By David ReayFriday 4 May 2018LifeWords DevotionalsFaithReading Time: 2 minutes
Read John 13:14-17
14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. 17 Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them. (NLT)
Occasionally one hears of stories of church leaders declining to get involved in practical, mundane matters. A minister refusing to put out the church garbage bins. A youth leader not helping tidy a church hall. An elder finding better things to do than help wash up after a church lunch.
What can be even worse is that such figures may claim biblical justification for not being involved. They speak of needing to focus on the ‘more important things’, as if they can’t do both the mundane and the significant. Or they refer to Acts 6 where the apostles delegated practical things to others. As if delegating such responsibilities excluded them from helping out as required. As if helping other church members in practical ways was not a vital element in ministry and one way to engage with them.
Jesus offers a corrective to this sort of mistaken prioritising. He says we are to serve others. I may serve by preparing a sermon, by counselling, by planning activities, by chairing meetings or forming strategy groups. But I may also serve by stacking chairs, washing up, sweeping the foyer, even making sure the toilets are clean!
It is right and proper to use our time wisely and not neglect the things we are primarily called to do. It is good to make sure the jobs are shared around and not left to one person. But doing the mundane things matters. No job is beneath anyone. Jesus didn’t say that he was too busy being the Messiah to do a bit of foot-washing.
Blessings
David Reay