Now, here's what I want you to do as we start. I want you to close your eyes.
Why are you looking at me? Close your eyes. Okay. I want you to close your eyes.
I'm serious about this now. Wait a minute. Close your eyes. And with your eyes closed, I want you to picture in your mind the food on earth that you absolutely hate. I mean the food that you can't even hold your nose and swallow without gagging.
You know that food? All right. Now, get it in your mind. Real good. You got it? All right. Open your eyes.
Let's take a couple of candidates. Maybe for some of you, it was caviar. Huh? Or for some of you, possibly it was cauliflower. I wonder if we have any votes for raw oysters. How about beef tongue? Yeah.
Or what about Brussels sprouts? Any votes for that? Yeah. All right. Well, let me tell you what mine is.
Without a doubt, and nothing else is even close. Excuse me. In fact, I'm getting sick thinking about it right now. Without a doubt, it's calf's liver. Oh my gosh. That is the most disgusting stuff on the face of this earth. Friends, listen. If I had to eat calf's liver in order to get into heaven, it would be a toss-up whether I would make it. I'm telling you the truth. Now, why are we talking about this?
You go, yeah, why are we? Well, you know that sense of revulsion, that feeling of revulsion that you felt towards that food you pictured in your mind. Well, you know it's possible for us to have that same feeling of revulsion towards other things in life that aren't food. As a matter of fact, it's been my experience that there are a lot of people who feel this same sense of revulsion when it comes to criticism, correction, advice, suggestions. And that's what we're going to talk about today because in Exodus chapter 18, where we are in our study of the life of that great man of God, Moses, we are going to watch as Moses is about to be criticized, as he's about to be corrected. And we're going to watch and see how he is a man of God, responds to this.
Then we're going to bring it all forward and we're going to talk about you and me. So if you brought a Bible today, let's open it together to Exodus chapter 18. And if you didn't bring a Bible, reach right under the armrest next to you and you'll find our copy of the Bible. We're going to be on page 52, page 52 in our copy, Exodus 18 in your copy.
And while you're turning, let me give you a little bit of background. Remember, Moses had led the Israelites through the Red Sea, out of Egypt, and then south, down towards Mount Sinai. They were at Rephidim right now, where Moses hit the rock and brought water out the rock where they defeated the Amalekites. And this was the area right down around Mount Sinai where Moses had spent three days in Egypt. For 40 years, tending the sheep of his father-in-law, a man named Jethro. And so now that they were in Jethro's backyard, Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, comes to pay a visit.
And that's where we pick up the story. Verse 1. Now Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, had heard everything God had done for Moses and how God had brought his people Israel out of Egypt. Verse 5. So Jethro, together with Moses' wife and two sons, came to Moses in the desert.
Then Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and Moses bowed down to him and kissed him. And Moses told Jethro about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and all about the hardships they had faced along the way to Mount Sinai and how the Lord had delivered them. Verse 9. And Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel.
Now so far, so good. Verse 13. On the next day, Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and the people stood around from morning to evening waiting to see Moses. And when Jethro saw all that Moses was doing, he said, What is this that you're doing?
Why do you alone sit as judge while all these people ascend around you from morning to evening? Verse 15. So Moses said to him, Well, the people come to me to seek God's will. Whenever they have a dispute, they bring it to me, and I decide between the parties, and I inform them of God's decrees and laws.
Verse 17. Jethro replied, What you are doing is not good. Both you and the people who are coming to you are going to wear yourselves out.
Listen now to me, and I will give you some advice. Now right at this moment, Moses could have stopped Jethro, and he could have very easily said to him, Hey, pal, you're going to give me some advice? I mean, who do you think you are? I'm the one who talked to God personally at the burning bush, Jethro. I'm the one that God used to part the Red Sea, pal. I'm the one that God used to bring the 10 plagues down on Pharaoh and on Egypt. I'm the one who just a few days ago took a stick and hit a rock and brought 11 million gallons of water a day out of it.
Jethro, who do you think you are to be given me advice? I mean, when was the last time you parted the Red Sea? But this is not at all the attitude of Moses. Look at verse 24. But Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he advised. And then Moses blessed his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country. Now, what exactly was Jethro's advice to Moses?
