Leading Through Humility

Xh. Chong Pao Thao

John 13:1-8 (NIV)

1 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

² The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

Leading Through Humility

Leaders come and go, but every generation there are a few that step above the rest and what makes them rise above and unique from others is that they have the heart to serve, and they humble themselves before others. It is not about the spotlight, but about love and care for others.

Jesus himself portrays a great example on how to humble himself and be of a service to his disciples by washing His disciples’ feet to show them the love He has for them and to show them what they must do onto one another while He is gone to be the Father.

In verse 4, we read that Jesus, the son of God humble himself and got up from the table and unwrap his outer shirt and put a towel around his waist and pour some water into a basin. It takes great humility and pride to put oneself lower than others where it is a service for the lower class to carry out.

In other countries, the washing of feet resembles the lowest in status and only fit for a slave to wash their master feet when they return home from a long trip. So, as a leader, some might feel that we are above others or see others as not our equals, that is where we fail to resemble the love and beauty that Jesus has display.

The Washing of feet: Teaching on Humility and Service

In this world, there are two sides of the fence that leaders lead differently; In the secular world, a leader uses his power to tell others what to do and how to do them and if they fail to carry them out properly, that is a failure. In the world of service to the Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to live by the example that Christ has set upon us and as a leader, we are to be servants to others, that is where the scripture tells us that to be a great leader, we must be last and the last shall be first in the Kingdom (Matt. 20:16)

For Jesus to wash his disciple’s feet, he did not use his role as the Son of God to be above those whom he loved, but to put on the act of love, ignoring what others might think or say. We leaders sometime thinks too much of what others might think or say and we ignore the situation where we matter the most.

There are many times someone would say, that is not your role or responsibility, but to be the person in position to lead and to love others, should we just ignore the possibility of doing good or just turn the other way. Some might say, if you can’t do to everyone, you should not do it at all, but I want us to think about what Christ would do in those situations.

The Application

When Peter told the Lord Jesus not to wash his feet, Jesus told him that “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”, what Jesus meant was unless He washes Peter’s feet, he will never be clean from sin and it is the same with us, unless we are wash by His words, we will never be clean.

Jesus wasn’t just cleaning feet here; He was showing a spiritual truth and being an example for His disciples to remember and to follow His example. Jesus washing of feet symbolized the cleansing from sin that He will accomplish by atoning for our sin on the cross. For us to have fellowship with Christ, we must allow His word to cleanse us, not only on Sundays, but daily and let His words be a light to our feet as we journey on following Christ.

Jesus also told His disciples that they should wash each other feet, meaning that we must love one another until the Lord returns. We are all called to be leaders, into position to serve others. So, to be that leader who raises above others, we need to let Christ lead us, and not use your authority to be above the ones we love. We are called to serve others, like our family, your church and your community. May the Lord lead you and guide with wisdom and knowledge to further His kingdom.