Leadership and Feet

Leadership and Feet

John 13:1-17

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

² The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, 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 realise 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.”
⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.


This story has always made an impact on me personally. Man, I hate feet.I would hate to wash all those dirty disciples feet. But more importantly Jesus is modelling, what I believe to be the most important element of character that a Christian Leader should
have. -Servanthood.
As Jesus ties that towel around his waste and kneels before his followers he is displaying the incredible power of authority serving his subjects. Jesus, the son of God on his knees, hands in a bowl of water picking out pieces of dirt from his loyal followers toes - Wow!

A Christian leader is a servant. Throughout the New Testament the message of leadership being all about servant hood is very clear. Jesus shows this in Matthew 20:25-28 where he defines servant leadership as the humble service to others based on our love for them. “Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you” (Matthew 20:25). Jesus is teaching his disciples that servant leaders lead humbly. The emphasis is on the leader’s humility.[1] In a sense the terms servant and leader seem paradoxical, and servant leadership seems to be an oxymoron. Yet the term captures the earthly life and mission of Jesus Christ.  Jesus says in Luke 22:27 “ I am among you as the one who serves”.  Jesus’ followers expected something quite different from Him. The religious leaders at the time demanded titles of reverence and respect. The business leaders expected to be ravished with gifts, waited on hand and foot. Jesus’ disciples wanted exactly that kind of power and honour for themselves. In Luke 22:24-29, Jesus’ disciples argue over which one of them most deserved the highest position in the coming Kingdom.  The fullest picture of servant leadership can only be seen in God taking on human flesh to live and die among humanity. In Jesus, humanity finally saw with its own eyes what true servant leadership is like.[2]

A great example of a servant leader from the bible is David. David is commonly described as a “servant of the Lord” a title of honour and excellence for a man who discovered a joyful abandonment to the will of the Lord. David is signalled out in the scriptures, because he exemplifies a passion for God’s glory and a concern for the spiritual welfare of the covenant nation – Israel.  From his early years as a fugitive the future monarch nurtures the habit of dependent prayer as the Lord’s servant. After his enthronement, the Lord speaks a word of promise to “my servant David” (2 Samuel 7:5,8). David expresses through prayer his sense of wonder in God and gives thanks for his God given purpose. In turn he promises to bring glory to the name of the Lord in Israel and its surrounds (2 Samuel 7:25-27). David continually refers to himself as “servant” when addressing his people and his Lord God. David is immortalised as the servant-king who departed from the standard practice of monarchs and submitted his rule to the will of God. By leading as a servant, King David shaped and influenced a nation and its future and the lesson of David’s servant hood lives on in the local church today.[3]

Another good example of servant leadership in a more modern context is that of Pastor Graham Clarke. Graham is the senior pastor of Barrabool Hills Baptist Church in Geelong, Victoria. Blessed with a leadership gift, Graham leads his church as a true servant leader. Graham acknowledges that his own gifting comes from God and that the gifting of his team also comes from God. In a time and in a country where the senior pastor of a church is the most common face in a congregation, where churches elect their best speaker over their best leader to lead the church and where power and authority can become addictive, Graham stands out. Like David, Graham has departed from the standard practice of leadership and leads as a servant. He acknowledges that he is not the most gifted speaker or preacher in the church and only preaches around forty percent of the time, enabling the truly gifted communicators of the church family to preach the word of God to the congregation. He empowers and encourages his team to use their gifts to shape Barrabool Baptist Church for Godly purposes. Like Jesus and David, Graham comes as the one to serve, not to be served and his style of leadership is shaping the local church for Godly purpose; Graham and his team strive to reach people with the life changing message of Jesus and bring glory to the name of God.

This lesson in servant leadership has completely reshaped the way I lead in ministry and in life. The idea that to lead is to serve has empowered my ministry and pointed it all to the glory of God. I am not only serving God, I am serving my leadership team, the children in our ministry and their parents. So now, whenever I make a decision affecting the ministry to children at my church I ask who is this serving? Often I find it is serving only myself, my ego or my dangerous ambition and so the decision is changed. This process brings life to ministry, allows me to shine the light of Jesus and improves my character as a leader.

Servanthood is a hallmark of the spiritual leader. Christ told His disciples to turn away from the pompous attitudes of the pharisees and religious leaders and instead take on the lowly bearing of the servant. As in those days, so today servanthood is least admired in culture. However, the spiritual leader will choose the hidden path of sacrificial service and approval of the Lord over the flamboyant self-advertising of the world.

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[1] Malphurs, A, Mancini, W, “Building Leaders”, Grand Rapids, 2004, pp20

[2] Fyar, J, “Servant Leadership: Setting Leaders Free”, St Louis, 2001, pp8-10

[3] Howell, Don N, Jr, “Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership”, Eugene, 2003, pp7-8