The Meek Life

by Adison Martin

Let me begin by taking a poll. There is only one question: "In your spiritual service, are you serving the Lord, yourself or someone else?"

I feel certain that you answered, "I am serving the Lord! Was I right? Why is that important?

A preacher friend once told me that many Christians have just enough faith to make them miserable. By that, he meant that countless church members were living uncommitted, unsatisfying lives. They went through the proper motions, attended the required services, even gave up some of their bad habits, but they got little joy or pleasure from their spiritual service. They were, in fact, miserable with the imagined fun that they were missing. (Hmmm, does that remind you of anyone?) My preacher friend believed that Christians understood virtuous living, since it is clearly taught in the Bible, so he identified their problem as a lack of real commitment to the Lord.

While I believe that no human is able to live a sinless life, I also believe that some Christians are unwilling to commit themselves fully to the Lord. Instead, they try to live in two worlds; the world that they experience with their senses, and the unseen world of spiritual things. They struggle painfully along, trying to maintain their balance with a leg on each side of a great ethical divide. Jesus said,

No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon [Matt. 6:24; ASV throughout this article].

Mammon relates to material wealth, the same type of things that many believers are obsessed with today. It is easy in modern America (where the great gods Success and Materialism are worshipped) to become caught up by the trappings of mammon, and believers who are, become desperately divided. With one hand, they try to hold on to God, while with the other, they cling savagely to wealth. They desire riches, not as a means to greater service, but because they yearn for "the good life," that is, the self-indulgent life. Their hearts become divided between material things and spiritual things. But Jesus taught that it is morally impossible for believers to live with such divided loyalties. What happens is that their spiritual fervor cools. Eventually they become ineffective and spiritually stagnant. Finally, they are trapped within a cold, meaningless and unhappy rut. What a tragedy.

Other believers have leaned to live very rewarding, satisfying lives of service to God and others. While it is true that they cannot "earn" a heavenly reward, they have nevertheless learned what they are called to do, and how they are to do it (more about that in a moment). First, let us also learn that they must serve with meekness, a trait that they share in common with great religious leaders.

Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men that were upon the face of the earth [Num. 12:3].

(F)or I (Jesus--am) am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls [Matt. 11:29].

Beyond that, when Jesus began to teach his disciples how to live a happier life of service, he told them,

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth [Matt. 5:5].

Here is the definition of "meek." You must understand it, in order to comprehend this entire article. Read this definition twice. To be meek, according to the Expository Dictionary Of New Testament Words, by W.E. Vine (Vol. III. Lo-Ser., pg. 55), is to possess…

"…that temper of spirit in which we accept (God’s) dealings with us as good, and therefore without dispute or resisting." Meekness is not weakness, as it is sometimes thought to be. Rather, it is the strength of spirit that grounds a humble heart in service to God, trusting His goodness and control over the situation. It is a gentleness of spirit that is the opposite of self-assertiveness. By it, Moses was able to withstand the rebellion and opposition of his less faithful brethren, even those who wanted to stone him to death [Num. 14:1-10], even when those who opposed him were members of his personal family [Num. 12:1].

Meekness is the same quality of spirit that Jesus displayed when, knowing full well the terrible crucifixion that awaited him at Jerusalem [Matt. 20:17-19], nevertheless traveled there in order to finish the work that God had entrusted to him.

Tell ye the daughter of Zion, "Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek" [Matt. 21:5].

I (Jesus--am) glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do [John. 17:4].

Jesus’ meekness was the product of his trust in God. It was the strength that enabled him then (and that enables all believers now,) to serve God, knowing that He will rescue them from the dangers, trials, difficulties, even from death, that they will certainly encounter, in His own good time and way, and that He, being good, will ultimately reward their service with good.

I think that believers today are somewhat like the ruler who once asked Jesus what he had to do to have eternal life. Jesus told him,

"Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor thy father and mother." And he (the ruler--am) said, "All these things have I observed from my youth up" [Luke. 18:20, 21].

Are we not like that? For instance, we know that lying is sinful. We know what a lie is, and we know when we are lying. The same could be said about stealing, adultery, murder or any of the other commandments that might be broken. Did we not learn these things as youths, and do we not still observe them day by day? Yet we need only to observe the world around us in order to know that Christians, like the rich ruler in the passage, want to receive more from their spiritual lives. Why, then, are so many believers living such unsatisfying lives?

