Can the meek confront?

Matthew 5:5

In previous discussion, we decided that meek people see themselves from God's perspective. This does not mean that they see themselves as worthless. Meek should not mean "putting yourself down all the time," or "letting others walk all over you."

With that in mind, it is easy to believe that meek people will sometimes be called upon to stand up for what's right. If this means opposing someone who is doing what's wrong, then meek people will sometimes have to confront.

But class discussion definitely challenged our normal ideas of confrontation.

• God's people are not called to be "busybodies." Jesus is capable of dealing with others just as He has dealt with us. We can trust Him to give them their own insights on how to live.
• We have to be Spirit-led. Prayer was mentioned often. Also, we will discover that our motivation is love for the other person, not a desire to "fix them" or to make them more like us.
• Relationships are key. As friends (or sometimes as teachers or parents), we must have a relationship with the person we are working with. Just being noisy about our beliefs is not an example of Christ-like meekness. Confrontation has the goal of helping the other person.
• When meekness is part of the confrontation, we will be open to correction as well. Our self-evaluation has to include recognizing that we are not yet perfect. Even if we have some good insights to share, the other person may be able to help us as well.

One side note was also covered:

This is an election year. Christians certainly ought to base their politics on God's principles. We were reminded that the Bible gives us insights about God's ultimate goals. It also tells us which political methods are ethical. But politics is about which methods are effective, and devout Christians reach different conclusions about that. The class will try to avoid taking specific political viewpoints. God wants Communists, Democrats, Libertarians, Republicans, Socialists, and Tea Partiers to live transformed lives. If we as a class let our political viewpoints overshadow our discipleship, we will cut ourselves off from possible ministry to people Jesus died for.

Meekness, Part Two

April 18, 2010

Last week's discussion of meekness left a few questions in our minds, so we took up where we'd left off.

Is meekness really just a role to be played?

Romans considered meekness an act. They were apparently so convinced that everyone was pushing his or her own agenda that any sign of humility had to be false.

Instead, Jesus told His followers to stop promoting themselves. We should give up self-control of our lives in favor of Spirit-control. By trusting God to lead us, we no longer have to defend our positions in the world. This kind of meekness is not false humility.

However, in the Christ-like life, as in any other part of life, it is sometimes appropriate to "act a part" as we're beginning a new phase. But our motivation has to be that this role is our true aim. For example, some of us deliberately smile when someone cuts us off in traffic. It is a deliberate pretense, because we are not really pleased. But we know that this is not the end of the world, and that we are called to forgive even traffic offenses against us. By the act of smiling, we are reminded that we shouldn't let someone else's carelessness ruin our day. Pretty soon, the pretense has become reality; we really have forgiven the offender and decided not to dwell on it any more.

Does meekness mean that we should have no self-confidence?

Actually, Christians are called to have a "right estimate of themselves." As we learn to see ourselves more honestly, that is, from God's perspective, we are going to become meek. Knowing that we are acting as God wants us to really leads to a much deeper self-assurance.

A related question is whether we can be "proud" of any accomplishments. The Bible itself promises all sorts of rewards to those who follow God's ways, so there must be some legitimate way of receiving God's commendation. We need to distinguish between "I must be a wonderful person to have done this" and "I am glad to have been used by God to do this."

We suggested that meekness is what's left over when pride and selfish ambition have been dropped. Meekness may be a matter of putting "first things first." When God's priorities become our goal, meekness is the natural result.

C. S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, put it this way:

Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call "humble" nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.

Finally, What does it mean to "inherit the earth"?

Our answers centered on freedom. We are not under bondage to be or to do anything.

[Dale's thoughts as he was writing the blog: This freedom is hard to explain to those who think that Christianity is a new set of rules to follow. But those who follow the Spirit know that Jesus was right: His yoke is easy, His burden is light. When we get past "I need to be good" and start living "I like pleasing God," the bondage disappears.]

Further, the possibilities for our life start opening up. If we think in terms of influence, it becomes limitless. We have been blessed so that we can bless others. God shows us places for service that we hadn't suspected before. The example of Mother Teresa was given. By focusing on the task God gave her, she became an example to the entire world.

At the end of the class, another good question was raised: How do meek people confront others?

We asked about the motivation for confronting. Do we want to encourage dialog, or to incite? Are we approaching the situation from a position of power, of weakness, or of equality? Are we focused on relationships or on rights?

But there wasn't enough time to follow this through, so we'll pick it up next class session.

2010 Apr 11 - Meekness (Mt 5:5)

"Spiritually prosperous are those who are meek, because they themselves shall inherit the earth."

We began with a quick review of previous weeks to put the discussion in context. (We hadn't met for two weeks, since the church had double services on Easter.) The opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount are called the Beatitudes. They each begin with "Blessed are," not "Thou shalt." This goes along with Jesus's method of describing His followers rather than giving them a new set of orders to follow. Frankly, it is not possible to live according to this new description without God's help. We'll discuss that even more in the weeks ahead.

Meekness, the focus of this week's discussion, was actually considered a vice by the society of Jesus's time. Meekness was a mark of servility. We didn't discuss that term, but I believe it is like "smarmy," or the stereotypical used-car salesmen, buttering us up to take advantage of us. (Please understand, the only used-car salesmen I've ever known were very good Christians, and I don't want to insult them at all. But thanks to TV and movies, we probably get the picture of why the Romans disliked meekness.)

Jesus came to a group of people, the Jews, who were very proud of their heritage. They had no standing in the Roman world, but at least they knew their own importance. When Jesus declared that meekness was a virtue, they found that incredible. Class discussion suggested that Jesus could have lost a lot of listeners with talk like this.

We contrasted this meekness with the superiority that the Romans demonstrated and the Jews felt. The opposite of meekness would included bragging on ourselves, being assertive of our rights. We thought this attitude often leads to false bravado. Further, much of our "building ourself up" comes at the cost of "putting others down." In this light, meekness may be more attractive than the Romans and Jews first thought.

• David suggested a book by Donald Kraybill, The Upside-Down Kingdom. This book stresses how different the Jesus-following life is from anything that seems normal in our society. While it is a very challenging book, it does have insights that we might benefit from.

Meekness is demonstrated in relationships. It is easy to yield to the world's processes, emphasizing our importance, making sure others know how capable we are. But a Jesus-follower learns to praise others. Even in the cut-throat world that business is supposed to be, companies have learned that sharing the credit appropriately makes the organization stronger.

Meekness requires honest self-assessment. This will include learning to control ourselves, rather than trying to control others.

David pointed out that the Greek word used for meek is praus - this is also used to indicate a tamed animal. A tamed horse yields to another's intellect, and it accepts outside discipline that makes it more effective than any wild horse could be.

* * *

We did not exhaust the possibilities in this verse. We will take up some additional issues as we come together on the 18th.

• Were the Romans right? Is meekness just a front? Or can it come from the heart?
• Can meek people demonstrate self-assurance? Can they stand up for their rights?
• How do the meek inherit the earth? What exactly are they inheriting?