Militant Meekness
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5
I’m going to go out on a limb here and risk upsetting some of you. I just finished a book, Jesus and John Wayne, by Kristen Kobes Du Mez. Du Mez traces the rise of militant masculine Christian nationalism in America. I don’t agree with everything she says, but I do recognize the fallacies in many of the Jesus-was-a-tough-guy teachings I’ve heard throughout the years.
I remember one sermon by a well-known pastor who boasted of his fighting skills, telling his congregation - “I’ve beat up Marines, and I’ve never lost a fight.” My knee-jerk response to his comments was first - “you’ve never had a go with my Marine son” and second, “you haven’t had many fights if you’ve never lost one.” And I’ll be honest; there was a part of me (very fleshly and prideful part) that wanted to jerk the guy out of the audiotape I was listening to and teach him a little humility. In Jesus Name, of course!
My own struggles to become a man of God have led me to reject this macho-Jesus-mentality. True godly manhood (or womanhood) is seen in a strength of character that gives us the courage to speak the truth in love and take a stand for those things we believe point others to God’s kingdom and God’s anointed king, Jesus. This demands courage, sacrifice, and the willingness to be misunderstood, ostracized and rejected by others.
When men just focus on being manly, they are easily misled into prideful, selfish, ego-inflating lifestyles that in no way reflect the image of Christ. The result is a weak character with little or no inner strength.
In his third beatitude, Jesus describes those who will inherit the earth. Surprisingly, it’s not the warriors, power-brokers, or movers and shakers in the world who claim this inheritance. Rather, it is the meek.
Rienecker and Rogers, in their Linguistic Key to the New Testament, describe the Greek word in this passage like this - “The humble and gentle attitude which expresses itself in a patient submissiveness to offense, free from malice or desire for revenge.” (p.12)
This is where true strength is found. As usual, the world’s way focuses on a ruthless dominance, something which we see too often in a Christianity that demonizes others and wars against them. It is this very Christianity that is leading to the loss of our influence of and witness to those who are lost. Instead of inheriting the earth, we are losing it. If you question that, I suggest you consider the alarming decline of Christianity in the United States over the last several decades as the church has bought hook, line, and sinker into the philosophy which says “might makes right” and “meek is weak.”
Paul says, “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:10)
One of the key themes of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is found in Jesus’ words, “You have heard it said, but I say to you.”
There are a lot of worldly ways being baptized and promoted in Jesus’ Name. Now, more than ever before, it’s time for followers of Christ to drop our instruments of war, pick up our crosses and follow our Lord, dying to self so that we might live to God.
This is the only way to possess our promised inheritance.
In Christ,
Dan
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