Well, if you look with me in verse 21, you'll see it. Jethro said, Moses, select capable men from among the people and appoint them as officials over hundreds, thousands, fifties, and tens, groups of people. Break Israel down into groups of people and have these men, verse 22, serve as judges for the people in everyday matters, but have them bring every difficult case to you. The simpler cases, they can decide for themselves. Verse 22 continues, this will make your load lighter, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied because they haven't had to stand around from 9 o'clock in the morning to 9 o'clock at night waiting for a chance to get heard.
Now, folks, this was really good advice, wasn't it? As a matter of fact, the advice that Jethro gave Moses forms the very foundation of the American system of jurisprudence that we use today. Here in America, we have state courts, we have circuit courts, we have district courts, we have appellate courts.
These are the officials, the judges over thousands, hundreds, tens, and fifties that handle the simpler cases. And then, of course, we have the Supreme Court, Moses, that handles the more difficult cases. My point is, even to this day, 3500 years later, we are still following the advice that Jethro gave Moses because it was really good advice. And to summarize, here's what we've seen. Jethro gave Moses some good advice, and Moses had the humility and the good sense.
He had the teachability and the approachability to take Jethro's advice and to implement it, and the result was that Moses benefited personally from doing that, and so did the entire nation of Israel. Now we want to stop here, it's as far as we're going to go in this chapter, because we finished the chapter, and we're going to ask our most important question. So are we ready? Yes, here we go, nice and loud.
One, two, three. Yes. You say, Lon, so what? Well, let me tell you so what, friends, I don't know about you, but Moses' reaction here to Jethro's criticism, to Jethro's advice, here in Exodus 18, I'm telling you, it impresses me. You can call it teachability, you can call it approachability, you can call it receptivity, but whatever it is, it's impressive that a man at Moses' level, with the leadership that Moses had been given, with the stature that Moses had, it is impressive that he would listen to the advice of somebody else. Now let's turn our attention off of Moses, shall we? And let's turn our attention to you and me.
And let's be honest, can we be honest here? Let's be honest and admit that when it comes to accepting advice and criticism today in our world, most of us have a problem. And to find out what that problem is, I'd like to recommend to you a verse from the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 21, 2.
It says, all a man's ways look right in his own eyes. In other words, most of the time, most of us think that we're right. The ability that we have to justify our own actions as correct is phenomenal as human beings.
I mean, just look back in history. Adam was able to somehow justify eating from the tree that God told him not to eat from. Cain was somehow able to justify killing his brother Abel.
David was somehow able to justify murdering Bathsheba's husband, a man named Uriah, in cold blood. Judas was somehow able to justify turning Jesus over to the authorities and believing he was right in doing it. The Spanish church was somehow able to justify the Inquisition. Hitler was somehow able to justify in his own mind the Holocaust. You know, folks, every one of these people, when they did what they did, they had somehow convinced themselves that they were right. And I'll tell you, as a pastor for the last 26 years, I have sat in my office and listened to hundreds of followers of Christ justify the most amazing behavior, certain that they were right, when every single speck of the Bible and every single speck of common sense said they were wrong.
And yet they were sure they were right. This is the problem. As sinful human beings, we are all prone to believe that our way is the right way. The truth is most of us ask for very little advice and most of us want even less.
And what that means is that we end up making some incredibly destructive, some incredibly painful choices in life because we're this way. Now, you say, OK, Lon, that's the problem. I understand the problem.
So what's the solution? Well, friends, the solution is for us to be more like Moses in Exodus chapter 18. The solution is for us to learn to be teachable, just like Moses was in this chapter we just studied. And what exactly does it mean to be teachable?
