In my readings, it seems the majority of those who think footwashing should not be considered an ordinance focus on three things:
That footwashing (as opposed to Baptism and celebration of the Eucharist) appears only once in the Gospels; that footwashing is not practiced in Acts; and that there is no detailed instruction regarding when it is to be practiced.
As mentioned in my previous post, it’s not my intent to argue the status of footwashing as an ordinance.
However, neither do I believe Christ’s instructions on this matter are to be taken lightly, and it seems those who argue against footwashing as an ordinance are invariably reduced to exercising in some pretty intricate exegetical gymnastics in order to dilute the force of Christ’s command, “that you also should do just as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-16)
To explore how footwashing may contribute to our capacity to participate in the goods internal to, and extend our conception of the ends resulting from, the practice of discipleship will require an imaginative act.
Most commentaries that commend footwashing as an example to be followed do so in the context of the “servant leader.” And given Jesus words in Mark 10:44, it seems unproblematic that in washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus was intentionally modeling an example of humble service to be emulated by Christians in leadership positions.
But as Jerome H. Neyrey and others have noted, the Johannine text is a complicated one, and without close attention, our historical and cultural distance from it can cause us to miss much of what’s happening.
Here, instead of focusing on Christ’s apparently self-humbling action, I’d like to look at what’s going on with Peter.
Peter is aghast at what Jesus is about to do. “Lord, do you wash my feet?” he asks incredulously. Jesus responds not with a “yes” or “no” but simply requires Peter to allow his feet to be washed in the faith that Peter will later understand what Jesus has done.
But Peter cannot accept this. If Christ is to wash his feet, then surely Jesus must also wash Peter’s hands and head.
And here I think is where many commentators who wish to relegate footwashing to mere “example” status may be missing something.
Because while Jesus’ act certainly carries with it a valuable lesson in servant leadership, it also carries an equally valuable lesson in receiving grace.
As Neyrey has pointed out, Jesus is training his disciples in the art of the “Good Shepherd.” And part of that training requires the disciples learn how to serve their flock. But if that’s all Jesus intended, he could simply have had the disciples wash each others’ feet. Or, better yet, he could have brought in the household servants and had the disciples wash their feet.
However, perhaps Jesus wanted to ensure the disciples not only knew that “whoever would become great must become a servant.” Perhaps Jesus also wanted them to understand at an experiential level what it means to be tenderly served by one’s master.
This single act, it seems serves multiple purposes, not the least of which may be to completely break through the most fundamental of status relationships.
It’s one thing for Jesus to command his disciples to serve his flock.
It’s quite another to require a servant to allow his master to bow before him and perform such a seemingly menial and intimate service.
To get an idea of what this must have felt like to Peter, imagine if a slave in Herod’s court had suddenly found his king performing such a task. It would have been almost horrifying–a violation of all conceptions of the order of things with no reference point for understanding such an act.
Yet this is what Jesus required of his disciples. And in so doing, we might not be wrong in thinking, he modeled both the love his Father had for him, as well as heart with which Jesus received that love.
Now we can see that not only is it important that leaders serve their flock. It’s also important that all of us, in whatever position we occupy, understand what it means to be so served.
To allow oneself to be served by one’s master may indeed be even more uncomfortable than to humble oneself before those one leads. How many leaders do we know who would not let themselves be so served?
To do so would be to acknowledge that one is in need of such care. We can brush off those whose status is inferior to our own when they attempt to help us. But it may be more difficult to allow our superiors to serve us in such a way as to appear to humble themselves.
To be a human is to find oneself at times in a position of relative independence and at other times in a position of utter dependence.
Most of us count the virtues of independence as being highly desirable.
But is it possible that there are also virtues of dependence?
One might object that a state of dependence is not something to be prized.
To that I offer two counter-objections.
The first is that all of us have been dependent when we began life. And all of us will be dependent as our lives come to an end. And many, if not all, of us will also have periods during which, due to circumstance or illness, we find ourselves in a position of dependence.
If dependence is an inescapable condition of being human, then certainly we should ask if it should always be treated as something to be despised both of others and ourselves.
The second objection is in the example of Christ himself, who not only acquiesced to, but cherished his utter dependence on his Father.
Here we have the model of one who made himself nothing, in the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7), and yet was given all authority in heaven and on earth by his Father (Matthew 28:18).
Given the above, it might be reasonable to ask if Jesus didn’t intend for us to actually wash the feet of those we serve.
And if he did, we might then ask if his intention was not only to model the Good Shepherd’s servant leadership. Perhaps he intended us to understand both that we are utterly and ultimately dependent upon God, and to help us learn what it means to be dependent on each other.
Now it may be there are other ways to “wash each others’ feet.” But it’s also true that as a culture we have a long history of looking with disdain at being dependent.
By instituting footwashing as a regular exercise, even if only on Maundy Thursday, for instance, we discipline ourselves both in the practice of servant leadership and in the virtues of dependence.
And in understanding there may indeed be such a thing as “virtues of dependence” it may be that we are able to more fully participate in the goods internal to, and extend our conception of, the ends resulting from the practice of discipleship as we serve both our Lord and each other.
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