Foot Washing

The other night, while reading out of and expounding on Joshua 22, I taught my kids that one way to maintain humility and thereby "hold fast to [the LORD]" (Joshua 22:5) is one that is very seldom practiced in the assembly today: foot washing.

I have never personally been a part of an assembly where this is practiced; though I have felt the Lord lead me to wash the feet of my family a couple times during times of significant tension, turmoil, and strife.

But in John 13 we see Jesus (the Lord of Glory) do just this, in a very real and practical way - and He goes on to teach:

~~~~~~~~~~~

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? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 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. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."

~ John 13:12-17

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It seems to me that the Lord was instructing the apostles to very literally practice foot washing; "If I then, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet," [in a very real and literal way, not in a merely allegorical/symbolic way] "you also ought to wash one another’s feet."

It seems that there is little reason to interpret His instruction as purely symbolic/allegorical.

Right after instructing them to wash one another's feet, Jesus says:

"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."

And:

"If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."

While I do feel that there is much benefit and revelation in the allegorical meaning of 'foot washing', and that the spiritual practice of it is also imperative; I do not feel that to neglect the literal practice of it is wise or warranted.

I speak from experience (and as one who has only ever washed the feet of my wife and children/step-children): it was a very humbling and heart-melting experience for all involved.

I sincerely believe that if we would but humbly submit ourselves to this practice in obedience to the Lord; not esteeming ourselves better than Him; and "knowing these things", that we would be very "blessed..if [we] do them."

I believe that it would be very instrumental in maintaining love, humility, and unity among the brethren.

Forrest: The church I grew up in practiced footwashing, and I know of several others where it occurs. I can say that it was a time of humility, often repentance, and it seemed the Holy Spirit really attended to the practice  I think we would do well to practice this more.

I agree with J & B-

Jesus washed his disciples feet because they were grimy and needed it.

Surely we can serve our brothers and sisters in more relevant ways today.

I guarantee that in churches that practice foot washing as an ordinance, no one shows up with dirty stinky feet.

I see no reason whatsoever to try and force an ordinance out of Jesus' action. He was teaching a principle and attitude to emulate, not an action.

Forest,
There are SO many things in The Word,that Jesus taught us that have
a Spiritual meaning,...and,I believe foot washing is one of them.

*First we see 'Jesus teaching humility'

*Then there is more,I believe that Jesus wants us to see.

Jn13:5,..."He poured 'water' into a basin,and began to wash the disciples' feet,..."
V.7,Jesus says, "What I do thou knowest not now,but thou shalt know
hereafter.
He goes on to tell Peter,..
V.8, "If I wash thee not,thou hast no part with me."
V.9, ..."Peter saith unto Him,Lord,not my feet only,but also my hands and
my head."

V10, "Jesus saith unto him,He that is washed needeth not except to wash
his feet,but is entirely clean; and ye are clean,but not all of you. "

*When Jesus washes us,we are clean,but I believe we are to remind our
brothers /sisters,that we are to walk with clean feet.

V.14, Jesus tells the 'disciples', "If I,then,your Lord and Master,have washed your feet,; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.
V.15, "For I have given you an example,that ye should as I have done to you.

"Disciples" (learners)

+ Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me.

We too,are learners.

And there are more to compare of the things that Jesus did in the natural,
that needs to be compared with the Spiritual,...many ,many,but I must go for now.

I appreciate you bro.Forest,

---------------
elizabeth

Actually, as between communion and washing feet, Jesus only commanded them to wash each others feet as following His example. He never told them to observe the communion meal.

Bro. Greg,
yoke,was not in my heart,...learn [ers] was.

Please forgive,....I don't always make myself very clear.

Bless you,

---------
Elizabeth

"Like 'feeding on Him with thanksgiving and praise', that is, partaking in His body and blood moment by moment instead of a symbol."

Sis Brenda,

Are you saying the communion we partake of is just a symbol and unnecessary?

Please elaborate.

In His Love,

William

"Foot washing is a symbol of "service" of serving others in the body of Christ. Though there is no yoke to have to practice this, I encourage and am blessed by a brother who see's significance and blessing in it." bro Greg.

I agree with the statement above from brother Greg. Although it may not be an ordinance in the church today, as the communion is, and of course there are many ways of serving one another, both spiritually and practically, great blessing and intimacy can be derived from it as and when the Lord leads us to do it. Often it is more humbling and affectionate to the one receiving than the one serving...

In His Love,

William

Travis said,

"I can say that it was a time of humility, often repentance, and it seemed the Holy Spirit really attended to the practice I think we would do well to practice this more.”

Neil quoted Forrest and then said,

F - "I believe that it would be very instrumental in maintaining love, humility, and unity among the brethren."

N ”“ "and having been allowed to participate in such a heavenly holy, anointed, and beautiful ordinance JUST ONCE, your words are true. I would testify, but for the truth that my mere human words would not convey in totality, how beautiful this little utilized ministry is.”

From my experience I fully agree with the above statements as well as all that brother Greg has shared on the subject of foot washing. My personal conviction is that there are three ordinances in the church, water baptism, communion, and foot washing.

Brother Neil is the first person whom I have heard outside a small group of believers I have come across that has referred to FW as an ordinance. It wasn’t until I was saved for a little over 10 years that I came across pockets of devoted brethren in Indiana we had begun fellowshipping with and where we ultimately invited a gentleman to come and teach our small home fellowship in Michigan.

