Turning Leadership on its head!

Turning Leadership on its Head

What if the most powerful thing a leader could do is get on their knees and serve? In a world obsessed with climbing ladders and building platforms, Tony Uddin (Pastor of a church in Tower Hamlets, London) brings us a perspective that challenges everything we think we know about leadership.

In John chapter 13, Jesus does something utterly scandalous. He washes his disciples' feet. Hours before his arrest. He doesn’t delegate this task. He doesn’t oversee it. He grabs a towel and gets stuck in. And what we discover isn't just an interesting Bible story—it's a blueprint for how leadership was always meant to work.

The Problem with Leadership Today

We want good leadership. We crave it. We expect leaders who will look out for us, who will help others thrive. But let's be honest—our experience often tells a different story. We've seen politicians serve themselves. We've watched business leaders chase profit over people. We've even, if we're brutally honest, seen churches where leadership looks more like self-promotion than service.

Tony put it plainly: "Our world has high expectations of leadership, but generally low expectations of leaders."

And into this mess steps Jesus, about to face the cross, choosing to spend his final hours not in self-preservation but in service. There's something deeply counter-cultural here.

Love Expressed Through Presence

Here's what struck us about this passage. Jesus knew he was about to die. He knew his time was short. And what did he do? He chose to be with his disciples.

Tony highlighted this powerful truth: "We show people honour and respect through giving them time. Sometimes it may even be easier to give someone money than it is to give them our time."

Meanwhile, the disciples were having a completely different conversation. Luke's Gospel tells us they were arguing about which of them was the greatest. Jesus is preparing to sacrifice everything, and they're jostling for position. It's almost painfully relatable.

What Real Power Looks Like

Then comes the scandalous bit. Jesus—the one through whom all things were made—gets up from the meal, wraps a towel around his waist, and begins washing feet.

In that culture, washing feet wasn't just humble—it was humiliating. It was the job of the lowest servant in the household. If Downton Abbey taught us anything, it's that servants have their own pecking order. The person washing feet? They were at the absolute bottom.

And here's God in human flesh, kneeling before dusty, calloused feet.

Tony shared a story that brought this home. Years ago, he worked in homelessness and knew a podiatrist whose job was to find rough sleepers and care for their feet—often in the most unhygienic conditions imaginable. She did it with a smile, treating people with complete dignity.

"This is a manifestation of the glory of God," Tony said. "Here's the substance. Here's what God looks like getting involved at the lowest possible level."

Peter's Uncomfortable Lesson

Peter's response is classic Peter. "No, Lord. You shall never wash my feet."

On the surface, it sounds humble. But Tony pointed out it was actually pride wearing humility's clothes. Peter thought he knew better. His self-will wouldn't let Jesus serve him.

Jesus' reply cuts deep: "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

True humility isn't just about serving others—it's about acknowledging that Jesus knows best, not us. It's about letting go of self-will. Watchman Nee famously said: "Attempting to follow Jesus without denying the self is the root of all failures."

Peter was about to learn this the hard way. Within hours, he would deny Jesus three times.

A Command, Not a Suggestion

Jesus doesn't leave this as a nice example. He makes it a command.

"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done to you."

If it was good enough for Jesus, it's the standard we should follow.

Tony challenged us with a direct question: "Will you use whatever power, whatever influence, whatever responsibility you have—whatever privilege you have in life—for yourself or for others?"

Conversation Street

Who do you serve who cannot repay you?

This question is brilliantly uncomfortable. If we're only serving people who can scratch our backs in return, is that really service? Or is it just good networking? Jesus served those with nothing to offer him. That's the benchmark.

What about the balance between serving and self-care?

The pendulum can swing both ways. Sometimes "self-care" becomes an excuse for selfishness. But burning out helps nobody either. The answer seems to lie in listening to the Holy Spirit's nudges—noticing when to stop and give someone your attention, and knowing your own limits.

Is servanthood an attitude or an action?

It starts with attitude, but the proof is in the doing. As Paul wrote, if we do all the right things but don't have love, we've become nothing more than a resounding gong. (See 1 Corinthians 13.)

Crowd church’s Claire shared a beautiful example. Her manager—who doesn't follow Jesus—demonstrated servant leadership by thinking about her team's individual qualities and bringing small gifts to show she valued them. Servant leadership isn't exclusively Christian, but it's most fully expressed when we follow Christ's example.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Tony got specific about how servant leadership might play out:

• Mowing someone's lawn
• Letting others take credit for the project at work
• Cleaning someone's toilet
• Dropping off someone else's kids when you've got a busy day
• Giving someone your full attention instead of checking your phone
• Being places on time out of respect for others
• Doing the grunt work without being asked
• Never asking people to do things you're not prepared to do yourself

Claire shared her own experience of washing feet—literally. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, she offered pedicures to women who never had anyone care for their feet. They were embarrassed at first, then grateful. And Claire discovered what Jesus knew all along: "It's more blessed to give than to receive."

The Church at Its Most Beautiful

"The church of Jesus is its most beautiful when it is like him," Tony said, "and that is a church of servants."

Here's something worth celebrating. In the UK, practising Christians make up roughly 2% of the population. Yet Christians represent around 60% of the workforce in the charity sector. For all the church's faults, it's filled with people who want to serve and help.

That's not something to be smug about—it's something to keep building on.

Your Next Step This Week

1. Ask yourself who you serve who can't repay you — If you can't think of anyone, that's a nudge worth paying attention to.

2. Give someone your undivided attention — Put your phone away. Look them in the eye. Listen properly.

3. Do one task nobody else wants to do — At home, at work, at church. Don't wait to be asked.

4. Pray for your leaders — Whatever you think of their politics or decisions, they're serving in public and need prayer.

5. Let someone else take the spotlight — Resist the urge to mention your contribution. Just let them shine.

The Towel and the Cross

Tony connected Jesus washing feet to the bigger picture of what he was about to do on the cross. Philippians 2 tells the same story:

• In John, Jesus got up from the meal. In Philippians, Jesus left the glories of heaven.
• In John, Jesus took off his robe. In Philippians, Jesus emptied himself and came as a man.
• In John, Jesus took a towel. In Philippians, Jesus came as a servant.
• In John, Jesus poured water into a basin. Jesus poured out his very life.
• In John, after washing their feet, Jesus sat down again. In Philippians, after being raised, Jesus is seated at the right hand of God.

The towel and the cross are connected. Servant leadership isn't just a nice management technique—it's the heartbeat of the gospel.

A Different Kind of King

So here's the question Jesus leaves us with: what's your response to a King who is a servant?

We're not called to die for anyone's sins—Jesus has already done that. But we are called to come to the end of ourselves. To live for him. To act in humility. To serve others.

The world keeps telling us to climb. Jesus got down on his knees.

Maybe that's where real power has been hiding all along.