When I was about 8 years old, sometimes as I walked to school I’d meet a kid about my age who always picked a fight with me. I have no idea why. He’d threaten me, call me names, even throw rocks at me to get me to come after him. When I didn’t respond but just kept walking, it enraged him all the more.
I was a jumble of mixed emotions—part of me was afraid to fight, part of me was angry and wanted to fight, and part of me remembered what I’d learned in Sunday School that fighting was wrong. After a couple weeks, he gave up and never bothered me again.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” As I look back, here’s a question I ask myself: was I being meek or just weak?
Meek = Weak?
It’s not the meek (those who work quietly and diligently), but those who push themselves forward who get the best jobs.
It’s not the meek, but the loud and aggressive who command attention by being pushy, outlandish or controversial who rise to prominence in America. Self-aggrandizement, not character, is rewarded.
Chairman Mao, the leader of the Chinese communist revolution, is now best remembered for a single phrase: “Power comes from the end of a gun.” Or, if you prefer an American, how about General George Patton: “God is on the side with the largest artillery?”
We may not be comfortable with either expression, but don’t we internally agree they are true?
One analysis concluded that Osama Bin Laden planned the September 11 terrorist attacks after observing that America did not retaliate for previous attacks on US embassies in Africa. Lack of retaliation = perception of weakness = vulnerable to attack. Case closed.
I recently returned from four weeks in Ethiopia and Zambia. In Ethiopia, leaders are expected to maintain an aura of power to succeed.
- Successful leaders can’t admit that that they don’t always know the answers.
- Successful leaders can’t admit that they sometimes have doubts or get discouraged.
- Successful leaders can’t mentor younger leaders; they see colleagues as rivals for their jobs and must use their power to dominate them, not invest in their growth or help them succeed.
Add it all up and the evidence that meek = weak seems overwhelming.
And yet: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Because Jesus said it, I take it seriously. Therefore, I want to understand it.
The place to begin is to sadly discard the word “meek.” Meek is a perfectly wonderful word, yet many today hear “meek” and immediately think “weak.”
I will instead use a different translation of the very same Greek sometimes rendered as “meek.” That translation is “gentle.”
- Matthew describes Jesus with this same word, quoting the OT prophecy about Jesus’ Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, GENTLE[meek] and riding on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’
- Jesus also applies the same word “meek” to himself, where it is again translated “gentle”: “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am GENTLE [meek] and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Think of Jesus wrongly accused before the Jewish court, the Sanhedrin, and then before Pilate, the Roman governor. Jesus never allows them to walk all over him, but neither is he aggressive and combative. Perhaps a descriptive word for him in these confrontations is POISED. Jesus never loses his poise, never lashes out at his accusers. Jesus has a deep inner strength that “never loses its cool.”
Contrast Jesus with our current American President who constantly must to remind people how powerful and strong he is. People who incessantly need to promote themselves show they are weak, not strong.
Why is this?
- REAL strength is about giving up power to achieve a larger goal.
- REAL strength is willingly taking second place if will serve a greater good.
- REAL strength is the ability to put others first, even before yourself.
- REAL strength is seen in humility, not self-promotion.
We see this kind of real strength in Jesus at the cross.
On the cross, the world sees only a helpless victim. Yet Jesus is not helpless. When Peter draws his sword to defend him, Jesus replies: “If I wanted, I could command legions of angels to defend me.”
Imagine! The Creator of the universe freely allows himself to be destroyed by his own creation. At the cross Jesus gives up power, willingly takes second place and puts others first. At the cross we see Jesus at his strongest, not his weakest.
Thus, the paradox: to be gentle [meek] like Jesus takes incredible strength!
Where do you and I find such strength? Only in Jesus himself: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am GENTLE [meek] and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
A few years ago, I was called as the interim pastor to prepare a congregation for its next pastor after their well-loved pastor of 25 years retired. Such transitions inevitably require sometimes painful change.
One Friday I got a phone call from the chairman of my denomination’s oversight committee informing me official charges had been filed against me. In my denomination, such charges are filed with this committee only for major moral failures like sexual infidelity or financial malfeasance.
I spent an anguished weekend until I met with the committee chairman on Monday. I was told one of the Elders of that church had filed charges against me about insignificant church procedures. The chairman realized the charges were ridiculous. Rather, she suggested this Elder was still grieving the loss of the former pastor and used the charges to lash out at me because, as the interim pastor, I represented change.
But guess what? I had to sit immediately next to this person at every Elders meeting, pretending nothing had happened. Fortunately, the denominational committee chairman eventually talked this elder into withdrawing the charges, thus saving me from a public trial before the denominational committee.
At my last Elders meeting in that congregation, I wanted the group to know how this Elder had mistreated me. With every fiber in my being, I wanted to tell them what a snake they had in their midst.
For the sake of church unity during the transition, my denominational leaders advised me to swallow my anger and stay quiet. Expressing my righteous anger would have made me feel good, but I finally agreed it may not help anyone else. I said nothing.
Was I being weak?
Looking back, it did indeed often feel like weakness. Keeping silent rather than addressing the issue head-on seemed to be the coward’s way out.
When we speak about being “counter-cultural” disciples of Jesus, we find few ways to do so more dramatic than answering anger with gentleness.
Jesus trusted that his heavenly Father was still in control, even on the cross. Thus he could pray: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” On the cross, Jesus responded to pure evil with gentleness. He is meek, but not weak.
Often during my situation at that church, I remembered Romans 12:19: “Do not take revenge, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “Vengeance is mine; I will repay,” says the Lord.” Trusting God was in control and would make it right in the end, I could slowly give up my need to take revenge.
Listen to what I imagine Jesus is saying to his disciples:
“Congratulations! If you stay close to me and we are pulling together like two oxen yoked side-by-side, I promise that more and more of me will rub off on you. I am “gentle and humble in heart.” If you stay yoked to me, you will become gentle and humble also.
When we’re yoked together and you share my strength, you can respond to anger with gentleness and so prove to be my disciples.
And never fear, my gentle disciples! You WILL be blessed! Even in this evil, angry and chaotic world: it is YOU who will inherit the earth.”
This a great question/issue that I think about often. Sometimes I think I am getting it right, and sometimes I am not. In general, however, I am somewhat less aggressive in protecting my position than I was thirty years ago–at least I think I am.
This issue is right up there with Keller’s “Generous Justice,” which our small group is studying under the leadership of Barbara S. Very difficult questions that are difficult to commit to.