As I have shared before, amidst my apprehension as to why we would invite a man to drive nearly 4 hours each way to teach such a small group he accepted and did so weekly for over 6 years. He was a very methodical teacher and before we would come to understand and learn as well as UNLEARN many things, he taught on foot washing in a series regarding ordinances in the church.

Like many things concerning fellowship, witnessing, deliverance, the function and operation of the gifts of the Spirit, communion, and foot washing, etc… He never said we had to do this or that but would clearly layout from scripture Gods heart on such matters.

After he taught on foot washing, he never said "okay, let’s wash one anothers feet” he was a patient and gifted teacher and never primed the pump so to speak. He would give the Holy Spirit time to work the truth down into our hearts. After he would go home we would still have at least two other meetings during the week and would discuss and pray about what the Lord was showing us and we began to ponder and consider this ordinance and believed God wanted us to experience this practice.

Now water baptism, communion, and foot washing can and has become a RITUAL among many professing Christians throughout the ages believing that if they just DO these things it will make them spiritual. Like all of the above anything we do outside of the leading and directing of the Holy Spirit is merely a work of the flesh and profits nothing.

Our small group was clearly convinced we were to partake in such an event and spoke to our brother about it and we scheduled a time to travel to Indiana and link up with another home fellowship and participate in a foot washing service.

It all began like we always began first in prayer, then praise and worship, then an exhortation, and then the foot washing. One of the many, many, lessons this brother taught us over the years was that of seeking Gods divine order and learning to wait upon the Lord in ALL things and when we do we can most assuredly know that we know the Spirit of the Lord will be in our midst.

This particular day I was eager, hungering, and desiring to participate in the exact description brother Neil explained in this ordinance. We separated the men and women in different rooms and my heart was so focused on blessing my brothers and here was the key to this event that made it so amazing was as we would lay hands on the brethren and begin to wash we would pray as the Holy Spirit would lead for that brother.

This Holy Spirit lead prayer would then lead into not only praying down blessing, but also confessing and speaking aloud Gods promises in this brothers life, as well as healing, deliverance, protection, etc..

I washed several brothers feet, deeply desiring to do all, and I tell you brothers and sisters the truth, all that bath water was mixed with tears and was beyond humbling. Like our brother Paul, it is almost too heavenly to describe, as there are no words to truly justify such an experience.

I was so caught up in this experience of washing the others I did not realize that I myself was not submitting to having my own feet washed until a brother came to me with tears and said, "Brother Dave, please sit down, I want to wash your feet”. I was taken aback and I responded with, "No, that’s okay, let me wash your feet” which of course he said no so I removed my shoes and socks and as that brother began to wash my feet and pray for me God showed me my sin and spiritual pride and as brother Travis rightly stated I repented.

A major key and truth we were taught on this subject was it is not in the foot washing alone but also the prayer, intercession, confession, and supplication with both the understanding and in the spirit, for one another.

It has been said here that this is an underutilized event today in the body of Christ and like many other things I also agree. Like I said, this can become a ritual or routine just like the other ordinances. But when the Holy Spirit is involved? Not so.

Great topic Forrest, thanks for sharing brother.

Taking literally the words of Jesus like "eat my flesh and drink my blood" and "this is my body" or "this is my blood" is how we got the abomination of the catholic mass and the doctrine of transubstantiation that has led millions down the road to perdition.

Jesus performed the needed act of foot washing because no one else did it. It was a beautiful act of humility and service.

When he was through and he said "you ought to was each other's feet" he was saying "as my follower serve each other in humility."

I don't believe there is further mention of this in the NT.

"Touch not; taste not; handle not"

Bro Julius,

Why are we taking sides here? I have agreed with many of your previous posts but you are coming across as spiritually arrogant here...as though you are just on a slightly higher level spiritually than the brothers who posted previously on this thread.

I am most certainly not in awe of rituals etc and am pretty grounded in the truth of Christ in me...I think.
Your quote from Colossians has no application though, to either Communion or foot washing.

I, for one, completely agree that foot washing is not taught as an ordinance / ritual to be religiously observed by the church, however I believe we can still find real value in it when led by the Holy Spirit to do so.

As far as Communion is concerned, this is pretty clearly laid out in Corinthians that our Lord Jesus Christ wants us to DO this in remembrance of Him. He died Physically and wants us to physically remind ourselves and each other of it. I find no basis for spiritualising this at all...

In His Love,

William

Agreed, Jeff.

That is a more balanced view and quite acceptable, as far as I understand it.

In communities of faith, we often wash each others "feet" spiritually through ministering the gifts of the Spirit and the anointed Word of God to one another and He could, and often does, lead folks to physically wash feet as well.

Maybe it just makes His heart and Will tangible and visible...?

In His Love,

William

Jeff,

Very well said and I agree as well thanks for bringing wisdom and balance to this topic.

BD

Jesus himself answered the question on Foot Washing.
John 13:12-"For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. "

Jesus just gave an example of humility by washing the feet of his disciples. It is not the action he did that is important, it is the example he gave to show his humility.

I have said this before, in our Church in one of the meetings, a brother noticed that one of the toilets was not cleaned after a child has made a mess of it. He thought he has to call the person responsible for cleaning it. But by the time he caught hold of someone and took him to the toilet to show the mess the child has created, there was already an elderly man cleaning it. He later came to know this elderly man was the main speaker in the Church meeting as well. This elderly man also has the most sermons on this site and his name is Zac Poonen. So being the teacher in the Church did not prevent him from cleaning a toilet mess made by a child. This example is far superior to any foot washing that a church can faithfully practice because Jesus told them so.

