One of the things I learned from Bob Goff was sometimes we need to change our perspective. Sometimes we need to change the angle of the camera lens of our focus. Flip the situation and look at it differently, basically.
We are likely all familiar with “Maundy” Thursday. This is the Thursday before Easter. The day before Good Friday. The word Maundy derives from the Latin word, mandatum, which means command. Jesus had just washed the feet of His disciples and He gave them a command.
“And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” - John 13:14-15 (NLT)
We are to serve one another in humility, with an abundance of grace.
I am embarrassed to admit I fall short of the abundance of grace part, especially. I do not always flip the situations and look at them, differently. I need to do a better job of doing so.
We are a pro-military, pro-police family. For so long, watching people, “take a knee” during the National Anthem broke my heart. I thought it was disgraceful. I thought it was a slap in the face of the men and women who fought for all of our freedoms. I thought it was a slap in the face to the families of military men and women who died, serving our country.
“You stand for the flag,” we were all taught, and for me, I still do so. I stand up to pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.
But I have never been in a position of being looked at, like a suspect, because of the color of my skin. It has taken events from the past few years for me to see myself differently.
I have always heard, (and I have always believed), “I may not agree with you, but I will die to defend your right to disagree with me.”
Or so I thought I believed it. I got angry at football players for kneeling during the National Anthem. I got angry because I thought they were “disrespecting our flag, our country and our military.”
Please do not read this and believe I have somehow become anti-police. I am one hundred percent in support of the police, and every single police officer and detective I know is outraged by these heinous murders, and they are disgusted their fellow officers in blue would behave the way these police officers have behaved.
Then, one day last week, my friend Michelle Adcox shared a conversation she had with her husband Ben, a Marine, and it flipped my perspective. It changed the angle of the camera lens, for me.
"Ben, how do you feel about people kneeling during the anthem?" Not missing a beat he says, "It's their right". Going into it a little deeper I said, "Being once in the Marines do you not think it's disrespectful to those who fought for us?" Ben said, "I didn't join the Marines to fight for a piece of material, I joined to protect those who stand beneath it. Standing, kneeling, saluting...It's simple."
I need to do a better job of Jesus’ command. If I am going to wash the feet of those around me, figuratively; I need to change my perspective and flip the angle of my camera lens. While you will see me stand for our flag, I can better understand the need for some to kneel and quietly protest.
Jesus knew Peter would betray Him. He washed His feet, anyway. He did not agree with what Peter was about to do, yet He still had a meal with Him, and washed His feet.
We need to be more open to changing our perspectives. We need to flip the lens. Let’s look for more ways to wash some feet. I think if we do more listening and less talking, we will have more understanding. If we have more understanding, we are going to have softened hearts, willing to serve and wash feet. This is what Jesus meant when He said “Do as I have done to you.”
He wants us to love and He wants us to serve.