From Jim McGuiggan... The art of sharing power

The art of sharing power

The sharing of power is the will of God. In Exodus 18:23the Midianite priest appears to say he is relaying to Moses the will of God and Moses certainly implements it as the will of God. To say power-sharing is the will of God is a truth, but it is only one truth.

The leaders of God's People do not have the right to hog the power, elect more leaders without dialogue with the Community or refuse to develop leaders (and so hinder the Community and frustrate the larger aims of God in this world).

The sharing of power is made possible by the work of God. He gives gifts to all so that all may contribute to the blessing of the Community (in this case, Israel). You can see this view of the Matter expressed by Paul in 1 Cor 12, especially vv.6-7. If God hadn't invested and nurtured the noble qualities in the Israelites (see 18:21) there would have been no one for Moses to share authority with on behalf of the nation.

The sharing of power is regulated by God. He does this, first, by assuming that people acknowledge him as the ultimate authority, whose word is to be obeyed rather than debated. He then designates the people and/or the literature which mediates his will to those who hold him as supreme (18:19). He gifts people with the qualities and capacities needed to achieve the purposes he has in view, calls on the people to acknowledge these in such persons and submit themselves where appropriate to them, to achieve the divine goals.

In the Ex. 18 setting, the men with whom Moses shares authority are marked out by

1) their acceptance and understanding of the Torah;

2) their God-fearing lives;

3) their trustworthiness;

4) their honesty;

5) their willingness to serve;

6) their willingness to serve as decision makers, and,

7) their willingness to accept their own limitations.

Be sure to read 18:20-22. And see from important major texts both in the OT and the NT that this is the consistent pattern for choosing leaders rather than an exceptional occasion.

In saying "yes" to such men, Moses was saying "no" to men unlike those. He was following the will of God. For one man or a few men to hog power when there are others gifted by God to serve is monstrous--for many reasons--but to hand over decision-making power to men thoroughly unqualified is equally monstrous. What God regulates must not be thrown up for grabs. The People of God have no right to choose as leaders those whom God has rejected.

Deut 1:9-18 tells us he made the choice with the help of the people. See Acts 6:1-6.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.