Humility is the attitude of heart.

In my OP you will see that I did not seek to promote foot washing as some dogmatic ordinance in the church. I do see baptism and the Lord's Supper as close to essential as one can get without ascribing an undue level of mysterious (almost occult) power to the ritual itself.

I do hold to a "symbolic" view of ordinances such as baptism and the Lord's Supper; and I also believe that they are instructive in the actual practicing of them as well. For example, it isn't baptism itself that has power per se (many are baptized in water and will still go to hell), but I believe that there is something powerful and real and spiritual that transpires in the heart when one, seeing the symbolic meaning, yields to the actual practice in a very real and physical way, and there is a faith working together with physical action that in some way is "perfected" (see James 2:22).

[I can hear some shouting, "It was faith and the action of obeying God and living according to your faith - not faith and a dead, religious ordinance," - to which I say, if God has spoken and expects obedience, even if it is a seemingly 'dead, religious ordinance' - then that is faithful obedience to Him and really no different. Listen to John the baptist and Peter: "Repent/Believe and be baptized!" Could one have heard the preaching of John or Peter and supposed themselves to have believed and then not submit to the ordinance of baptism? I think not.]

I believe you can get a glimpse of this in Paul's words: "...that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

We know it is by grace we are saved, through faith, and that it is not of works...but here Paul almost weds faith and confession as one complete (or "perfect", James 2:22) act of faith - and he clearly makes public confession of Christ mandatory for salvation. I see baptism as a time when that confession is often made, and also a way to 'confess' Christ with your whole body in perhaps a louder and clearer way than you could with your lips (and identify with Him in His death).

It saddens me that we are so stubbornly extreme with our thinking and set up so many false dichotomies as a result. It is always "either/or" and never "both/and" - for example, one who takes such hard and fast positions as: "foot washing is to be seen as symbolic and not to be practiced as to do so would be to make a dead religious ordinance of it and miss the spiritual meaning."

It's: Either "don't practice it and grasp the symbolic meaning" or, "practice it and miss the symbolic meaning."

Instead of: "It is both symbolic and has practical benefit in the physical observance of it, and we ought not to sacrifice one in favor of the other thinking that they are inherently mutually exclusive."

This, in my estimation, is pride. "I am right and there is no way I can be wrong and I don't need to be taught about humble service by acting out a very humble act of service and there is nothing in the practice of it that I can learn about the spiritual meaning of it - I already know what it entails!"

I do understand and agree that to observe (or rather insist on) foot washing and to fail to serve the body of Christ in other things is to strain at the gnat and swallow the camel, but to refuse the physical as unnecessary and foolish could reveal pride in the heart that disallows Jesus' spiritual cleansing.

As is, in my view, the cause of Jesus' warning to Peter: "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me." In other words, if you don't:

1) see yourself as dirty and in dire need of cleansing, and then

2) realize and admit the fact that you can't wash yourself, and

3) recognizing your helplessness, to humbly submit to letting the Lord and Teacher stoop down and wash you (a vivid reminder of your frailty and helplessness and His humility and love, to have such an exalted King stoop so low to do such a lowly thing says He was the only one who could and we are a mess and helpless),

Then you "have no part" with Jesus. You are lost, unregenerate and yet unclean - having never been born again and "washed with the water of regeneration."

But there are things that we learn by experience and the act of washing the feet of my often stubborn and rebellious step-daughter taught me in an ever more intimate and deep way what it means to serve her and wash her as a servant and not to merely lord over her as a king and demand obedience and honor.

I see Paul yearning for this experiential knowledge of the Truth when he cried: "..that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;" Paul wanted to know Jesus in a more intimate way, and understood that to experience the same things He experienced would help him do this. He could identify with Jesus having suffered rejection by those He loved because he had endured the same, he and John could identify with Jesus being betrayed by a trusted friend because they evidently or likely were too, he could identify with loving God to the last breath because he too (as history/tradition reports) laid down his life for his friends: God and the church.

I also see this in Jesus himself when I see Him being baptized by John. Surely baptism doesn't do anything spiritual for us, in itself. The action of being submersed in water doesn't hold any mystical/spiritual powers, per se.

And even if it did (and it doesn't) - Jesus was sinless and was lacking nothing and it would seem unnecessary for Him to be baptized...surely He didn't need to learn from it...and others may get the idea that He was a sinner and needed cleansing and renewal if he allowed John to baptize Him, no? John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, after all...did Jesus need repentance? What are people going to think?! Oh no!

But that's just the thing...in allowing (insisting on) John to baptize Him he was identifying with us dirty humans and being identified with us that aspect of our humanness: our need of repentance and cleansing. I'm sure it was a humbling experience for one who never sinned in His life to publicly practice a ritual that expresses repentance and washing - pride and self glorying would never permit this! Thank God Jesus was devoid of pride and self-glorying!

The "ritual" itself didn't have any special mystical power, but there is no better way to achieve the objective than to practice it publicly.

Do you, Juluis21 and Brenda7, really "stand here" in this forum and claim that there is nothing that you can learn about broken and humble selfless service to your brothers and sisters? Do you assert that you are absolutely sure that there is nothing you are missing? And if not (which I hope and trust that neither of you are so blind as to publicly assert such nonsense, even if in your heart you secretly believe it - as I admit I have and likely do): can you say with confidence that there is absolutely nothing that washing the feet of your brothers or sisters could do to teach you anything about humility or service? Especially the feet of those that have wronged you or misjudged you or rejected you or betrayed you? I hope you will truly take this to heart and ponder these things.

