In a time when division runs rampant—even in the church—and believers shred each other publicly for differing opinions, one man bravely steps out to call Christians to unity in the One who binds them all together—Jesus Christ. Author Dr. James W. Walraven dares to suggest that Christians make wiser choices, forgive one another, and mature in their faith.
Walraven, author of Will God Save Everyone, doesn’t shy away from tough topics. He suggests that though doctrines diverge, rather than separate over differences, Christians rally around the truth of the gospel—believers should treat others better than themselves. In a me-first, turbulent culture, the biblical call to love one another is almost a radical concept, but Walraven is convinced unity can be achieved.
“Spiritual maturity is critical when it comes to recognizing and resisting the many false teachings that are being promoted,” Walraven says. “As the world becomes increasingly hostile toward the Christian faith, the need for unity will be increasingly important.”
Dr. Walraven’s new book, One in Christ is written with strength through supporting Scriptures and other resources, yet with personal vulnerability, each chapter concludes with thought-provoking personal challenges designed to move believers closer to oneness in Christ.
Foot washing. If there is one thing Jesus urged us to do, that almost no church does—there are a very few exceptions—it is the practice of foot washing.
Consider what happened in John 13:1–15. Washing other people’s feet in Roman times, was a task given to the lowest of the lowest slaves. Few things were considered as demeaning. Yet Jesus did it. It is, perhaps, the most striking example of Jesus’s selfless love prior to His actual crucifixion, His death on the cross for our sins. We see Peter’s shocked reaction in verse eight, his insisting that Jesus not do it. After Jesus tells him that he’d have no part in Him if he didn’t allow it, Peter then tells Jesus to wash all of him. Jesus lets him know that washing his feet is enough.
Jesus washed the feet of Judas. Knowing what we know now—the disciples at the time did not—that Judas would betray Jesus, one cannot but help wondering what Judas’s reaction was. Did he see Jesus’s actions as the Roman world would have, a demeaning task utterly beneath a real leader? Did it harden his heart against Jesus even more? We don’t know: Scripture doesn’t tell us. But think of it from the standpoint of Jesus’s actions. If Jesus did that to the one He knew would betray Him, how do we treat those who seek to betray us? How do we respond to those who hate us? Do we demonstrate the love of Christ, or do we respond in kind? These aren’t comforting questions, but they are worth considering.
Then there is Jesus’s comments after He finished washing their feet. John 13:12–15 (NAU): “So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.”
Jesus adds in verses 16–17 (NAU): “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”
Jesus, as Teacher and Lord, washed their feet. As Jesus washed their feet, so they ought to wash each other’s feet. Jesus makes it quite clear that He has given them an example to follow. As He did to them, so should they also do. The same applies to us.
Jesus promises us a blessing if we do these things. We like God’s blessings, don’t we? Yet almost no church practices foot washing. Seventh Day Adventists do, and the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches (now renamed as Charis Fellowship), a church denomination I was part of for a time, does. On an anecdotal level, I did find participating in foot washing services to be a real blessing, as Jesus promised.
So, why don’t we, as Christians, do practice foot washing?
The fall college football season is once again upon us. If there is anything that has gone totally bonkers it is the world of college football, with the arrival of the NIL portal. Consider Texas Tech and a player’s recent betting scandal. Within their conference, the Big 12, they are the highest football athlete/recruiting spender at an estimated $40 million per year. While that total is far above many of the other Big 12 schools, that total is “new business as usual” for main schools in both the SEC and the Big 10.
Reflect for a moment what that says about our culture’s priorities. Here in Oregon, the state government recently dropped requirements—at least for now—for graduating high school students to be able to demonstrate even basic proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics. The tests were viewed as unhelpful, as well as being unfair, to students of color and those with disabilities. The suspension lasts at least until the end of the 2027–2028 school year.
Thus, high school students no longer need to be able to read, write, or do basic math to graduate from high school (consider that before 1910, high school students had to know either Latin or Greek to graduate). At the same time, what are universities spending money on? Recruiting 4 and 5-star athletes for their football programs. Be able to function competently in society? Not necessary. Play a game at its highest level? Massively important!
What a culture or country spends its money indicates what that culture or country worships. For our country, athletics, fantasy sports leagues, and sports betting rule the day (hence the betting scandal regarding one of Texas Tech’s former players; betting and conduct they sought to insist be legally ignore). Thinking a bit deeper, what we’re saying is that we worship the human body, its capabilities, its physical strength; we worship ourselves. Yet again, we are collectively guilty of idolatry, of denying God. Is it wrong to participate in sports? No. The problem comes in when we make those same sports, and athletics in general, into a god.
