As I mentioned in an earlier post, there was a particularly potent ad about Jesus during the Superbowl. It consisted of several still images of people having their feet washed.
In one we saw a child washing the feet of an alcoholic parent. In another we saw a police officer washing the feet of a man in an alley. In another, we see a Muslim woman having her feet washed by a neighbor. In another, we have a Pro-Life protestor washing the feet of a woman from an abortion clinic.
And there are more images like this. At the end, the ad says, "Jesus didn't teach hate."
This ad generated more controversy than I had expected. What I found very interesting was that many of the people I follow online had the exact opposite reaction I had to the ad.
The main critique I have heard is that this ad tries to water down the message of the Gospel to some kind of bland social action. It implies that the Christian message is one of unconditional acceptance to the point where it affirms people in their sin. In washing the feet of the woman from the abortion clinic, the critics say that this gives tacit approval to the murder of the unborn child.
As if to bolster this point, look at what happened recently at St. Patrick's Cathedral. A group arranged for a funeral for an atheist, transexual prostitute. During the funeral, members of the group began desecrating the sacred space. It appears as though the people who arranged the funeral were less interested in honoring their friend as they were with attacking the Church.
The critics of the ad say that by not bringing up the call of the Gospel to turn away from sin, we will see a greater flourishing of vice like we saw at St. Patrick's.
I have to say that I do not easily dismiss this critique. To water down the Gospel is like watering down medicine: it can do more harm than good. If the purpose of the ones who made the ad was to rebrand Christianity in this less substantial version, then it should be roundly condemned.
Soon after the Superbowl Ad aired, there was an ad that went viral online where it showed several people who were sinners and had their lives radically transformed by the saving power of Christ. Rather than "He Gets Us," it said: "He Saves Us."
So if you believe that the ad from the Superbowl is foisting this shadow of the Gospel message, then I can understand why you would reject it.
But let me offer another view.
One of the great things about Christianity is that it is often not either/or, but both/and.
Should we focus on saving the souls of people or taking care of their bodily needs?
The answer to this questions is both.
Are we saved by faith or by works?
The answer to this question is both.
Should we love and serve others unconditionally or should we call them to repentance of their sins?
The answer to this question is both.
If the purpose of the ad was to only give one half of the equation as the entire sum, then it is wrong.
But if you view the ad as a part and not the whole, then it is an incredibly important reflection.
In John 13, Jesus got up from the table after eating the Last Supper and one-by-one washed His disciples feet. He said "If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet too." (John 13:14).
In Jesus' day, the feet were the dirtiest part of the person. It was so lowly that even Jewish slaves would not wash another person's feet. But Jesus humbled Himself to wash the dirtiest part of his Apostles. There is no job too lowly for the love of God!
This means that I must wash the feet of others. This includes those who I disagree with. And this also includes those who we would label as sinners. Because of my utter moral abhorance to abortion, the picture of the women at the abortion clinic made me very uncomfortable when I first saw it. But upon reflection, I saw the truth of it: I must wash her feet as well.
"But she is aiding in the killing of the unborn! That is evil." I agree. But I am called to wash her feet anyway.
"But she is my enemy in the fight for life." Yes. But Jesus said, "Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you." (Matt 5:43). Do you think He was kidding?
But what if she sins and will continue to sin? This does not absolve me of my responsibility to wash her feet.
On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus washed Judas' feet. Judas was filled with greed and had such malice in his heart that within hours he would have a hand in murdering Jesus.
Jesus washed his feet anyway.
Peter, who was closer to Jesus than almost anyone, would 3 times deny that He even knew who Jesus was.
Jesus washed his feet anyway.
Every single other man at that table ran away from Jesus when He was arrested. Jesus knew they would do this.
Jesus washed their feet anyway.
And then there's me. I think about all the times that Jesus "washed my feet" by cleansing the dirties part of me: my sin. I think about all those times in the confessional that Jesus forgave me completely. And then I think of how many times I quickly fell back into sin again. Jesus knew I would fall again.
Jesus washed my feet anyway.
If Jesus would do this for me, how could I not do this for others?
And it must be remembered that love comes before obligation. You do not commit yourself to marriage vows until you have first established a loving relationship. God freed the Hebrews from slavery to show His love. It was only afterwards that He gave them the commandments. He did not give them the law as a condition of His love. He gave them His love and then showed them how to be loving.
If I balk at this idea, then I may want to reflect on if I have a heart like Jesus. If Jesus was willing to serve the sinners, so must we. Otherwise we are like Pharisees who follow the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law.
I can tell you from my limited experience, there are so many people who do not know their value. They do not know that they are loved. Yes, they indulge in their passions and vices, but that is because they have a void in their hearts.
Before we help people to turn away from sin, we must help them to know why. And the reason is that they have infinite value because Jesus loved them so much He would rather die than be without them.
GK Chesterton said of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast that it taught us a paradoxical truth: sometimes you must love something before it is lovable. Jesus did not wait for me to become righteous before He clothed Himself human flesh and took my sins to the cross. He loved me into being lovable.
It may feel much better to refute, to defeat, to "own" our enemies. There is an exhilaration at fighting for a righteous cause. But we must always guard against self-righteousness. Washing someone's feet is about letting them know that they are loved and valued unconditionally. And it is for that reason that God wants to free us from the sins that bind us.
But still, you may ask, isn't there the danger of affirming people in their sins?
Again, this is a serious consideration. We must do all that we can to love the sinner and hate the sin. And we hate the sin because it hurts the person.
We can do both. Jesus did both.
And as long as we are called to do both, I will follow my Master's example to reach out to others and wash their feet.
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