Shifting from ‘Professional’ to ‘Relational’ Christianity
By J. Lee Grady
In many ways the American church has become more like a business. We must shift from power suits and CEOs to wet feet and holy kisses.
Last month during a luncheon for pastors and church leaders in suburban Baltimore I called five people to the front of the room and asked them to sit in chairs facing the group. Then I called some other leaders to kneel in front of them and wash their feet.
The five people represented five groups that have been overlooked and underserved in the American church: women, African-Americans, immigrants, businesspeople and the younger generation. As their shoes came off, tears began to flow freely. Words were not necessary.
I washed the last pair of feet, which belonged to a young pastor named Danny. He is just getting started in his ministry. He was crying by the time I dried his toes with a dishtowel from the church’s kitchen.
It was one of those fidgety, uncomfortable moments when no one knows exactly how to act. After all, in the corporate world we don’t take off our shoes in front of our co-workers. We don’t expose our weaknesses or make ourselves vulnerable. We keep our ties straight and we shake hands to close deals. We stay in control. And we make sure to maintain a proper, professional distance between one another. That’s the American way. Stiff, cold, dignified and detached.
Yet Jesus modeled something different. When He washed His disciples’ feet on the night He was betrayed, He used the imagery of that awkward moment to teach volumes about the values of the kingdom of God. By stripping Himself of His rabbinical robes and donning the garments of a slave, He called each of us to shed the religious pride that keeps us arms’ distance from each other.
By assuming the role of a household servant, Jesus drastically redefined leadership. It was no longer about being over people, but under them. And by taking those smelly feet in His hands and washing off the dust, grime and dung of Jerusalem, He called leaders to engage people on an intimate and transparent level that no rabbi in Israel’s history had ever demonstrated.
There was nothing formal or ceremonial about the first foot washing. Jesus was calling us all to a place of raw authenticity. He was saying, in effect, that true leaders must shed their power suits and clerical collars if they truly intend to impact people on a deep level.
That same genuine, unpretentious attitude marked the ministry of the apostle Paul. He told the Thessalonians: “Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thess. 2:8 NASB). Paul often gushed to his followers about his feelings for them; and he wasn’t afraid to show his love in “unprofessional” ways.
Paul was not aloof. Like Jesus, he lived among the people. He didn’t wait until praise and worship was over to enter the meeting. He didn’t get whisked away to a special parlor after the service. He poured his life into his followers by eating with them, laughing with them and sharing their burdens.
And he often urged the saints to “greet one another with a holy kiss” (Rom. 16:16). When he said goodbye to his followers in Ephesus, the Bible says he gave a heartfelt farewell speech that ended with hugs, kisses and a lot of sobbing (see Acts 20:36-37). For Paul, Christian love was not a lofty doctrine or a stuffy principle; it was wet, slobbery and extravagantly affectionate.
Why don’t many of us experience this level of Christian affection today? Why has our love been reduced to stiff handshakes, nonchalant pats on the back and insincere flattery? Perhaps in this overly sexualized age we are afraid affection will lead to something inappropriate. Maybe we figure that kisses can no longer be holy, or that they will lead to frivolous lawsuits.
I think there is a deeper cause. Perhaps we have allowed the sophisticated culture of the business world to invade God’s house. After all, many of our churches have evolved into mega-corporations?with our own CEOs, controllers, administrators, tax codes, dress codes, office hours and private jets?and even bodyguards! In such a stuffy atmosphere, genuine love can turn lukewarm.
How desperately we need to strip off our sophisticated religious garb and get real. People are aching to see a demonstration of God’s honest-to-goodness love, and the only place they will ultimately find it is among the followers of the “Foot Washer.”
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J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.
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