Meekness: The Unwanted Quality

Paul tells the Corinthian church, “When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond kindly.” It seems to me that the underlying requirement for these three qualities is meekness, and to be honest, who wants to be meek?

Our natural (i.e., sinful) reaction to these situations is to do just the opposite. When reviled, we want to curse. When persecuted, we want to defend ourselves and disengage. When slandered, we want to attack verbally.

I suspect that many of us are happy going just half the way. When reviled, we may want to defend ourselves and then hold our tongue. When persecuted, we are pleased if we only mutter under our breath. When slandered, we defend ourselves and privately take comfort in the fact that we are heaping burning coals on their head (Rom 12:20). And we feel good about ourselves.

Certainly, there is virtue in these responses in that we don’t lash out in defense. But notice that Paul’s terms are active, not passive. “Bless.” “Endure.” “Respond kindly.” How much virtue is there in only being partially obedient to the Lord? After all, don’t we want to be the recipient of the full blessing of the third Beatitude? “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matt 5:5)? Probably not, if we are honest. As a side note, my grammar check keeps replacing “meekness” with “humility.” It doesn’t like meekness either!

I love this definition of meekness — “strength under control.” We are not doormats. We are trained stallions, powerful and quick to respond to the movement of the bridle as directed by our rider, Jesus. We must be strong to respond as Paul does, actively blessing, enduring but not retreating, and responding to all people with active kindness.

Yesterday, my daughter shared the thesis of an interesting book with me: “The Comfort Crisis.” The author argues that we must experience difficult times and circumstances if we want to grow, both as people and (I would add) spiritually. Without discomfort, we cannot thrive; without challenges, we will never achieve the highs.

So often, we think that God’s plan for our lives is to be pain-free, but God loves us too much to leave us as we are. As the saying goes, “God loves us as we are, but he loves us too much to leave us as we are.” When we are reviled, persecuted, or slandered, we are given the opportunity to grow into blessing, to become people who can endure, to be kind in difficult circumstances.

In other words, we experience difficult times so that we can become meek, powerful stallions who will inherit the earth.