The Myth of the Well-Rounded Leader | Trinity Sermons

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity

Sermons. This week we're continuing our sermon

series called A Matter of Time, where we're looking

at what does the Bible teach us about time, how

should we use our time, and today we're going

to dive into the example of Moses. Moses was

a really important leader, but he was doing all

kinds of things, maybe some things that he shouldn't

have been doing. How does Moses teach us? how

to make better use of our time and empower other

leaders all around us. This reading is from Exodus

18. Jethro, Moses' father -in -law, together

with Moses' sons and wife, came to him in the

wilderness where he was camped near the mountain

of God. So Moses went out to meet his father

-in -law and bowed down and kissed him. they

greeted each other and then went into the tent

the next day moses took his seat to serve as

judge for the people and they stood around him

from morning till evening when his father -in

-law saw all that moses was doing for the people

he said what is this you are doing for the people

why do you alone sit as judge while all these

people stand around you from morning till evening

moses answered him because the people come to

me to seek God's will. Whenever they have a dispute,

it is brought to me, and I decide between the

parties and inform them of God's decrees and

instructions. Moses' father -in -law replied,

What you're doing is not good. You and these

people who come to you will only wear yourselves

out. The work is too heavy for you. You cannot

handle it alone. listen now to me and i will

give you some advice and may god be with you

you must be the people's representative before

god and bring their disputes to him teach them

his decrees and instructions and show them the

way they are to live and how they are to behave

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. Moses listened

to his father -in -law and did everything he

said. He chose capable men from all Israel and

made them leaders of the people, officials over

thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They

served as judges for the people at all times.

The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but

the simple ones they decided themselves. Then

Moses sent his father -in -law on his way, and

Jethro returned to his own country. The Word

of the Lord. You'll remember a few weeks ago,

we read in Psalm 90, this prayer, God teach us

to number our days so that we may gain a heart

of wisdom. And so what we've been talking about

is we've been talking about A, how little time

that we have, B, kind of how our priorities are

so important about how we spend our time, and

C, you know, how easy it is to spend our time

chasing after all the wrong things. Now today,

though, we're going to do something that's just

a little bit different we're going to talk about

how time relates to leadership And some of you

might say, well, that kind of doesn't apply to

me. I'm not a leader. And so maybe I can just

tune out for the next 20 minutes or so. But I

wanted to say, just hold on. There are many,

many places where we are all called to exercise

the gift of leadership, whether that's the workplace,

whether it's our home, our school, our families,

right? Definitely our church here at Trinity.

Leadership is so, so, so important. And leadership

is also really important to God. Some of you

may know that a few years ago, I did some doctoral

research on the topic of leadership development.

So I'm kind of interested in this, but I have

to tell you, most of my learning about leadership

didn't happen there. It happened the hard way

when I made some pretty classic leadership mistakes,

especially in my early days of being a minister.

You see, when I began this gig, you know, 22

years ago, I bought into a very big myth. And

that myth was the myth of the well -rounded leader.

The well -rounded leader. You probably heard

that phrase before. And the reason I bought into

that is because the very first church I was at,

I was really like the only... you know, paid

staff person there, but I was okay because I

was going to be a well -rounded leader. And so

as a result, of course, I did the preaching and

the teaching. I also led Bible studies. I did

the pastoral care. I did the home visits, the

home communions. I did the hospital visits, right?

Because I was a very well -rounded leader. I

led committees. I led board meetings. I was in

charge of fundraising. I was in charge of property

issues. If there were contractors that came to

the church, I talked to them. Why? Because I

was a well -rounded leader. And when there were

legal things going on and lawyers, I would talk

to the lawyers. Why? Because I was a well -rounded

leader, of course. I was also the IT guy, right?

So if the printer jammed, you called me, right?

If there was, you know, a property with a problem

with the computer, if it wouldn't load or something,

you give me a call. the website And I also did

all the social media. See how well -rounded I

was, right? I also, we had a new AV system installed

in that church when I got there. And for some

reason, it seemed like I was the only person

who really knew how to use it. So kind of, I

was the one who was kind of in charge of that

too. You know, every week, I also led the youth

group. And every two weeks, we would have these

youth outreach dances. I was helping to lead

those two. Heck, I was just leading them. And

every Sunday at church, I would do like a children's

time. And also I picked all the music. And you

might not believe this, but actually I played,

I helped lead worship from time to time when

I was there. And see if I can still remember

a few of these little. See? Lord, I lift your

name on high. Yeah, there it is. So, frankly,

let's be quite honest here. I don't know how

I survived those years. Thanks, Libby. Aren't

you glad God made Libby? I don't know how the

church survived those years. And actually, the

truth is I didn't just do these things. I actually

thought I was good at doing these things. But

it was all a myth. It was all a myth. And over

time, I discovered that there is no such thing

as a well -rounded leader. There are gifted leaders.