Even if you have done it before and it was empty and devoid of meaning, could that be because your heard was hard and empty of love and devoid of humility (in this area, at least)? I know that the Israelites practiced the religion God had ordained and gave them Himself and apparently to many it was just that: empty and devoid of any meaning and left the heart cold. Was that the fault of God or His religion? I say not.

I encourage you all (especially Julius and Brenda) to consider that there doesn't need to be such a dichotomy and false idea that to practice the 'ritual' makes it necessarily dead and meaningless and the spiritual/symbolic meaning is lost. I would encourage you to consider that there is some essential spiritual truth that God can convey to your heart and spirit in the practice of an ordinance mixed with faith and humility and love.

I would reckon to say that those who so readily mock and/or denigrate the practice of a ritual that others have been truly and deeply blessed in observing and also assume that those who assert that there is benefit in the 'ritual' are 'missing the point' - are very deficient and ignorant of the depth and reality and practice of the humble love that Jesus was teaching in washing His disciples feet; and the fact that they so publicly and boisterously come against it so quickly reveals that they are ignorant of just how deficient they are and are revealing themselves to be; and would likely benefit the most by allowing those that they oppose to wash their feet.

I always thought Salvation Army did not practice breaking of Bread because the vine that they tasted tempted many of the fellow soldiers to go back to their old drinking habits again. Hence inorder to prevent such temptations, they considered it better not to break bread or have communion.

Perhaps those that are so offended by foot washing are the ones who don't see themselves in dire need of the other members of the body and the cleansing effect of 'the edifying of itself in love'?

Perhaps some think, perhaps like Peter may have felt: "This is unnecessary, there is no desperate need for it nor any benefit in carrying out such an embarrassing and humbling exercise, we can do without it."

And perhaps, like Peter, they are the ones who are most in need of the humility that submitting to such a ritual may just administer to them.

Blessings, my beloved brethren. Let us love one another in all humility (which I know I often fail miserably at, and at times even spectacularly) and consider humbly following the Lord's example and identifying with Him in this blessed means of grace.

Greg what do you understand as 'eating unworthily' and 'not discerning the body'?

I know you asked Greg and not me, but as this is a public forum (and a thread that I started on foot washing that is being sidetracked), I will endeavor to answer your question:

I believe the "eating unworthily" and "not discerning the Lord's body" is clearly explained in the immediate context:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.

Therefore when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.

~ 1 Corinthians 11:17-22

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I believe that clears up what he means in the following verses.

There is a spiritual reality behind everything we do. That doesn't dispense with the doing. That would be actually quite a Gnostic proposition.

Words are symbols of deeper realities, yet we speak the gospel in words because by it men are saved.

Communion is symbolic, but the reality we are commanded to observe and remind ourselves by it is one that needs the symbol to internalize it. I am just sort of flabbergasted at any suggestion to the contrary. Wow.

Foot washing. I am not saying it is an ordinance. But, Jesus said do it. He said to baptize and be baptized. Now, some of us may look for ways to dismiss the need of baptism, but you are on your own if you do. The NT is clear. I don't see how the greater lesson of washing the saints' feet replaces the act when the act serves the lesson. If Jesus thought His disciples capable of holding these realities and serving them sufficiently without His commands and without the symbols, He would not have commanded them to be done.

We can spiritualize all we want, and that is good, but it does not in any way abate the command of Jesus.

Making a public show of how humble we are is ....... pride

Are you insinuating that I am promoting "making a public show of how humble we are"?

Have you read the prior posts? Specifically mine? How do you conclude that I am promoting "making a public show of humility" in any way? I clearly said that the act of foot washing and having one's feet washed has a humbling effect, not that it was a demonstration of our great humility.

It is not wise to make a snap judgement of a brother or sister and/or their position based on how a thing appears on the surface, but instead we are instructed by Jesus to "judge with righteous judgement."

Maybe you could thoughtfully read what I have written and consider that I may see something that you are missing and not just relegate the whole matter to a "public show" and "pride" and consider that you may be misunderstanding us..

Was Jesus "making a public show" of His humility?

Well, if He can do it in a sincere and instructive and humble way, can others (by His Spirit, of course)?

Brenda says: "It (communion elements) would have been available in all churches but only the enlightened and Spirit baptised would not partake which has always been in lower figures."

That is simply fiction as it cannot be proven..........and then many of us must be un-enlightened and not Spirit baptized.

Brenda, I really do not know what to say without being offensive, so I will say no more, except, Paul wrote exactly what was revealed to him and what he expected to be practiced in all the churches.

In Him,

William

I am pasting my previous comment below, and I hope this is not pride - I simply poured out my heart on the issue and believe there is benefit to be taken from reading it and don't want any help that the Lord may have for us in it to be lost by it's being buried so quickly. Please forgive me if this is self-indulgent or otherwise wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In my OP you will see that I did not seek to promote foot washing as some dogmatic ordinance in the church. I do see baptism and the Lord's Supper as close to essential as one can get without ascribing an undue level of mysterious (almost occult) power to the ritual itself.

I do hold to a "symbolic" view of ordinances such as baptism and the Lord's Supper; and I also believe that they are instructive in the actual practicing of them as well. For example, it isn't baptism itself that has power per se (many are baptized in water and will still go to hell), but I believe that there is something powerful and real and spiritual that transpires in the heart when one, seeing the symbolic meaning, yields to the actual practice in a very real and physical way, and there is a faith working together with physical action that in some way is "perfected" (see James 2:22).

