5: Jethro left with Moses' sons and wife and joined him in the desert near the mountain of God, where he had set up camp.
> When Jethro visits his son-in-law, it's an opportunity for him to reunite Moses' family, who had been separated for some time (the Bible doesn't specify how long). Unfortunately, ministry is often an intrusive part of family life, and a source of frustration for both spouse and children. For a lot of good reasons, it's essential to reconcile them, and that's one of the aims of this blog.Â
Verse 9: Jethro rejoiced at all the good the Lord had done the Israelites by freeing them from the domination of the Egyptians.
> Above all, we want to honor the work God is doing through the men and women He has called to His service. We want to highlight the positive and inspiring, not the negative. However, we are clear-sighted: Christians remain fallible and imperfect men and women, as even Moses was. As a result, problems may arise in our churches. When we choose to tackle them, we will always do so constructively.Â
Verse 14: When his father-in-law saw how much he had to do for the people, he said to him, "Why are you doing this? Why do you do this work all by yourself, making people wait on their feet from morning till night for the moment to appear before you?"
> Jethro doesn't judge Moses, nor does he blame him. He is simply questioning him, and he does so about a very human aspect of his ministry, an aspect of his organization, of his leadership. This is also what we wish to do, humbly and without judgment, with the same aim as Jethro: to question practices, cultures, "automatic pilots" and propose solutions to avoid exhaustion, preserve the relationship with God's people and hold on for the long term.Â
To question practices, cultures, "automatic pilots".
Verse 18: You will exhaust yourself completely, you and those who come to consult you [...].
> Jethro was as concerned about Moses' health as he was about that of his people. And that's what this blog is all about. Healthy churches have at least two things in common: on the one hand, leaders who are clear about their calling, their ministerial identity and their missions. On the other: Christians who are growing in their relationship with God, their discipleship and their destiny. It's a win-win situation, and our aim is to share resources that address the health of leaders, as well as that of Christians at large.Â
Verse 21: As for the rest, choose from among the people men of worth, full of respect for God, loving the truth and incorruptible; you shall appoint them as leaders, at the head of groups of a thousand, a hundred, fifty or ten people.
> Jethro could be criticized for not being very spiritual, and by pointing out Moses' limitations, he calls into question God's ability to help him and renew his strength. But faith and reflection are not mutually exclusive. Praying does not prevent action, and sometimes simple changes in practice can produce more results than months of prayer. This is also our vision: to encourage reflection and self-evaluation on all the human aspects of ministry and the Christian life. Because more often than not, God can act, but so can we, in our own way.Â
🇬🇧 Jethro is a bilingual media dedicated to equipping pastors, leaders and missionaries to support them in their call and identity. Subscribe to our newsletter and you won't miss a single article.
🇫🇷 Jethro est un média bilingue qui a pour vocation d'équiper les pasteurs, leaders et les missionnaires pour les soutenir dans leur appel et leur identité. Abonnez-vous à la newsletter pour ne manquer aucun article.Â
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