There are faithful leaders. There are very wise

leaders. But nobody is good at everything. And

in fact, great leaders are rarely great. because

they're great at everything, right? We usually

have, all of us, just a few areas of real strength,

and most of the other things, we're kind of mediocre,

or let's be honest, we're not very good at those

things. Now, here at Trinity, man, oh, man, we

are so blessed. We have so many wonderful leaders.

I'm just, you know, looking around this morning.

We've got Peter back there on the soundboard,

you know, leading that. We've got Kathy, who

leads our chancel group. I see, you know, the

Brandons and the Wilsons are helping to lead

our Alpha ministry. Many of you lead life groups.

And on staff, too. I mean, I've got to tell you,

Alex is a brainiac when it comes to media stuff

in a way I could never get my head around. Same

with Natalie. Natalie loves numbers and finance.

I can never understand it. Liz Leak pays so much

attention to detail. It drives me crazy. I could

never do that. But you know, none of us are well

-rounded leaders. But when we're all together,

we're kind of a well -rounded team. None of us

are good at everything, but actually we're pretty

darn great when we're all working together. And

that is because God never designed leadership

to be this solo act. It would be a waste of time.

For all of us to try to keep finding more and

more ways to be good leaders, to be more and

more well -rounded. We would all suffer. And

the people would suffer. The world would suffer.

And that's what brings us to Moses. Because in

the reading that we just read in Exodus 18, we

find Moses and he's trying to do everything himself.

And it is crushing him. It is crushing the people.

And everyone is suffering. And Moses is going

to learn the same lesson that I had to learn

and that we all need to learn, which is that

the greatest leaders are not people who spend

their time doing. everything themselves. I've

given you some sermon notes. You can follow along.

We're going to basically go through the story.

We're going to go through the whole story that

we just read there. But before we get to Exodus

18, let's just pause and remember, how did Moses

get himself into this situation? Moses was Israel's

leader, but I have to tell you, he didn't go

through a job application process. There was

no search committee. There was no job description.

There was no HR manual for this job. Moses got

this leadership job basically because God came

to him and said, Moses, I have heard the cry

of my people in bondage in Egypt, and I want

you to go set them free. And Moses said, literally,

God, choose anybody else but me. But anyways,

God sent Moses, and Moses went and said, Pharaoh,

let my people go. And Pharaoh wouldn't let them

go, and the plagues came. And then finally they

were released. And then, of course, there was

going through the Red Sea. And now they were

free. And now Moses finds himself leading this

group of people. And I dare say, could have been

in the millions of people wandering through the

wilderness. They have no constitution. They have

no courthouse. They have no police department.

They just have Moses. And when your whole organizational

chart comes down to one guy, guess where every

problem goes? To that guy, right? And so today's

story begins. When Jethro arrives, so that's

Moses' father -in -law. Moses' father -in -law.

So apparently what had happened is when Moses

went off to do this whole like saving Egypt thing,

he left his wife and his kids with his father

-in -law. And now that he's done that and they've

escaped, they're all being reunited again. And

so now Jethro is bringing the kids and bringing

Moses' wife, Jethro's daughter, back to Moses.

And, you know, that's pretty intimidating. I

don't know how many degrees you have or how successful.

successful you are but I'd say when your father

-in -law shows up to your workplace you always

sit up a little bit straighter because here's

my father -in -law and and Moses goes out to

meet his father -in -law and this is how you

know we're dealing with a very different culture

he he goes and he bows down and kisses his feet

And I got to tell you, I mean, I love my father

-in -law. But when he comes for a visit, I do

not go out and bow down and kiss his feet. If

I did that, that would make for a very awkward

Christmas dinner, I think. But in Moses' culture,

this was a sign of honor and it was a sign of

respect. And that is actually really important

to keep in mind in this story. Moses actually

respected his father -in -law because later on...

