I was reading once about a churchgoer who was boasting about how holy her pastor was. This pastor, she said, had a personal driver, because he was so holy and godly that even opening his own car door was beneath him. Obviously this pastor was teaching a preposterously wrong definition of holiness. But even more preposterously, what picture of Jesus did he think he was imitating? If Christ Jesus, our Lord and teacher, went to the ultimate limits of humility for us, then there should be no menial task that we servants of Christ consider beneath us!
By washing his disciples feet, Jesus set an example for all of us. By being the highest king but taking the lowest role, Jesus turned the whims of our stratified society on their heads and showed us how to live serving others rather than self. The greatest followers of Jesus are those who serve him in the most menial ways and perhaps don’t even get worldly recognition for it. The first shall be last and the last shall be first.
That doesn’t necessarily mean we should literally wash people’s feet. Candidly, that practice had more impact back then, and today it would probably be little more than a ritual. But there are countless opportunities we have to love and serve others the way Jesus did. Pay for a stranger’s meal. Drive someone to the hospital in the middle of the night. Serve in the preschool ministry on Sunday mornings. Mow your neighbor’s yard for free. Give that homeless person some cash. In fact, give away all you can for brothers and sisters in need. Speak up for those treated unjustly. Forgive that person who harmed you years ago. Call that person just to say you love them. Do that act of service for your spouse that you’ve always been too ashamed to do. And in all of this, may all be glory be not to you but to God alone.
Christ has set an example of humble servanthood for us to follow. So as ambassadors of the King, we should be imitators of his humility. What he our Lord and teacher has done for us, may we do for others.
