Humble Hygiene

12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (John 13:12-17)

This is a pretty popular scene from the Bible, and one that never ceases to amaze me. Never gets old. So I thought I would share it with you today. It came to mind earlier when I walked out into the yard bare foot on this particularly rainy day, and consequently got my feet muddy. So, before we jump into it, a quick fact or two on feet washing.

In the Hebrew culture, the job of washing the feet was an especially degrading one. So much so, that local servants were not even chosen for the task, but rather foreign slaves were responsible for it. (Well, not as much history and background as I imagined this paragraph would have, but its all I really got. Enjoy)

So we have the most degrading and humiliating task available, and a room filled with the 12 disciples, and their leader, Jesus Christ. (Must I reiterate the fact that He is God, King of King, Lord of Lords, etc.) The disciples of course, are under the teaching and leadership of Jesus, they being His followers and students. Yet, Jesus fills a basin, and proceeds to wash all of their feet. The most humiliating task available performed by the person with the highest position, not the lowest.

Jesus tells us Himself in the above passage that He has set an example for us and that we should do as He has done. If our Lord and Teacher was willing to serve in such a humble manner, how much more so should we be willing to serve? All too often I look over tasks that seem much too trivial for my time and effort. I simply can not see how doing it could possibly benefit myself, anyone else, or the Kingdom of God. I will over and over leave the job undone, thinking that someone else should perform that, because there are greater and bigger things for me to do. What a prideful and terrible view to have of myself. If my Lord Jesus Christ was willing, in all of His perfection, to kneel down and wash the feet of flawed men, then there is no task on this planet that I am too great for.

Never overlook even the smallest of jobs. Be willing to submit yourself humbly into the service of Christ, even if that means accepting what appears to you to be the most insignificant of tasks. The Body of Christ is made up of many different parts. Not everyone is a head, an arm, a leg or a foot. There are no greater or more significant parts to the Body. Each individual within it has their own set of spiritual gifts with which they are to contribute to the growth and expansion of the Kingdom. Humble yourself, and be better fit to serve the purpose for which you were placed here. "If you know these thing, blessed are you if you do them" -Jesus Christ

Nearly got off track there and got sucked into a whole different topic about spiritual gifts and our places within the Body of Christ. Maybe another time. For now, go wash some feet. (Figuratively that is. Unless of course you have the opportunity to do it literally, in which case you should definitely follow through with that.) -KT