his father -in -law is going to give him some

advice. And Moses is actually going to listen

to that advice, which is actually hard for a

lot of leaders to do. But anyways, when he arrives,

we're told that they went into the tent and they

started talking about everything that the Lord

had done. And so Moses is like, hey, Jethro,

you'll never guess, you know, I went into Egypt

and I said, let my... people go and he said no

and then there were gnats and there were flies

and the nile turned to blood and then then there

was like the passover and then finally let us

go and then pharaoh changed his mind he chased

after us and then we were trapped by the red

sea and then actually got part of the waters

of the red sea it's just he's catching he's catching

him up on all the stuff that had just happened

and jethro you know we read was delighted to

hear all the things that the lord had done for

Israel. And, you know, it is lovely, you know,

because here you have your father -in -law Jethro

celebrating his son -in -law and everything his

son -in -law has done. That's perfect. That's

wonderful. It's what every son -in -law wants

is to earn his father -in -law's respect. But

then the next day comes. And Moses, of course,

has to go back to work. And this is where things

get interesting. So Moses took his seat. To serve

as judge for the people. And they stood around

him from morning until evening. Now Jethro comes

along at this point. And this is maybe like the

first annual bring your father -in -law to work

day. I don't know. But Jethro, what he sees is

unbelievable to him. So Moses has the job of

being the judge. Of all these people. And people

are lining up from morning to evening. They're

coming to Moses and they're saying, hey Moses,

this person stole my goat. Or Moses, this person

parked his camel too close to my tent. Or hey

Moses, this guy's kids are too loud at night.

Or Moses, she keeps lighting a fire and all the

smoke is burning and blowing into my tent. What

are you going to do about it? Moses, sort it

out. Moses, sort it out. Moses, sort it out.

And Moses is probably feeling really, really

important. Sitting there, this huge line of people.

kind of coming to see him. And he's waving over

at his father -in -law. He's saying, this is

leadership. And Jethro is watching, saying, this

is crazy is what this is. Jethro, I think, goes

over to Moses and says, Moses, hey, listen, can

I just talk to you for a minute? Can we just

have a little conversation? And they come on

over. And Jethro says, listen. What are you doing

here? What is it you're doing for these people?

Why are you sitting alone as the judge here while

all these people stand around you from morning

until evening? This is such a classic father

-in -law question. You know, it's not like, wow,

Moses, look at how important you are. Wow, look

at the size of that lineup. Well done. My daughter

married well. No, no, this is, what are you doing?

Why are you alone doing all this? And Moses gives

the answer, I think, that just about every overwhelmed

leader gives in a situation like this. He says,

because they keep coming to me. Whenever they

have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide

between the parties, and I inform of God's decrees

and instructions. To be fair, this is really

important stuff that Moses is doing, right? He

is helping people. He's resolving disputes. He's

trying to bring justice. The problem is not that

he is doing bad things. The problem is, is that

he is doing too many things. And that, I think,

is one of the first traps of leadership, which

is spending time doing things that distract you

from your true calling. Moses was giving his

time to good things, even spiritual things that

he was doing here. But just because they're good

things doesn't mean they're our things. Doesn't

mean that it's your thing to do. And one of the

hardest leadership lessons to learn and one of

the hardest ones that I had to learn was that

just because something needs to be done does

not mean it needs to be done by you. And then

Jethro just comes out and says it plainly. What

you are doing is not good. Not that you've made

bad choices. Not that your motives are wrong.

Or not that this is like evil or anything like

that. It's just not good, Moses. It's just not

sustainable. It's just not healthy. It's not

a wise use of your time as a leader. You and

these people, he goes on to say, are only going

to wear yourselves out. This work is too heavy

for you. You cannot handle it alone. So remember,

let's just go back two weeks where this all started.

Part of what it means to learn to number our

days is recognizing, hey, my time is limited.

My energy is limited. And if I try to be this

well -rounded leader and I try to do everything

really, really good, if I try to be the limitless

leader, I am going to get worn out. The people

themselves are going to get worn out. And actually

in the whole process, the whole mission is going

to suffer. And that I think is related to this

second trap of leadership. And I know I fell

for this one, was believing that if it's going

to be done right, You've got to do it yourself.

Moses probably believed, well, hey, if I don't

do it, how's it going to get done? Who else is

going to do it? Or if someone else does it, it

won't be done right. You know, if you want something

done, ask a busy person. It's just easier if

I do it myself, blah, blah, blah. We've all heard

that before. And sure, it may be faster to do

it yourself. But over time, that kind of leadership

will create exhaustion in you. And it will create

immaturity in everyone else. Because if the leader

does everything, then nobody else gets to grow.

Jethro, he's seeing something here that Moses

is not seeing. It's like Jethro is the first

ever leadership. consultant. And leaders need

people like that in their lives. They need people

who will tell them the truth, not just people

who say, oh, great job, Moses, wonderful, long

line this morning, really impressive, right?

But people who will say, what you're doing is

not good. So Jethro, he puts on his consultant

hat and he says, okay, please just hear me out.