Ponder Psalm 147:10–11 (NAU): “He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man. The LORD favors those who fear Him, Those who wait for His lovingkindness.”
Human strength is fleeting. It doesn’t impress the eternal God. Wrestle with the harsh reality: other than the rare exception, eighty years from now every current “4 or 5-star” football recruit will be dead. Even fifty years from now, those still living will have significantly reduced physical capabilities. We are here on this earth only briefly. Is it wise for us to spend our days here worshiping ourselves, thumbing our nose at God, turning our backs towards Him, refusing His offer of salvation through Jesus Christ? As God favors those who fear Him and rely on His love and kindness as opposed to their human physical strength, wouldn’t it be wise for us to change our priorities?
Why do we spend time worshiping that which will perish? Even if the “thing” is fame, money, status, or some other object, what do we gain? All of that will be lost when we die. We might pretend otherwise, but every one of us will physically die. The real issue is: where will we spend eternity: in God’s presence or separated from Him?
Jesus put it this way in Mark 8:36 (NAU): “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?”
What are our priorities?
Foot washing. In washing the disciple’s feet, Jesus made it clear that He was giving an example for us to follow. So, why do so few Christians do it?
There are likely numerous reasons most Christians don’t do it. Forst, is quite possibly pride. We possibly see that in Peter’s initial response to Jesus, that he would never let Jesus wash his feet. It is just too shocking an idea, something way too far beneath leaders. It didn’t help that within Roman Catholicism it was turned on its head. Once a year, to great fanfare, the Pope would wash the feet of a number of randomly chosen beggars. It did make the Pope look a bit like Jesus. Was it what Jesus intended? Probably not.
Fear is probably another factor. While foot washing can be seen as demeaning for the one doing it, the one having it done to them is also in an extremely vulnerable position. Someone else washing my feet? Not going to happen. I will not risk trusting you, I will not risk opening myself to you, on that sort of deep personal level.
Embarrassment, in essence another form of pride, can be a factor. Our feet and toenails are typically not in the most pristine shape. Toenails are generally not nicely manicured, and for many, there are times that our feet flat out stink: not a side of ourselves we want others to see. It goes against the image of ourselves that we so often seek to project out to others.
Then there is the practical logistics. A foot washing service is time consuming and logistically difficult. Do you let families wash the feet of other family members? How do you separate people out? Generally, churches don’t have young teenage boys wash the feet of teenage girls, or a man wash the feet of another man’s wife. Those are wise precautions. The solution has typically been to have men wash the feet of other men on one side of the room, and women wash womens feet on the other side. Even using separate rooms is not unknown.
Foot washing requires lots of tubs of water and lots of towels. Does a church use one basin per row, or a basin for each person? What about towels? One per person or one per row? Then there’s the consideration that men and women may view that differently, so the requirements for men and women might not be the same.
At the Brethren Church I was at, foot washing was typically done as a separate service once a quarter. Receiving communion was also part of it. Given the logistics, as a large church, the service was quite time-consuming. In our post-covid world, we tend to have neither the time nor the desire to be in such close proximity to others.
Even at the tiny church I am part of, I’ve never been able to convince the group to start practicing foot washing. Sadly, when I spoke about the logistics of how churches did it, one of the immediate responses was that the way they did it wasn’t in the biblical text (separating the men and women). Yet, what was missed is that whatever one may think about how they did it, at least the Brethren church I was part of was doing it. Isn’t that what is most important? I am sure I will bring up foot washing again at some point. We’d be far better off if we did it. Humanly speaking, the fear response is not surprising.
For all these reasons, and there probably are others I haven’t thought of, churches do not practice foot washing. Yet Jesus told us that we ought to do it and that we’d be blessed if we did.
What would happen if we obeyed Jesus regarding foot washing? What might happen if a Pentecostal believer washed the feet of an adamant non-Pentecostal? What about a free-will Baptist washing the feet of a staunch Calvinist? Or, on a more direct level, what if two people who were at odds with each other within a particular church washed each other’s feet?
Foot washing requires humility. Both the person washing someone’s feet and the person whose feet are being washed must humble themselves. Sadly, within the church, if there is one thing that seems to be in short supply at times, it is humility.
Oh, that we within the church would humble ourselves, and begin to practice foot washing! What blessings might God impart to us if we did?