Chapter 6: The Seven Laws Of The Learner

Question/Prompt: After reading Chapter 6 of The Seven Laws of the Learner, respond to the following prompts/questions:

State the principle of the Bible passage which you chose for Teaching Assignment 1.
Personalize the principle by explaining how it applies to different people in different settings and stages of life (e.g., men, women, boys, girls, married, single, old, young, rich, poor, etc.).
Share a short story or example from your own life which illustrates the principle you have identified.

The principle of Exodus 18:13-27, that I chose to focus on, God wants others to help us in ministry. Wilkinson calls this essence of the passage, “the beef,” and “the meat of the matter.” It is clear throughout the Bible that God does not want
pastors and ministry leaders. The example in Exodus 18 demonstrates how delegation of tasks allows the pastor/leader time and energy to focus on those areas that only he/she can do thus avoiding burnout (v. 17-18). Men and women who are not in a specific church ministry must also use the principle of allowing others to help them carry the load. This presents itself in numerous ways. In the business world people must work together to get the job done. No one person can do everything. In the home parents must demonstrate to their children on how delegating tasks allows the family to be effective allowing time for other things, e.g. school, play, ministry, sports, family time, etc. In an Christian led home, no one person is expected to do all the cooking, cleaning, shopping, teaching, laundry, and other chores that make the household a
Jethro does not tell Moses to give all his tasks to others and toss his feet up on this desk, but he does make clear that Moses cannot do it all himself. Neither can today’s ministry leader. I have had many moments where I just knew I could not do it all myself, I needed someone to help me get through all the tasks. As I walked into a church one day I realized I had to stack over 400 chairs, move them out of the sanctuary, set up 25 round tables surrounded by 8 chairs, all in less than one hour to prepare the room for a benevolence banquet. As the event leader, I also had to prepare each table with numbers and name cards, set up the greeting stations, coordinate with the men who were waiting on the tables. These tasks were insurmountable for one leader. Thankfully, a small green dude with big pointy ears called Yoda, showed up weeks prior to the event to instruct me in how to bring others into this benevolence ministry event. Yoda advised me to identify and teach one man who could oversee the men serving tables. Then, allow this man, Luke, to lead them in this part of the event. Yoda also instructed me on how select someone to oversee and create a tear-down and set-up team, a greeting team, and an offering collection team. I designated Lea in charge of the greeting team, Chewbacca was selected to lead the set-up and tear-down teams, and Lando