After purging themselves of the false god, Mammon, might it be true that modern day believers suffer a lack of meekness? Consider what burdens the first Christians bore. Those first Jewish converts faced (almost daily) danger at the hands of their unregenerate fellow Jews, who robbed them of their lands and homes, took away their livelihoods, set family members against each other, condemning them to flogging, public shame, and scorn. Sometimes they were even murdered. How could they bear such difficulties? How could they keep going day after day, as they awaited the return (parousia) of Jesus? Could it be that meekness enabled them to faithfully serve the Lord in the midst of their fiery trials? Remember that Jesus called them to be meek, and that the apostles repeated that call. In what may have been the last of his "new testament" letters, Paul wrote,

Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye: and above all these things [put on] love, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms [and] hymns [and] spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God [Col. 3:12-16].

Reading the passage above, do we not marvel at how meekness, with the other attributes mentioned, empowered those first century Christians to enjoy more harmonious relationships with their fellow-servants? Can we honestly accuse our fellow believers today of conducting themselves toward us in just that way? More to the point, have we, you and I, put on (clothed ourselves in) that same spiritual attire when dealing with each other? Do we not see how meekness supplies the fortitude that is needed in our relationships with each other?

Paul continued,

And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him [Col. 3:17].

Reading this verse never fails to empower me. I believe that we worship God with our all. That is, I believe that I must serve Him in my family relationships, in the work that I do, in what I read, in what I say, in service to my fellowman, etc., in fact, unless I do it in order to honor my Creator, I regard it as a frivolous waste of the time and energy that I need in order to serve Him better. Recreation, which rejuvenates and refreshes the body, yields a greater joy when done to the honor, glory and praise of the Lord, who created mankind. Even sleep, which rests and restores a person’s vitality, prepares them for livelier service. Thus service to God, combined with meekness and a profound sense of gratitude, enables the believer to be a more effective servant.

Many of the trials that are encountered by believers, are domestic in nature. Paul mentioned those as well.

Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing in the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children, that they be not discouraged [Col. 3:18-21].

During the troubling days before Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D., families were often divided along spiritual lines. Some Jews became Christians, others remained simply Jews; some Gentiles became Christians, others remained pagans. And so a believer’s enemies were literally members of his/her own household [Matt. 10:35, 36]. So, when believers today encounter trials in their relationships, might it prove helpful to follow Paul’s advice to the first century Colossian believers? Certainly, meekness, a trait that I have rarely seen among believers, would make it possible to be steadfast in their relationships, regardless of the trials.

The principles that were outlined by Paul are even effective on the job site, where, like it or not, a master/servant relationship does exist.

Servants, obey in all things them that are your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing the Lord: whatsoever ye do, work heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance: ye serve the Lord Christ [Col. 3:22-24].

Too often, believers are tempted to give less service than that for which they are paid. Perhaps they believe that they are underpaid and that might be true or perhaps they are angry or disillusioned by their boss for good reason, but giving less than their best is not the Biblical answer. Do we wish to receive more from our bosses, or perhaps resolve our grievances? If so, Jesus said,

(G)ive, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again [Luke. 6:38].

Today it is fashionable to say that "What goes around, comes around." But surely, if we believed that, we would "send around" only the good things that we would like to receive back. If we are repaid in the same coin by which we pay others, does it make sense to pay them in counterfeit coin? When we "work heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto men," we are not giving counterfeit service to our masters (bosses, employers), but the best service that we are able to give. In truth, we are serving the Lord, not men. If not, why not?

I know nothing of the burdens most of you suffer, nor of the problems, trials or persecutions surrounding you, and you know nothing of mine. Yet I believe that the quality of meekness equips us all with the strength and resolve to overcome them or to persevere in spite of them. It seems to me that one secret of maintaining lifelong service to God, is to become focused, not on this world‘s things, but on spiritual things. Meekness empowers us to remain focused. Meekness helps believers concentrate, not on their individual suffering, but on service to God in spite of their individual suffering. it is meekness that causes us to accept our trials as the workings of God, who is good, dealing with us for our own benefit. Therefore we neither dispute, complain nor resist.