[I can hear some shouting, "It was faith and the action of obeying God and living according to your faith - not faith and a dead, religious ordinance," - to which I say, if God has spoken and expects obedience, even if it is a seemingly 'dead, religious ordinance' - then that is faithful obedience to Him and really no different. Listen to John the baptist and Peter: "Repent/Believe and be baptized!" Could one have heard the preaching of John or Peter and supposed themselves to have believed and then not submit to the ordinance of baptism? I think not.]

I believe you can get a glimpse of this in Paul's words: "...that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

We know it is by grace we are saved, through faith, and that it is not of works...but here Paul almost weds faith and confession as one complete (or "perfect", James 2:22) act of faith - and he clearly makes public confession of Christ mandatory for salvation. I see baptism as a time when that confession is often made, and also a way to 'confess' Christ with your whole body in perhaps a louder and clearer way than you could with your lips (and identify with Him in His death).

It saddens me that we are so stubbornly extreme with our thinking and set up so many false dichotomies as a result. It is always "either/or" and never "both/and" - for example, one who takes such hard and fast positions as: "foot washing is to be seen as symbolic and not to be practiced and to do so would be to make a dead religious ordinance of it and miss the spiritual meaning."

It's: Either "don't practice it and grasp the symbolic meaning" or, "practice it and miss the symbolic meaning."

Instead of: "It is both symbolic and has practical benefit in the physical observance of it, and we ought not to sacrifice one in favor of the other thinking that they are inherently mutually exclusive."

This, in my estimation, is pride. "I am right and there is no way I can be wrong and I don't need to be taught about humble service by acting out a very humble act of service and there is nothing in the practice of it that I can learn about the spiritual meaning of it - I already know what it entails!"

I do understand and agree that to observe (or rather insist on) foot washing and to fail to serve the body of Christ in other things is to strain at the gnat and swallow the camel, but to refuse the physical as unnecessary and foolish could reveal pride in the heart that disallows Jesus' spiritual cleansing.

As is, in my view, the cause of Jesus' warning to Peter: "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me." In other words, if you don't:

1) see yourself as dirty and in dire need of cleansing, and then

2) realize and admit the fact that you can't wash yourself, and

3) recognizing your helplessness, to humbly submit to letting the Lord and Teacher stoop down and wash you (a vivid reminder of your frailty and helplessness and His humility and love, to have such an exalted King stoop so low to do such a lowly thing says He was the only one who could and we are a mess and helpless),

Then you "have no part" with Jesus. You are lost, unregenerate and yet unclean - having never been born again and "washed with the water of regeneration."

But there are things that we learn by experience; and the act of washing the feet of my often stubborn and rebellious step-daughter taught me in an ever more intimate and deep way what it means to serve her and wash her as a servant and not to merely lord over her as a king and demand obedience and honor.

I see Paul yearning for this experiential knowledge of the Truth when he cried: "..that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;" Paul wanted to know Jesus in a more intimate way, and understood that to experience the same things He experienced would help him do this. He could identify with Jesus having suffered rejection by those He loved because he had endured the same, he and John could identify with Jesus being betrayed by a trusted friend because they evidently or likely were too, he could identify with loving God to the last breath because he too (as history/tradition reports) laid down his life for his friends: God and the church.

I also see this in Jesus himself when I see Him being baptized by John. Surely baptism doesn't do anything spiritual for us, in itself. The action of being submersed in water doesn't hold any mystical/spiritual powers, per se.

And even if it did (and it doesn't) - Jesus was sinless and was lacking nothing and it would seem unnecessary for Him to be baptized...surely He didn't need to learn from it...and others may get the idea that He was a sinner and needed cleansing and renewal if he allowed John to baptize Him, no? John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, after all...did Jesus need repentance? What are people going to think?! Oh no!

But that's just the thing...in allowing (insisting on) John to baptize Him he was identifying with us dirty humans and being identified with us in that aspect of our humanness: our need of repentance and cleansing. I'm sure it was a humbling experience for one who never sinned in His life to publicly practice a ritual that expresses repentance and washing - pride and self glorying would never permit this! Thank God Jesus was devoid of pride and self-glorying!

The "ritual" itself didn't have any special mystical power, but there is no better way to achieve the objective than to practice it publicly.

Do you, Juluis21 and Brenda7, really "stand here" in this forum and claim that there is nothing that you can learn about broken and humble selfless service to your brothers and sisters? Do you assert that you are absolutely sure that there is nothing you are missing? And if not (which I hope and trust that neither of you are so blind as to publicly assert such nonsense, even if in your heart you secretly believe it - as I admit I have and likely do): can you say with confidence that there is absolutely nothing that washing the feet of your brothers or sisters could do to teach you anything about humility or service? Especially the feet of those that have wronged you or misjudged you or rejected you or betrayed you? I hope you will truly take this to heart and ponder these things.

Even if you have done it before and it was empty and devoid of meaning, could that be because your heard was hard and empty of love and devoid of humility (in this area, at least)? I know that the Israelites practiced the religion God had ordained and gave them Himself and apparently to many it was just that: empty and devoid of any meaning and left the heart cold. Was that the fault of God or His religion? I say not.

I encourage you all (especially Julius and Brenda) to consider that there doesn't need to be such a dichotomy and false idea that to practice the 'ritual' makes it necessarily dead and meaningless and the spiritual/symbolic meaning is lost. I would encourage you to consider that there is some essential spiritual truth that God can convey to your heart and spirit in the practice of an ordinance mixed with faith and humility and love.

