Moses' email
Henrick De somer 1638
"Wait! Moses didn't have email!"
On one hand, the 10 Commandments were an email from God.
And, Moses had in-person visits from every unhappy Israelite.
He had to deal with every, every, every human being under his care.
Please read Exodus 18, for the account of Moses receiving counsel from Jethro,
about creating a chain of command in the camp.
Notice that when leaders were appointed to do the easy conflicts,
the people coming them were expected to submit to the leadership of the appointed subordinates.
Moses accepted Jethro's advice, where ordinary members of the camp had authority
to intervene in the lives of others.
This structure is lacking in a lot of churches today.
Everyone wants to speak directly to the pastor, no one else.
This is a case of the tail wagging the dog.
And this pressure is partly earned.
A lot of pastors refuse to trust people who aren't certified pastors.
It's true.
'"If they aren't certified, they probably can't make good decisions."
Mathematically, if a pastor is a true soul winner,
then that one pastor can bring in more souls than one pastor can intimately mentor.
And this belief is rife through the Church - and the world:
"I can only speak to a pastor - no one else knows anything."
And so, the pastor is like a young mother with infants tugging at her apron.
While cell groups may help, there is still a place for Jethro-ites in the church, handling conflicts.
And I believe there is a place in the email ministry for Jethro-ites,
with the pastor making it clear to the emailer
that the Jethro-ites have the authority to communicate for the church.
And remember; pastors, of themselves, are not the head of the church.
Christ is.
*******
AANNDD... I'm reminded of Abraham, father of our faith,
who in Genesis 24, sent a trusted servant to secure a bride for his son, Isaac.
One of Abraham's leadership qualities was his willingness to entrust others.
MOSES' EMAIL
Jethro-ite email
Before we begin, imagine being a pastor who NEVER received an email from anyone.
Utter rejection.
Is email becoming a leash that confirms one's ownership by another, more powerful being?
An ownership that is genuinely resented?
Anyway, let's explore how Jethro-ites could streamline a church's email ministry.
I assert that no church office-holder should ever have a completely private email address.
Part of a deacon's duties (in teams of two) should be to review the pastor's official email weekly. This duty should be rotated monthly.
I've seen too many crimes shows where adulterous pastors murdered their wives
and must have used their email to facilitate their adultery.
(And far too often with a church secretary or choir leader).
These deacons should also oversee the volunteer Jethro-ites screening the church email,
acting like switchboard operators, deciding:
* which email is spam
* what is legitimate in-house, housekeeping email
(like regular scheduling and event management and registration)
* outsiders' email, either seeking or trolling
* what is counseling-level email
* what are prayer request items
* what is upper-level stuff from HQ
* what is curious stuff that might be usefull (like an announcement about idonwantgod.com)
The Jethro-ites could sort and route the necessary and useful emails
while junking the spam.
Don't trust your people to be email Jethro-ites?
This is either a trust issue or a territorial dispute.
Either way, changes need to be made.