And you know, I love this. May God be with you.

In other words, I hope you will listen to what

I'm about to say. I'm going to give you some

advice. I've been watching. And this is what

I want to say to you. You must be the people's

representative before God. That is clearly something

you must do. That is your unique role, right?

You're not supposed to be working the complaint

department here, Moses. You've got a different

calling, something that only you can do. Only

you can stand before God on behalf of these people.

Only you can pray to God on behalf of these people,

intercede to God on behalf of these people. people

and and teach them right his decrees and instructions

and show them the way that they are to behave

in other words moses this is what you need to

be doing this is where you need to be investing

your time because only you can do these things

only you can represent the people before god

only you can teach them only you can give the

spiritual direction that they need to the whole

community that's your role right that's your

lane that's what you were made to do And that

is, again, another secret of leadership that

only do what only you can do. Now, at first,

this sounds very selfish. I admit it sounds like,

oh, I'm too important to do other tasks or I'm

too important to do the menial things. But that's

not what this is saying at all. This is not about

your ego. It's about stewardship. It's about

saying, hey, you've got limited time. You've

got limited energy. And if you spend your life

doing things that other people could do or other

people should do or other people will do even

better than you, do then you may end up neglecting

the very unique thing that god has called you

to do and only you to do So Jethro is not saying,

oh, Moses, I want you to stop serving the people.

He's saying, you got to serve in the way that

God has called you to serve. And that is a very,

very important distinction. It's like saying,

Rob, get off the guitar and let Libby lead the

worship. That is not what God equipped or called

you to do. And that is really, really hard for

leaders. And I will again be the very first to

admit it's hard for volunteers. It might even

be hard for you too, because we all care so deeply

and we want to see things get done. But wisdom,

according to Psalm 90, means recognizing the

difference between something that needs to get

done and something that needs to get done by

me. And they are often not the same thing. And

so then Jethro is now his leadership consultant

hat still on. He's going to get all practical

and he's going to say, okay, I'm going to give

you a plan. What you got to do, Moses, is you

got to select capable men from all the people,

appoint them as officials over hundreds and thousands

and tens and whatever. And if I were Moses and

my father -in -law were telling me all of this

stuff, I would be like, oh my gosh, like, first

of all. what do you even know right when was

the last time you were in charge of a million

people that would probably be the first thing

i would say but then the second thing i would

say is this sounds like a lot of work you want

me to select a whole bunch of people you know

identify them for their giftedness then you want

me to train them and you want me to equip them

and then you want me to organize them and create

this whole like organizational leadership structure

and and while that's happening i got this whole

line of people that are still lining up to get

all their questions answered And Jethro, I think,

is probably fully aware of this. And he's like

saying, yes, I know it will take time for you

to develop leaders. But it will actually save

time for you in the long run. And I believe that

this is one of the great paradoxes of leadership.

And that is that it takes... time to save time.

It takes time to train someone. It takes time

to mentor someone. It takes time. It takes days.

It might take weeks for you to train someone

to do something that you could do yourself in

just 10 minutes. But if you never take that time,

then you will always be the only one who knows

how to do that thing. And that is not good. What

we're talking about here is not just delegation.

What we're talking about here is leadership development.

Leadership development. And those are very different

things. And then he goes on. He says, have them

serve as judges for the people at all times,

but have them bring every difficult case to you.

In other words, you're still going to have a

part to play in this, Moses, right? There's still

be moments when we're going to need your leadership.

But not every time there's a problem with a goat

or every time there's a dispute over a camel.

That is not a Moses level intervention that you

need to be involved in. And here's the second

part of the secret that's buried in all this,

and that is, frankly, God never actually intended

you or me or Moses to do everything. God has

plans, not just for your life or my life or Moses'

life. He has plans for everyone's life. He has

plans for, like, Melissa and Shireen, who are

leading our kitchen hospitality program right

now, coffee hour, right? He has plans for Alex.

He has plans for Peter. He has plans. for you.

God didn't just, isn't only interested in Moses

or Rob, right? He has got a plan for everyone.

God wants all of us to develop as leaders and

to share leadership. And I love that phrase,

shared leadership, right? There it is. Share

leadership with each other. Leaders who do everything

themselves, they don't just burn out. they block

out the gifts of other people. So sharing leadership

actually helps other people. become stronger

leaders themselves. Which means, you know what?

Everybody wins when we do this. Moses, in this

case, he becomes healthier. Look, he can stand

the strain, right? The people are better served.

