I grew up in a faith tradition where foot washing was a common practice. Quite frequently, at any given church service, parishioners were getting on their knees and washing the feet of fellow church members. I vividly remember the reactions of participants—there were tears, hugs, and expressions of humble gratitude. I can see how such an act can generate intense feelings, but if I am being honest, the whole thing left me with more questions than anything. And it’s not because I have some strong aversion to other people’s feet on my hands. The act is beautiful, but is it necessary to practice? Was the act of foot washing a sacrament or symbol of something beyond itself? Now in my adult years, this visceral reaction, which had kickstarted an innocent but motivated inquisition, needed to be answered. From my Reformed theology starting point, I went on a quest for resolution.

Many Christians cherish John chapter 13. It is a beloved passage of believers from various faith traditions, and for good reason. The narrative is a striking example of humility—Christ-like humility. As meaningful as the narrative is, we must ask, is the practice of foot washing today the best application of the text? To answer this, we first look to a key concept in biblical interpretation called principlizing.

Principlizing John 13

Let’s unpack “the what and the why” to the approach known as principilizing. It is generally understood as an attempt to discover in a biblical narrative the spiritual, moral, and/or theological principles that have relevance for the contemporary believer. This method seeks to derive teachings from a careful understanding of the story itself within the context of recognizing the validity of both the narrative’s historical details and the principle(s) those details attempt to teach.

Simply put, principlizing seeks to derive from a passage the main relevant lesson for a modern reader. In doing so, the historical details must be given primary consideration in order to gain an understanding of those teachings. When we come to John 13, it doesn’t take much digging to find that the moral principle is that we should serve one another, and a straightforward reading would seem to indicate that this is done in washing the feet of those we intend to serve. “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:14–15). But is that the best application? And how does that interpretation support the spiritual and theological principles?

Here is where we need to go deeper. When Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, an act that would have included Judas, he asked them a thought-provoking question, “Do you understand what I have done to you?” (John 13:12). How would they answer him, especially when considering that no Jew, especially a Rabbi, would perform such a task because this was the job of a Gentile slave? Did they understand the act’s significance? Peter certainly did not: “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” (13:9). His misunderstanding may have been characteristic of the whole group. Jesus’s question to the disciples reveals that the foot washing act was symbolic not sacramental. This raises the question, symbolic for what? The context shows that the needed cleansing of the disciples, and by extension all of us, could only be provided by Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, the ultimate cleansing.

The foot washing act was anticipatory in nature, pointing beyond itself to an infinitely more powerful and necessary spiritual cleansing. Jesus’s foot washing act was symbolic for spiritual cleansing. Doubtless we should love and serve our neighbors, and this may or may not include foot washing.  Nothing in Scripture prohibits the act, but the example was not meant to be the normative ecclesiastical practice. “Whether this verse is a sufficient basis for the practice of foot washing becoming a regular ordinance of the church is probably doubtful. It was not seen in these terms in the early centuries. With the exception of 1 Timothy 5:10 there is no other New Testament reference to it, and there the reference appears social rather than sacramental. The accompanying attitude, however, permits no exception” (Bruce Milne, The Message of John, 199. Italics original).

A careful reading of John 13 within the broader biblical context supports this. Just as Paul exhorts believers in Philippians 2:5–8 to have “the mind of Christ Jesus, who humbled himself,” so John’s narrative dramatizes that humility through action. Christ’s descent to wash the disciples’ feet foreshadows his greater descent to the cross, where cleansing would be accomplished once for all. The believer’s response, then, is not to perpetuate the ceremony but to emulate the character it reveals—self-emptying love that serves others for the glory of God. Every act of mercy, every unseen service, becomes a living reenactment of that moment in the upper room—a gospel-shaped humility that points back to the cleansing grace of Christ alone.

How might that be demonstrated in our lives today? It may look like the husband who quietly takes care of mounting household tasks when his spouse is overextended, easing the weight that has come over her. Or a hardworking young professional who gives up a much-needed rest on a Saturday to help a struggling neighbor move. It’s taking the time, you really don’t have, for intentionally listening to that hurting, confused someone who feels unseen. It’s the teacher who prays for the student who pushes every boundary, the teenager who includes the classmate everyone else chooses to avoid, and the church member who volunteers for the small, hidden jobs without seeking recognition. These ordinary acts are never small in heaven’s eyes—they are reflections of the same Christ who knelt to wash dusty feet.

This is where foot washing finds its true fulfillment—not in the basin or the towel but in the believer’s daily readiness to serve. The call is not to replicate the scene but to reproduce its spirit. When the gospel moves from our heads to our hands, humility becomes the evidence of grace. In every simple act of service, we echo the Savior’s words: “You also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:15).

Where do we go from here?

Foot washing, while a beautiful symbol of humility and service, was never meant to be a required religious practice. It points to the deeper truth of Jesus’s sacrifice and our call to serve others. Turning foot washing into a ritual misses the point. More dangerous still is doing so without genuine humility, which turns it into an empty gesture. The real command from Jesus is to serve others with a humble heart, not necessarily to repeat the physical act. So, should we practice foot washing today? Maybe. But is it specifically necessary? No. The heart of the message is much broader. It is performing acts of humble service to others, not acting out the ritual itself.

And the blessing, the joy, comes from remembering the deeper reason why our hearts are drawn to do this: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”(Phil. 2:5–8).