Where I come from, more workers is a great thing. If everyone at Hillside constantly asked what they could do—even to the point of annoyance—that’s not something me or anyone else there would discourage. You want to work? Let’s find a job for you!
It’s curious to me then that Joshua takes the opposite approach. When Moses selects the seventy elders to receive God’s spirit, sixty-eight of them head out of the camp and start prophesying in the wilderness.
Two of them—Eldad and Medad—stay behind. They still prophesy though, it just happens to be near the tents.
Joshua, alarmed at this, tries to get Moses to restrain them. Moses, still super frustrated by the position that he’s in of trying to play peacemaker between the people and God, throws his hands up in frustration: “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets!”
Why does Joshua try to stop them? If Moses wants everyone to take part, why wouldn’t Joshua?
Moses’ reaction shows a lot about maturation in leadership. He asks Joshua if he is jealous “for [Moses’] sake,” implying that Joshua’s reaction is out of deference to Moses.
But Moses and his authority don’t need defending (even though they would later with Korah). In fact, Moses wishes that everyone would prophesy. It would certainly make his job easier!
That shows the second component of Moses’ leadership, which is that he places the task above himself. In his mind, it probably doesn’t really matter who’s in charge. The only thing that does matter is that the people make it to Canaan. That’s it.
All leaders should have this same type of approach about whatever it is that they’re in charge of. Rather than whining about the “respect” that they’re owed, keep the task at hand in mind. What are you trying to accomplish? What’s the goal?
If it’s self-exaltation, leadership is not for you. If you’re in it to maximize your own power, pass that baton to someone else, because the world needs less leaders like that.
What we need are more people like Moses, who are willing to step aside, and even potentially have their own position challenged, if it means success.
