Comments on: The Example

By: Ruben

Ruben — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:07:57 +0000

In response to DaveD I think love forces us to call out sin for the sake of the person committing it, to save him/her from the harm it brings.

I’ve been to churches where all they dished out was the tush kicking, week after week. It makes me feel as if all that’s needed of me is to be in this safe group of people who don’t do this or that and everybody else on the outside is frowned on by God. I just don’t think Christ was like this.

By: Barry

Barry — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:04:32 +0000

Peter’s refusal to allow Jesus to wash his feet is alive and well in my heart. While willing to serve others I am too prideful to have my own feet washed or even to take off my socks to show how badly I need the bath.
Jesus promotes a balance of being served in community and of serving selflessly as His way.
He suggests that forgiving is a critical part of experiencing the full cleansing of our forgiveness.
I hope I can consistently find the humility to do both.

By: DaveD

DaveD — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:35:57 +0000

So, where do we draw the line?

I agree that Evangelicals particularly tend to want to make the heathen live like we should. I agree that this is a bad idea.

However, how do we call sin, sin if that’s being “judgemental” or “anti-gay”? Just preaching “God loves you” really isn’t the truth, is it? The Bible constantly refers to the unrepentant as “the enemies of God” and such and that Jesus came to save them (and us) from the judgement to come.

The problem is just as sticky within the church. While I abhor the idea of a checklist of who is saved or not, there are clear statements on how to deal with those who are commitiing unrepentant sin inside the church as well.

So, I ask again, where do we draw the line between foot washing and tush kicking?

There is also the point that some of these people we have “pushed away” had no intentions of ever being with God or us anyway. Wide is the path…

By: bruce

bruce — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:38:37 +0000

Hey Michael, Since no one else has brought this up I’ll throw in another perspective on this incident, recorded in John 13. Note particularly, in verses 8-10, the dialogue between Jesus and Peter. They are talking in terms of some cleansing which identifies the one being washed with Jesus. Jesus says without his washing no one can have a part in Him.

Of course, we can then see the symbolism here clearly points to cleansing from sin, from the dirt which pollutes our lives, from the filthy paths which we tread. Then, in verses 14-15, Jesus is telling us that just as He has washed his disciples, (ie., forgiven us through cleansing of the Gospel, Heb. 10:22 Titus 3:5, Eph. 5:26 ), so too, Jesus disciples are to forgive/wash each other’s sins away by speaking the Gospel to each other, to the repentant one. (Matt. 16:19, 18:15-18, John 20:21-23)

This kind of forgiveness is rare, and the general lack of it, EVEN among believers, and by believers towards the world, certainly contributes to cynicism and skepticism by the world, among BOTH young and old.

May God help us to live Jesus words (Matthew 5:23-26, 38-48), as witnesses to the world of a “culture” completely different than what they see daily, at work, in their families, in the political arena and between nations.

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

By: Uncle Mikey

Uncle Mikey — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 03:55:32 +0000

I am advocate of this being a practice of the Church to place a visual application of what Jesus communicates, for that the Church of today is forgeting that Jesus has already was our feet, and we ought to do the same to our fellow brethren and those that we encounter in this world.
We ought to see more ways to meet needs of those arounds us, for the main principle here is for us to meet needs in service. Service to others will always open times of “intervention” to share the truth of the Kingdom of God.
We must ask ourseleves how can wash their feet today… Then we will see how we can share truly and authenticly the hope in Jesus our Lord.

By: Ron

Ron — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:14:59 +0000

The washing of feet is a symbolic gesture. It was based on the need to be clean and comfortable before a meal in a land where there were few paved streets and walkways and no running water. The washer was usually a person of the lowest status. For the master, the Rabbi to assume this role was shocking, scandalous and humbling. The act itself has less meaning in our day.

Unless I completely miss your point, Michael, you seem to advocate not the act but the submission behind it. What if I were to babysit for the single mother so she could have a night of rest? What if I were to wash bathrooms in the local high school? What if I were to serve as a bartender in a gay bar?

It seems to me that the challenge for us is to rid ourselves of the pride that bids us to consider ourselves worthy of being washed and lower ourselves to the the station that Jesus assumed.

By: Enoch McCarter

Enoch McCarter — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:28:35 +0000

The King James translates the passage you mentioned in Philippians as Jesus becoming a man of no reputation. We might become more winsome to the world if we worried less about our reputation and more about being faithful servants.

By: Jordan

Jordan — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:41:05 +0000

Just came across your blog.
I appreciated your thoughts on becoming more like Jesus in our approach to the world around us. Having been on the inside and outside of faith, I really see a need for genuine love from the church. This act that Jesus did for His disciples really gives us an example of how we can serve the world. Before Jesus ever declared that He was in fact the “Bread of life” (John 6:35), He first fed the 5000 people (John 6:1-15), serving and showing that He cared for and loved them. There rae many examples of this all throughout the gospels.
John 3:16 is often loved and quoted, but the words love and give are so closely related that we must never forget to also live this way! Thanks for your post and look forward to hearing more of your thoughts!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:35:40 +0000

Wow, this post came at an amazing time (for me, anyway)! I just finished reading Dan Merchant’s book titled “Lord, Save Us From Your Followers” - and this is exactly what he talks about throughout the entire book!

My favorite quotes from this book are:

“I had to admit there have been far too many instances where my selfishness, impatience, ignorance, arrogance - you name it - has pushed people farther away from God rather than closer to Him.”

“In First John it talks about how Jesus came in “truth and grace”. Seems like we might be a little heavy on the “truth” and a little light with the “grace”.”

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:05:51 +0000

Thanks for this post. In my fellowship I am walking beside some friends who have fallen into one of “those” sins-one that is actually “bad”, unlike the other sins that everyone around us commits regularly. As I’ve been walking the tightrope between those who would condemn on the one hand and those who would condone on the other, this post was refreshing. I am to carry the basin and towel in their lives, grateful that I have been cleaned of much, and longing for them to be as well. That is the way of Jesus-truth and love balanced together, and presented from a place of service. Thanks. Keep writing, please.