Servant Leadership
I was struck recently by this image that quite effectively demonstrates two different ways that people in charge might behave in their role.
One image has the leader behind the work and the people doing it, pointing and directing them where to go. And the other has the leader in the front, pulling with the team and modeling the work that needs to be done as they work alongside the team.
Succinctly, this is a great illustration of what I think Jesus meant when he taught things like “The last shall be first, and the first shall be last.” And it was exemplified in the way he washed his disciples’ feet. Washing feet was a task the lowest of the low did. When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, he must have encountered their calluses, bruises, and cuts. These would have been feet not covered by socks or even shoes, so they would have been exceptionally dirty.
Since folks back then reclined rather than sat to eat (imagine laying down on a nice cushion and propping up your head with an elbow), it made sense that their feet needed to be clean since one’s feet would have been much closer to their neighbor than if they were sitting at a table. And usually it was a servant or a woman who did this—only the lowest of the low washed feet.
There would have been no avoiding the discomfort being experienced by the disciples having their feet washed by their master teacher, nor the outright grossness of touching so many people’s feet! There were at least 13 people… so that’s 26 feet. 260 toes. Lots of dirty toenails. This act of love wasn't something that could be done at arm’s length. I’m sure their feet stank. I’m sure the water was stained grey and brown. I am sure that by the end of it, Jesus likely ached from bending over and kneeling. This act of Love put the Son of God in the same position as a slave of that time and was a lesson to the disciples and to us about the length that Love goes in reaching out to others.
It was a model of leadership that reminded the disciples about how meaningless the appearance of authority when real authority is different from our assumptions. In a way, Jesus took on profound authority by demonstrating that no work is “below” his ability or desire to do them. And it demonstrated Jesus’ love for his friends that he would do a task reserved for the lowest of the low.
No one can doubt Jesus’ sincerity or integrity when, later, he teaches his disciples to do the same. If he is going to teach and expect this kind of love from his disciples then he better show them what it looks like! What Jesus did is called servant leadership—where his authority is something that empowered his disciples’ obedience rather than commanded it.
Love is messy. And when we are called to love our neighbor, that means being in the mess with them sometimes too. Jesus touched lepers, ate with unclean sinners, healed an uncontrollably bleeding woman, and had no problem touching 26 feet with 260 toes.
And so, the challenge has been extended to us. Love is stronger than our need for comfort. Love’s strength comes from the ability to find humility, to kneel like Jesus kneeled, and then to love like Jesus loved. If you are searching for the strength to love the unknown, the enemy, the awkward then I invite you to kneel first. That’s where the strength to love will be.