Well, let me tell you first what it does not mean. Being teachable does not mean that we must feel obligated to take every piece of advice people give us, nor does teachable mean that we have to agree with every criticism leveled against us that that criticism is valid and correct. What being teachable means, friends, positively, is that we exhibit a three part response when somebody criticizes us, makes a suggestion, gives us advice, a three part response. Part number one, we listen without defensiveness. Number two, we honestly pray about the criticism. We honestly think about the criticism. We ask God to show us if there's any validity to it. And part number three, to the degree that God does show us that this criticism has validity, to that degree we determine to make changes in our life and in our behavior with the help of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, a teachable spirit sounds like this when someone gives them advice or correction. Step one, we say, I appreciate what you're telling me. Step two, we say, let me have some time to think and pray about it.
Step three, we say, I'll get back to you on it after I've had time to think and pray about it. And if I'm doing something wrong, if God convinces me of that, I promise you I'll change. That's a teachable spirit. Now, friends, the Bible is clear that we reveal the kind of person we are by how we respond to criticism. Criticism is a huge spiritual litmus test of our lives. Criticism is an enormous spiritual barometer of where we really are in our spiritual life.
This is what the Bible says. On the one hand, the Bible says that a wise person distinguishes himself or herself by responding to criticism with a teachable spirit. In Proverbs chapter one, verse five, a wise person, the Bible says, listens to advice and gets wiser. Proverbs 12, 15, the way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise person listens to advice. Proverbs 19, 20, listen to advice and accept criticism that you may be wise the rest of your days. And finally, Proverbs 15, five, whoever listens to correction is wise. Conversely, the Bible says that a fool is a person who is utterly unteachable. A fool is a person who utterly ignores all criticism and all advice. Proverbs 12, one, he who hates criticism is a fool. Proverbs 15, 12, a fool resents all correction. And finally, Proverbs 27, 22, I love this verse, though you pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle like crushed grain.
You get the picture here? Still, his foolishness will not depart from him. Every time I read this verse, I think of our good old buddy, Pharaoh, here in the book of Exodus. I mean, this was a guy who with plague after plague after plague, the Lord pounded this guy like in a mortar and a pestle, just grinding this guy up, trying to teach him that he was wrong, that he was wrong about God, that he was wrong about the Israelites, that he was wrong about letting them go. And still, this guy never did get it, which is what qualifies him as a fool.
Now, as followers of Christ, friends, I'm here to tell you that we need to be careful we don't follow in Eulbrenner's footsteps. You understand what I'm saying? Listen, nobody likes being criticized. Nobody enjoys having someone correct us. Children don't like it when their parents do it. Students don't like it when their teachers do it. Athletes don't like it when their coaches do it. Employees don't like it when their bosses do it. Military personnel don't like it when their commanding officers do it. Husbands don't like it when their wives do it.
And wives don't like it when their husbands do it. But God makes it clear here in the Bible that he blesses the man, he blesses the woman, he blesses the young person who has the humility to respond to criticism with teachability. God calls such a person a wise man, a wise woman. Now, let's close with one last question. And the question is this. Hey, if we know as followers of Christ that this is what God says in the Bible, I mean, if we know that God says a teachable spirit is a spirit that he blesses and honors, question, why is it that more of us aren't more teachable? Good question.
Let me tell you what the answer is. The answer is because criticism hurts our pride. Because to admit we're wrong is humiliating to our fleshly human ego. To put it another way, teachability demands humility. And humility is a commodity that is in very short supply in our modern world, particularly in this city. But you can't be teachable unless you're humble because part of teachability means admitting that you might be wrong.
And that's a statement of humility. You know, a few years ago, when my oldest son Jamie was three years old, he's 30 now. So this was a number of years ago. We went apple picking one morning with him and we drove and picked apples. It was wonderful. And then we went to lunch. And so, you know, being a good dad, I was starving, just starving. But being a good dad, I thought, well, I'll go ahead and get Jamie his hot dog first and I'll sit him down.
We'll get him eating and then I'll go back and get my food. So I ordered him this hot dog and I took it over. And, you know, this was one of these little tiny hot dogs in the big bun. You know what I'm saying? Like the David hot dog in the Goliath bun.
You understand what I'm saying? And I was starving. So when I handed him a hot dog, I ripped the end of the roll off. I didn't touch the hot dog.
