Whose Feet Are We Washing?
A reflection for the whole Church
Jesus is returning for a Church without spot or wrinkle. But what sort of Church are we preparing for His return?
We have our buildings, our programmes, our committees, our doctrines and our traditions. Some of these are valuable, even necessary. But have we sometimes become so concerned with preserving the institution that we have forgotten why it exists?
The Church exists to serve people. People do not exist to serve the institution.
On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus did something extraordinary. He took a towel, knelt before His disciples and washed their feet.
The Lord of all became the servant of all.
He wasn’t demonstrating a new organisational structure. He was showing them what love looks like.
And then He told them:
”By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” — John 13:35 (NIV)
He didn’t say that people would recognise His followers by their buildings, their theological arguments, their successful programmes or their positions of authority.
He said they would recognise them by their love.
There is nothing inherently wrong with church organisation. Leadership is necessary. Buildings can be useful. Programmes can bring people together.
But these things are servants, not masters.
When maintaining the organisation becomes more important than listening to someone who is hurting, something has gone wrong.
When procedures matter more than compassion, we need to ask ourselves what we are protecting.
When someone comes seeking fellowship, understanding or simply a listening ear, do we see a person whom Jesus loves, or another demand upon our time?
And this challenge isn’t only for ministers, pastors and church leaders.
It is for every one of us.
It is easy to recognise the failures of others. Far harder to recognise our own. Forgiveness, humility, patience and love are not merely qualities we should expect from our leaders. They are qualities Christ calls us all to practise.
We cannot build a loving Church by demanding that everyone else become more loving.
We must begin with ourselves.
Perhaps we need to ask a different question about the future of Christianity.
Not simply, “How do we keep our churches going?”
But “Are we becoming the people Jesus wants us to be?”
The Church that Christ returns for will not be defined by the success of its institutions, but by its relationship with Him and the transformation of its people.
And perhaps the place to begin is with a towel, a basin of water, and one simple question.
Whose feet are we washing?