{"id":2891,"date":"2016-04-15T13:00:53","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T13:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/?p=2891"},"modified":"2023-08-29T11:19:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T17:19:23","slug":"foot-washing-empty-ritual-or-full-symbol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/foot-washing-empty-ritual-or-full-symbol\/","title":{"rendered":"“Foot Washing: Empty Ritual or Full Symbol?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Israel Steinmetz<\/span><\/p>\n

From an outsider\u2019s view, Christianity is full of strange rituals. Even in non-liturgical churches like ours there is plenty of strangeness. We gather groups of people who mostly cannot sing and sing together every week. We dunk people under water as an initiation rite. We have a specialized language and social structure. We eat bread and drink juice that symbolize a human sacrifice. Week after week we read and talk about a Book of ancient writings that we treat as sacred and determinative for our entire lives.<\/p>\n

In all this strangeness, one of the weirdest things we do is gather once a year and wash each other\u2019s feet. Even more bizarre, most of us go out of our way to cleanse and groom our feet in preparation for this event, ensuring that the basin of water is just as clean after the ritual as it was before! <\/span><\/p>\n

Why do we gather every year and wash each other\u2019s pedicured feet? We say it\u2019s because of what Jesus taught in John 13:12-17. Jesus had just played the role of a servant, washing His disciples\u2019 filthy feet at the dinner we call the Lord\u2019s Supper. Then He instructed them to follow His example. So here we are nearly two thousand years later assembling every year to commemorate the Lord\u2019s Supper by eating the bread, drinking the juice, and yes, washing each other\u2019s feet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly what began as a practical way of serving each other has turned into a symbolic ritual. This isn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing. Whether it is an empty ritual or a full symbol depends upon how we relate to each other throughout the year. Jesus\u2019 foot washing represented humility in the form of practical service. <\/span><\/p>\n

In a society like ours where feet are fairly clean and we bathe ourselves, washing each other\u2019s feet is no longer a viable way of serving each other. So we are called to think of comparable activities in modern life. What are things that the wealthy would have a servant do for them that we could do for each other instead? Consider a few examples:<\/span><\/p>\n