I would reckon to say that those who so readily mock and/or denigrate the practice of a ritual that others have been truly and deeply blessed in observing and also assume that those who assert that there is benefit in the 'ritual' are 'missing the point' - are very deficient and ignorant of the depth and reality and practice of the humble love that Jesus was teaching in washing His disciples feet; and the fact that they so publicly and boisterously come against it so quickly reveals that they are ignorant of just how deficient they are and are revealing themselves to be; and would likely benefit the most by allowing those that they oppose to wash their feet.

Good points Tim. Agreed. I can also say Wow! and not in a good way...

Forrest,

I, for one, appreciated your post and thought it very encouraging and edifying.

Keep pressing in, brother!

William

Brenda,

This is real spiritual gymnastics that Mr Fox indulged in here.

Clearly he was not allowing plain scripture to guide him, but his own interpretation.

So important we allow scripture to be our measure, not the so called revelations of men, no matter how famous or infamous they were.

In Him,

William

by Tozsu on 2016/7/29 10:42:47

Forrest, my comment was concerning the Idea of public footwashing.

That's what I understood it to be in reference to.

Have you read my initial and subsequent posts regarding it (as well as those of others who shared heart-felt and touching testimonies of having been blessing in it)?

Brenda,

Jesus Christ is eternally the Lamb Who was slain

Even in Revelation they worship Him and remember Him as the Lamb Who was slain.

He lives in us because He died for us....why can these two truths not live side by side forever?

In Him

William

by Julius21 on 2016/7/29 12:58:11

by dolfan on 2016/7/29 13:22:40

There is a spiritual reality behind everything we do. That doesn't dispense with the doing. hat would be actually quite a Gnostic proposition.

Of course not! Because an object lesson in humility is not to only be duplicated by the same action, but disseminated in our heart and manifested throughout our lives in MANY actions of humility. Gnosticism would be to sit back and philosophize about humility and engage in ceremonial foot washing daily with other gnostic brothers so that everyone "feels" humble.

Words are symbols of deeper realities, yet we speak the gospel in words because by it men are saved.

Not just words but actions are also symbolic of deeper realities and not to just be duplicated or set in rituals. The Lord's action to wash the feet of Judas, was an object lesson in humility towards those who have ill will towards you and wish you harm. Yet, we have institutionalized the object lesson amongst those who we love and love us. Where is the humility of serving those who hate us?

Gnosticism would say the act is irrelevant because the materiality of the flesh involved in the act is evil and because the deeper spiritual truth is all that matters. To dispense with the symbol that Jesus commanded us to do in favor of the spiritual truth at which the symbol aims is a gnostic style of thought. The truth Himself said to do it. Not to select acts of service that we would substitute for it, but to do it in the assembly of believers. It is a unifying act of submissive love in the assembly and is part of life in fellowship. Cleaning toilets may be loving. Cutting lawns. Fixing leaky faucets. All commendable and not to be minimized. None of those are washing feet in the assembly and are not substitutes, nor was foot washing aiming at such acts. It is easy to say that foot washing is an object lesson merely, but Jesus coupled it with a command to His disciples to do it.

No one suggests that these things be made into mere rituals that substitute for the reality. That argument has not been made here. To reduce foot washing to an object lesson on interpersonal relations strikes me as fully outside of the Scripture and ignores the context in which Jesus made the command. If acts of humble submission generally were the aim, Jesus could have added a reminder of Mary's ointment on His feet. In fact, He had already done so, making the mention of her act a memorial forever. But, He said to the disciples to wash each other BECAUSE He had washed them. This washing that He commands is for the assembled ekklesia of disciples, in the setting of communion, which indeed IS the reason to assemble at all, to yield to one another AS the gathered church.

Practically, washing feet is a unifying act. In conjunction with the examination and celebration of communion, the purpose of which both shows forth the death of Jesus until He comes and propels us forward in heart and spirit to the promise of His coming, washing the saints's feet debases men's agendas and preferences for themselves, brings to immediate mind that humble submission Paul urges in Philippians 2 to have the mind toward one another the heart of the very kenosis of Jesus so that we empty all of ourselves that we would grasp as worthy to hold onto in favor of the cause of Christ, the exaltation of His name, and the equality of our worth to Him (as EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father).

Now, is it an ordinance. No. I won't make that argument. Is it a command? Yes. Is it mere ritual? No. Is it an act that, when obeyed in the literal sense of the command and in the inner sense of Paul's great observations of Philippians 2, edifies the body in a unique way? Better believe it.

Heres pauls comand so to speak about woman washing the feet of the saints ,,,,,,strange it mentioned again in the new testament ...

…9A widow should be enrolled if she is at least sixty years old, the wife of one man, 10and well known for good deeds such as bringing up children, entertaining strangers, washing the feet of the saints, imparting relief to the afflicted, and devoting herself to every good work.

Why not twist these text and explain away clear teachings of paul , to timothey ,if we can do that here ,we may as well do it it , for the requirments of an elder and a decon....

Several years ago there was a brother of mine who was part of the worship team at my church that was a good friend of mine. We talked intimately of our faith and of our struggles and shared a fellowship together that I came to appreciate. It came to my attention that my friend had been using our friendship covertly to get info that he could use to gain advantage with a member of my family. Without going into unnecessary details, it was a grevious scheme that played out in the worst way and carried with it horrible consequences.

When this came to my attention, I after praying felt compelled to seek the counsel of my discipleship group. They thought the church leaders should be informed, specifically the music minister who is also a close brother and mentor to me. I was taken back at his initial response but later saw the wisdom of it. He inquired of the brother, who lied- denying any impropriety. So the pastor asked me if I had any definitive proof and if so to please share it with him. It took a while to obtain it but I did and shared it as he had requested. He was heartbroken for me and my family but also for our brother who had clearly become decevied. After presenting the evidence and obtaining a confession, my friend was removed from the worship team and tho church discipline was applied there was also a concerted effort to restore my friend to the fellowship of faith.

