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Leaders often fail their organization when they refuse to train other people to take their place or exercise their abilities. Insecure leaders are often afraid new people will outshine them. One writer says leaders who fail to train and delegate others can stymie innovation, hinder communication, kill motivation, and foster alienation. That writer says fear of others outdoing you can harm both you and the organization. It is far worse than any perceived good of protecting your own position. Thankfully, Moses did not have that problem. It is true that he became stressed out one time because his people frustrated him. We read in Number 11 that he unloaded on God. He said to God, “I can’t carry all these people by myself!” (v. 14). To remedy his frustration, God told him to anoint 70 leaders to assist him. He did, but when two of these proposed leaders did not show up with the others, his assistant, Joshua, wanted Moses to reject them as leaders. Moses refused to reject them. He said to Joshua, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them all!” (v. 29) Moses was not jealous of having even these delinquent prophets function. Since God had approved them, Moses wanted them to serve. That is still a good principle for us to follow. We don’t have to be afraid others will outshine us. Our gifts will always make room for us.
