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.