He was reluctant to meet with me, partly from shame and partly from fear as he thought I might do him bodily harm...but after a month or so the pastor was able to set a time up for us to meet and put this aside for good.
Now I had been very, very upset with my friend for not only betraying our friendship but also doing what was irreparable damage to my family and honestly I did consider hurting him more than once. Tho as the day approached where I had to meet with him, I sought the Lord and prayed continuously as I didn't want to miss His will in this. And you wanna kno what the Lord told me to do?.... You guessed it- wash his feet!!?

Now I confess this didn't set well with me and the Lord had to work on me to get me there but alas as the day came I had not only a peace but a joy that had been absent for some time.
My friend and I met in the pastors office and he didn't even want to look at me at first tho as the pastor lead us he came to confess and apologize and repented from his actions. After this the pastor asked me if I would like to say anything and I said no but there is something I must do. That startled my friend and he seemed a bit nervous. But I got up and walked down the hall to the cleaning station and grabbed a basin and filled it with water and grabbed a towel and some soap and reentered the office and my friend was now very confused. The pastor looked at me with a smile as my friend said what is that for? I said I'm gonna wash your feet brother so that you know that not only are you forgiven but I love you and you are still my brother in Christ. He loudly and nervously objected tho after the pastor told him that he should allow me the honor of doing so, for it was an act of obedience, he began to relent but it still took some time to get him to acquiesce. As soon as I untied his shoes, removing his socks and began washing them my friend broke, crying uncontrollably and came to true repentance because he was being loved in spite of his sins.

Now you can call this pride if you want,... but I call it grace and it was truly amazing:)

When I reported later to my discipleship group what had happened they too were stunned and the room fell silent... After a few moments of them looking around at each other, an elder asked aloud, you washed his feet!??? Saying, wow! Now that had to be Jesus cause no man would do that on his own after what he did,...I mean forgiveness is one thing but wash his feet!???

So I learned that if we will "lay ourselves down" and humble ourselves the Lord can use that to bring healing and hope where otherwise there is only religious ritual and moral deeds. This is the lesson that I get when I see/read Jesus humbling Himself to wash His disciples feet.
If we are compelled by love and acting in faith then even a cool glass of water....
If we are not,...just a clanging symbol-

Amen, thank you so much for sharing. What a blessed testimony of Jesus Christ!

Beautiful testimony, brother.

Illustrates the point very well.

In His Love,

Woah, brother JFW!
That was awesome! Isn't the Lord good?!
He sure knows how to brand His own with His peculiar kind of love that's totally foreign to we offspring of Adam.
Still in awe of Jesus in that testimony.....

And thank you, brother Forrests, for opening up this thread. The Lord bless and keep you.

I believe footwashing is primarily about humility toward our brothers, and it is true that we can show humility in other ways as well. It is about being a servant to our brothers, and we can be a servant in other ways as well. It is absolutely true that the issue is the heart of a man and not his outward actions. It is also true, and it should grieve our hearts, that man has taken the outward action and used it as a cloak to convince those watching that they possess what is actually lacking in their heart. It is true that there are those who are sadly deceived and have been made to think that performing the ritual is somehow substantial. I have heard all of these sentiments on this thread, and they are all 100% true.

But, Jesus gave us a command to partake of communion in a particular way. He gave us a command to observe water baptism. He gave us a command to wash one another's feet I have to ask, why did Jesus not gird himself and wash Peter's donkey, or why did He not gird himself and clean Matthew's house? The observance of the symbol is not the substance, I understand that. But does that mean the observance of the symbol is not important? Does God not visit us with the power of His Holy Spirit when we simply do in obedience to Him?

In 37 years of following the Lord I would estimate I have been in about five footwashing services, and I have seen amazing things happen in the hearts of the people. I have seen God do amazing works of healing and reconciliation. I have seen God change hearts and knit brethren together in an powerful way.

I am not sure how many of you have ever taken part in a footwashing. If you have not, you should. You see, God often works in our lives simply from our obedience. There is a spiritual reality that accompanies the physical observance that we cannot break into until we do what He told us to do.

I am late in commenting on this issue of feet washing. Actually I did not see the thread until now.

We belong to a fellowship that practices feet washing whenever we have communion that celebrates the sacrificial death of Jesus and his subsequent resurrection.

All I can say about it is that it is a blessing and provides one a context in which to learn what servant-hood is about. It is true it can become routine and therefore meaningless, but God knew about this beforehand but still gave the command to keep it. Consider all the other commands God gave - they can become meaningless if one resorts to obedience to gain brownie points with God but this will not negate the original instruction to the Believer.

If one meditates on Jesus' washing of his disciples feet - who he was (the Creator who could with a slight of hand clean anyone's feet and be done with it), his purpose/mission - and only then can one learn to appreciate this command - wash feet.

God bless...now I have to go help my 89 YO mom who is battling shingles.

Sandra

Forrest,

I haven't read thru all 8 pages, so if I'm repeating anything, sorry! Jesus was instructing us to wash each other's feet .... literally.

This is why I believe culture has absolutely nothing to do with it. If the church wasn't the worst offender for gossiping, lying, holding grudges and many other things, Jesus would not have had to instruct us to humbly knee before our enemies (in some cases), while praying and blessing them.

