Washing Feet

All day today, the news has been full of a very curious event: the inability of the U.S. House of Representatives to elect a Speaker (read “leader” of the Republican cohort). You will, of course, remember that Nancy Pelosi occupied that position during the Trump administration and on into the present regime. To my mind, she pontificated a bit too much on her “knowledge” of the Constitution – that, sadly, wasn’t really knowledge at all. It was a brand of politics that would, quite frankly, have shocked the Founding Fathers, because the Federalist Papers make those individuals’ take on representative government very clear. However, the point of this blog is not to criticize her and her colleagues.

The position of Speaker of the House is a serious task, loaded with both privilege and responsibility. Jesus reminded His disciples that, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table [meaning Jesus Himself] or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22: 25 – 28).

I am not writing to judge Pelosi’s leadership as former Speaker; other people may feel free to pronounce whatever judgment suits their political inclinations. However, it is difficult to remember a time when she took a humble “servant” attitude towards her duties and responsibilities. (The event when she proudly displayed her freezer full of $12-a-pint ice cream was particularly disturbing to certain viewers, myself included.)

Leaving all that aside, I wonder what the Republican Representatives are finding most difficult to focus on in choosing a leader to become Speaker. Are they looking for a bombastic iconoclast? An enemy to the present administration? A leader? A servant?

Several of the Founding Fathers – George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson (all three our first three presidents, by the way) – all spoke of leading by example, not dictum – the essence of the leadership Jesus mentioned. Having been schooled in Christianity, they realized that true leadership was not about force and bluster, but about the promulgation of good ideas and faithful implementation of said ideas. These men were well aware of Jesus’ actions of washing his disciples’ feet on the night before His execution.

One wonders how many feet the present candidates for leadership have washed.