Everyone's going home satisfied. And on top of

that, new leaders are being developed. And the

mission is going to move forward in such a more

powerful way. But it all begins by discerning

what God wants. God has uniquely called you to

do, and then helping others step into the places

where they understand what God has called them

to do. And what a great lesson. I wish 20 years

ago, Jethro had come knocking on my door to teach

me some of these lessons. And I think this is

probably the most amazing part of the whole story.

Moses listened to his father -in -law and did

everything he said. You know, that's got to be

the greatest miracle. I mean, parting the waters

of the Red Sea was impressive, but a leader receiving

unsolicited advice from his father -in -law and

actually doing it is supernatural, I think. So

let's end by just summarizing again the gift.

of leadership because yes leadership at times

can feel like a burden it can feel like pressure

it can feel like a lot of things on your to -do

list a lot of decisions and meetings people coming

to you with their problems with their goats and

donkeys and camels but but when leadership is

shared it becomes a gift and it becomes a gift

in those three directions first shared leadership

is a gift to you Jethro says to Moses, it will

make your load lighter. Okay? And this is true

in church. And this is true in your workplace.

And it's true in your family or your school,

wherever you find yourself. When leadership is

shared, the load becomes lighter. And some of

us need to hear that because some of us today

are carrying things, carrying roles or jobs or

tasks or leadership that we were never asked

to carry. And sharing that with others is going

to be an essential thing to do. And that will

be a gift to you. Okay, so shared leadership

is a gift to you. But secondly, empowered leadership

is actually a gift to others. Because when Moses

finally stops doing everything himself, other

people get to step up. And other people get to

use their gifts. And other people get to grow.

And other people get to discover that, you know

what, God can work through me too. Sometimes

we think we're really helping people when we

do everything for them. But the more loving thing

to do is to trust them and to train them and

let them lead. And yes, they may not do things

the way you would have done them and it may not

be as efficient at first, but the goal is not

to create a church full of mini Moseses or mini

Robs or mini yous. The goal is to create a church

of people all using the gifts that God has given

them. There are different kinds of gifts, but

there's the same spirit that distributes them.

There are different kinds of service, but the

same Lord. So empowered leadership is a gift

to others. But then finally, released leadership

is a gift to the world. right? When people are

released into their gifts, when the mission expands,

then the impact of the church or whatever it

is increases. That's what we see happening in

Exodus 18, right? All these people, they went

home satisfied. In other words, the people were

better served when the leadership was shared.

And a church where only a few people are involved

in leadership will always be a church with limited

impact. But a church where everyone is equipped

and everyone's empowered and released, that kind

of church becomes a gift to the world because

suddenly ministry is not something that one or

two or a group of people can do. It's now what's

happening everywhere. It's happening in classrooms

and workplaces and offices and homes and hospitals

and neighborhoods because the people of God have

been released to lead and released to serve wherever

God has placed them. So the healthier the leaders,

the stronger the people and the greater the blessing

to the world around us. So when I look back at

all those years of early years of ministry, I

can laugh. I can laugh now about, you know, being

the AV guy and doing the website and the sound

system. I can even laugh at my very forgettable

career as a worship leader. But underneath it

all, there is a real lesson for me to learn and

I think one for us all to learn. And that is

about time. How are you going to use your time

in the best possible way? God never asked me

or you to be everything. But he did ask us to

be faithful. To use the gifts and the time that

he has given us wisely. And because we always,

it's always important to end on Jesus. Jesus

knew this. Lesson, very well. Everyone wanted

a piece of Jesus' time, right? You think Moses

had a long lineup? Jesus had lineups every day.

People wanted healing. People wanted teaching.

People wanted miracles. One morning, Jesus snuck

out early to pray, and within a few minutes,

right, everyone's like, hey, Jesus, there you

are. Everyone is looking for you. That's the

kind of sentence where it can totally hijack

a leader's intentions. Everyone wants you. Everyone's

looking for you. But what does Jesus say? He

says, hey, you know what? We got to go somewhere

else. To the nearby villages. Why? So I can preach

there also. Why? Because that is why I have come.

Jesus has a very focused idea of how to spend

his time. It's not uncaring. It's not undifferent.

But he knows why he has come. He knows his mission

and he knows his time is limited. That's the

invitation. for us to not to become selfish with

our time, but to become faithful with our time.

You will never be a well -rounded leader. So

don't spend your time trying to like shore up

all your weaknesses in that way. Instead, use

the gifts God's given you, right? Make room for

the gifts that God has given other leaders. And

together, let's become that kind of church that

just makes an even greater impact in the world.

Thanks be to God. Amen. Thanks for tuning in

to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons. This

sermon was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville

in Mississauga, Ontario on May 17, 2026.