My two cents!!! God bless you,
Lisa

One of the brothers in our fellowship suggested to me yesterday that we wash one another's feet this Saturday night. He is the one who went to the Gospel Fellowship meeting in Atlanta with me (not that that means anything unless you were there :) ) . I had already had the thought a couple of nights before, so we plan (for now, unless the Lord leads us in another direction then) to unite in love this Saturday night in this ancient way that Jesus and the disciples demonstrated.

I share this here only for this purpose: I tell you from experience that this is a holy thing when done for His glory and our edification. I encourage anyone and everyone to find a way to do it.

jeffmar1130,

Thank you so much for sharing this moving testimony, I am encouraged to hear the Lord moved you in this direction and that you yielded to Him and that your family was blessed in it. Thank you so much for sharing, and may you all be blessed through your obedience to the leading of the Spirit.

I plan to go home and do it with my family again (it has been over a year) before we gather with the saints for worship and bible study.

Thanks again for sharing!

by Lysa on 2016/8/10 6:53:53
Forrest,

I haven't read thru all 8 pages, so if I'm repeating anything, sorry! Jesus was instructing us to wash each other's feet .... literally.

I tend to agree. The actual practice of it is very humbling and instructive. I believe it helps us to more fully understand the spiritual principle it is conveying and apply it in our lives.

Thanks for sharing sister,

May the grace and power of the Lord Jesus be upon you mightily as you walk ever closer to Him!

by dolfan on 2016/8/10 8:17:13

One of the brothers in our fellowship suggested to me yesterday that we wash one another's feet this Saturday night. He is the one who went to the Gospel Fellowship meeting in Atlanta with me (not that that means anything unless you were there :) ) . I had already had the thought a couple of nights before, so we plan (for now, unless the Lord leads us in another direction then) to unite in love this Saturday night in this ancient way that Jesus and the disciples demonstrated.

Amen! Thanks for sharing, brother. It is encouraging to hear that the Lord is also leading you and the other brother to observe this practice in a sincere desire to honor Him and be instructed and edified by it.

I share this here only for this purpose: I tell you from experience that this is a holy thing when done for His glory and our edification. I encourage anyone and everyone to find a way to do it.

Amen, amen! I agree and do feel that this is the burden of the Lord for us right now...to practice foot washing in the natural as a memorial to the the spiritual necessity of such a mind and spirit to be working in us toward the brothers and sisters.

Thanks again for the encouraging report - I look forward to hearing about it after it happens (Lord willing).

lesyoung,

Thank you for sharing this testimony as well. This is the type of humble service the Lord is after in us toward one another. What a picture of humility and devotion and service. Thank you so much for sharing!

Liddell's example is one of love and humility and Christ-likeness. Jewels await this brother's crown. What a real-life example of our Lord.

Please don't understand my encouragements of foot-washing as arguing that it is an "ordinance", per se. I simply urge us to the text itself and to the heart of Jesus in it.

With that, I offer this note. Patristic era practice varied a great deal from one area to the next and one time to the next. Yet, it was an actual practice in the early church and not merely taken to symbolize other acts of humble, loving service. One writer says this: "Foot washing was considered to be a task for slaves, who were at the bottom of the hierarchy, and it was unheard of for social superiors to wash the feet of social inferiors. So the tradition of mutual footwashing among the early Christians was profoundly counter-cultural. In their dealings with the outside world, Christians were often obliged to follow the social conventions of the day (e.g. Col 3:22). But within their own communities, Christians participated in a new world order, the Kingdom of God. In that Kingdom all are of equal worth in God's sight (Gal. 3:28) and mutual service is customary."

Take into account all that the NT teaches about hierarchies and "orders of rank" among Christians. Some actually believe that the reference to the Nicolaitans in Revelation ("whose deeds I hate", said Jesus) was to rank and hierarchy among believers. None of us are above our Teacher, and He abased Himself to become servant of all His brethren. That's what I want for me. And for you. That means that --- yes --- we humbly serve. Otherwise, even washing feet would be as meaningless as a baptism without a conversion. History records that the apostolic and patristic church literally washed feet in the manner of Jesus for the purposes for which Jesus washed them in John 13. Testimonies now reflect the powerful, uniting effect of it. Brothers and sisters, I ask you to consider what time in the history of the church of Christ is more sorely affected by division, agendas, betrayals and apostasy than today? In the time where the gospel is truly more global than ever, with something north of 90% of all languages having some of the Scriptures translated to them, what disunity is there among us around the Earth when you consider the far flung corners to which the gospel of Jesus is spread? How simply can we then abase ourselves to one another, particularly our assemblies, by this one act of lovingly washing one another's feet?

Well said, brother. I like how you pointed out the division and disunity prevalent among Christians today. Seems to me a lot of this could be remedied (on the local level) by some real foot washing.

I understand the washing latrines thing - I get it. But I am growing weary of the suggestion of another false dichotomy. It is not my observation that those advocating for the washing of feet in the assembly are arguing that these other things are irrelevant or ignoring them. Literal washing of feet and other acts of selfless, humble service are not mutually exclusive. I don't feel that anyone is even implying that (except perhaps the "foot washing is largely meaningless" crowd).

There is one thing I notice about almost every other example of humble service that has been presented: they are by and large solitary chores and rather impersonal. Foot washing is humbling and intimate/unifying. It is a statement to one another and a lesson from God to our hearts...

And it kind of bothers me that some are still so vocal with their skepticism concerning it when more than a few brothers have shared moving testimonies regarding it and have bore witness that they felt led of the Lord to do it...

Grace and peace to all those who love the Lord Jesus in sincerity.