Foot Washing as a Tool Sustaining the Nigerian Church

Abstract

The Church is a popularly known part of the human society. The genesis was from the divine understanding of a few men and women during and after the ascension of Jesus Christ. The Church gradually grew into a great body of people of living faith. The significant impact of the Church in the human society over the years cannot be denied. The factual stance is challenging in the recent time due to the concurrent happenings of ineffectual activities perpetuated by so called ‘Christians’. While this observation is about the Church in general, the periscope of this article is the Nigerian Church. In Acts 11:26, the disciples were referred first to as Christians because the unbelievers could see the Christ-like image. The effectual movement of the Church has often been geared by Church leadership from the time of Jesus Christ. The biblical framework of this paper is John 13:1-17, where the foot washing concept is explored. With the activity of Jesus and His disciples; this paper depicts several applicable lessons for the sustenance of the Nigerian Church. Cardinal among the lessons is the concept of servant leadership, love and fellowship. A clear emphasis is laid on leadership in the Nigerian Church. Jesus gave a redefinition of this integral structure having equality and equity, though with regard to authority. Above all, the acknowledgement of Christ should be re-entrenched in the Nigerian Church, such that, the place of God remained usurped and His glory shared with no man!