I just ripped the end of the roll off and I stuck it in my mouth. Well, he went absolutely crazy. Daddy, you ate my hot dog. You ate my hot dog. That was my hot dog. You stole my hot dog. I would look, look, look. And I sat down.
We're in this crowded restaurant. And I sat down and I tried to explain to this three-year-old that I didn't touch the hot dog itself. I only touched the bun. I tried to explain to him that all the nutritional value was still there. It was all in the hot dog.
None of it was in the bun. But it was not working. And he was just wailing and everybody in this restaurant is staring at us and he was inconsolable. So finally I turned to Brenda and I said, Brenda, could you give me some advice here? I mean, you know, what should I do? She said, you really want my advice? I said, yeah, yeah. She said, Lon, it was his hot dog. She said, you took his hot dog.
And she said, if I were you, I think you owe him an apology. Do you know how humiliating it is to get down on your knees in a restaurant so you're eyeball to eyeball with a three-year-old? And to ask a three-year-old to forgive you for stealing his hot dog. That's how he saw it.
Do you know how humiliating that is? Well, I did it. And then they made me eat the hot dog I had ripped up and get him a new one, which seemed appropriate. And he calmed down. Friends, that's why it was a good thing I did. I'm glad I did it.
Brenda's advice was right. But the point is, we cannot be teachable unless we are willing to be humbled as part of the process. Friends, we cannot receive criticism in a godly Christ-like way unless we are prepared as part of that process to be humbled if that's necessary.
Let me repeat what I said a minute ago. I said that humility leads to teachability, which leads to a life blessed by God. Humility leads to teachability, which leads to a life blessed by God. Proverbs 29, 23, A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will gain honor. Proverbs 13, 18, He who accepts criticism with a humble spirit, God will honor that person. Humility leads to teachability, which leads to a life blessed by God. And therefore, if you and I want to become more teachable, let me make a suggestion. Don't go out and try to cultivate teachability.
That won't work. Friends, get down on your knees every day before God and try to cultivate true humility in your life. And I promise you, as you grow in true biblical humility, you won't have any trouble being teachable.
It comes as part of the package deal. Let me close with a quote by A.W. Tozer. He said, and I quote, A state of heart that rejected rebuke was characteristic of Israel at various periods in her history, and these periods were invariably followed by disaster. He says churches and individual Christians today often fall into this same error that destroyed Israel with the same sad result. Tozer's advice, keep your heart open to the correction of the Lord and be willing to receive it regardless who holds the whip. His conclusion, the great saints all learned how to take a licking gracefully. And that may be one reason why they became great saints. End of quote.
Folks, as followers of Christ, may God help each one of us to cultivate this same kind of teachable spirit that Moses had in Exodus chapter 18. I don't care how high up the totem pole you go. I don't care how much power you amass. I don't care how much esteem you're regarded within your company and your business at your school.
It doesn't matter. Friends, we're all human. We can all be wrong.
Moses, you'll never attain a position like he had, and yet he understood he might be wrong. Friends, we have to have that same understanding, that same humility, and we have to cultivate that humility every day on our knees in prayer. When we do, we won't have a problem when somebody walks up and says, hey, could I give you a piece of advice? We'll be able to say, hey, bring it on. Bring it on. Let me hear it. I can't promise you I'll agree with it, but you might be right.
Let me hear it. That's a Christ-like person. That's a person walking in the footsteps of Moses, and that's what God wants you and me to be. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, you know, as we've talked about, it is really tough to take criticism. It's hard because many times it's not given in the best attitude by folks giving it, but as Tozer said, it doesn't matter who holds the whip, even if it's people who don't like us, even if it's people that we don't like them. Lord, help us to become like the great saints who learned how to take a lichen gracefully, not because we enjoyed the lichen, but because we have cultivated humility before God in our life, and we're willing to admit we might be wrong. Lord, teach us to be humble people in a city that doesn't cultivate humility very much. But Lord, help us walk by a different path, according to a different set of rules than everyone else in this town, and make us true men and women of humility before Almighty God. Change our lives because we were here today, Father, and we pray these things in Jesus' name. And God's people said, Amen. Amen.
