But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. – Exodus 18:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (July 23, 2015): Exodus 18

Bill Cosby has admitted his transgressions. For all of his supporters, the day of the revelation was a truly dark day, although I think many were expecting that day to come. And many feel justifiably that they have been deceived. Cosby denies that he is a sexual predator, but he does present himself as a playboy who made the most of his fame, financial stature and strong sedatives in his pursuit of young women. The resulting profile is in conflict with the image that he has projected of himself for many years – the image of a father figure and societal moralist. In spite of the wisdom that Cosby has spouted for years, now all that is left are the words of a hypocrite. In the end he proved to be nothing more than his occupation – he is nothing more than an actor on the stage.

The problem is that many of us thought that we saw something more in him, we believed the public image that he projected. He was someone that we believed that we could look up to, no matter what race we might be. Maybe what hurts the most is that we saw in him a hope for the future where the races could finally be brought together – where Black and White could recognize the good in each other; where we could finally see the very image of God in each other.

Jethro speaks to Moses and he gives to Moses the expectations that Moses needs to look for in a leader. First, he must be capable. Here is the truth - even a wicked man who is capable is better than a righteous man who is unable to do the job at hand. History is filled with people who were irreligious but proved to be very capable leaders. It is something that I think we often forget. Somehow we have believed the lie that to be a person of faith is all that we need, that capability is somehow superfluous for a person of faith. But Jethro makes it clear that this is not the case.

The second condition is that they fear or have a desire to honor God. They must be leaders who believe in something that is beyond themselves. The problem is that when the end is ourselves we can justify almost anything. We have to be willing to look beyond ourselves and our own needs to something that is outside of us. And admittedly, this is not easy. After all, when we take a look at our own lives, what we see is us. What could be more important than that?

The third condition is that they be trustworthy people, or people who understand the idea of truth. Truth is the bedrock of justice; without truth, justice will always be tainted. Lying judges are a curse in any culture.

And the last condition is that they hate dishonest gain – they cannot be bribed either by money or by reputation. They are willing to chase after that truth that is beyond themselves.

These people are hard to find. But in Bill Cosby, I think that this is who we believed that he was. Which made his fall even harder. But we still need to chase after these people – or even better, aspire to be exactly this kind of person. To be the one who is capable, willing to look beyond ourselves, to exist as people of truth who cannot be bribed or influenced - this is who God has designed us to be.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Exodus 19