Why does the Christian not become meek?


“Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth”(Matthew5:5).


Criticism from Nonbelievers

The criticism Christians get most often from nonbelievers is this: “Christians are so weak minded. We only need to try our best and whatever will be will be. Why do they need to gather at church every Sunday to weep and wail?” One of the richest men in the U.S. ,ex-husband of actress Jane Fonda, and the president of CNN Ted Turner said “Christianity is a religion for weaklings.”

But the real problem is that when the Christian feels that he has done the best he can in his faith life, yet his reality seems to lag far behind in quality than the nonbeliever’s, he feels that somehow those criticisms are well deserved. All the while another part of him says “God will indeed bless me. I never skip Sunday worship or Bible study. I even give offerings beyond my ability. That said, He must surely bless me. If not here on this earth, then I will receive my due reward in heaven. Yet those decrepit sinners God will judge them with the fire of hell.” And all this he says while thinking of himself to be a meek person.

This kind of criticism from nonbelievers and the Christian reaction to it are both wrong. Because both misunderstand the purpose and motivation of our faith as essentially being successful by the world’s standards. Moreover the focus of the nonbeliever’s criticism and the Christian’s reaction to it springs from a misunderstanding of the true meaning of “meekness” that our texts talks about. Both understand “meekness” as being gentle, quiet, nonviolent, not forceful, always yielding and sacrificing for others no matter what the circumstance. That is why we often define “meekness” as a character trait of those who often fail to strive through difficulties by themselves that they must rely on God–that is, in contrast to being proactive, enthusiastic, and extroverted, “meekness” is being passive and introverted.

Personality and temperament can be changed throughout a person’s life, but essentially they are a kind of gift that God gives to each person according to His will. God created some to be active and outgoing while some to be passive and introverted. If by “meekness” our text is referring to personality traits, then it simply means “blessed are thepassive”; this then leads to an outrageous conclusion that God does not bless those who are more “proactive”. Moreover after creating some to be passive he’s demanding them to be yielding to those with the opposite traits; only then will God bless those people. This then becomes a kind of manipulation by God towards a weak individual to endure unnecessary pain and humiliation.

But the reality is God does not treat us in that way. From the get go, God created each individual according to His will, to be good and pleasing in His eyes, complete as a personal being. There is a purpose, a vision, and a plan for each individual’s life. It is true that God recovers His children when they suffer injustice, and especially when they are weak. However, just because a person has come to receive Jesus does not mean that His God-given, innate personality will change.

This is true not only for the blessing of “meekness” but for all of the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes is not a conditional promise of blessing that merely demands a personality makeover, moral restraint, and abstaining from religious sins. Simply put, Jesus did not give us the Beatitudes as a kind of didactic moral compass. From the beginning to the end its theme is the “Kingdom of Heaven”, and how God’s Kingdom can be established here on earth. God’s Kingdom can only be established through the vigorous and blessed lives of His faithful ones who walk with Him; that is why Jesus is proclaiming to us that we must enjoy and live out such blessings in our lives.

The Meekest Person on Earth

In the Bible an individual was praised by God as the meekest person in all the earth. Our first guess would be King David. He had not one but two chances to do away with King Saul who was out to kill him. Yet David spared him both times. When his own son rebelled against him, even as he was fleeing as a refugee David never grew bitter nor complained but willingly suffered loss. According to the confessions of the Psalms, every night he wet his bed with tears. Countless times he experienced hardships that were enough to dry up his bones. Yet he was able to overcome all of them. Who was as meek as him?

But the Bible overturns our expectations. “Now Moses was very humble - more humble than any other person on earth”(Numbers12:3). We would think that Moses had nothing to  do with humility. After seeing an Egyptian official beat a fellow Israelite, he burst out in anger, killed him, and hid him in the sand(Exodus2:12). In the desert of Sin when the people of Israel started to complain that they had no water, even though God had told him to command the rock to gush forth water, he instead struck the rock and that twice (Numbers 20:11). As punishment for disobedience and having stood in the way of God’s glory, Moses was barred enter the land of Canaan. He could only look upon the Promised Land from Mt. Nebo in his last days before he died.

We know all too well of how several times Moses refused God’s calling to lead His people from Egypt (Exodus 3). His main excuse was that He was never“eloquent”,but rather “slow of speech and tongue”(4:10). He meant that he was not good with words. It’s usually the case when one does not know the point of his speech the words can get  tangled up. But as one who wrote the Pentateuch(the first five books of the Bible) and educated in the palace of Pharao has a prince, it is not likely that he would have lacked the mental capacity. Moreover one of the most important subjects for princes of the Ancient Near East was speech and rhetoric. The reason being that one needed to be a good speaker in order to persuade and command the subordinates. All that said, Moses confessing that he was “slowofspeech” probably meant that he stuttered; it’s usually those who are impulsive who stutter often. In many aspects, Moses in character and personality was a hot-tempered man, far from being “meek”.

The Greek meaning of the word “meek” (Praus) in our text does not describe a state of weakness but rather of strength that is overflowing with life and energy, yet having the ability to control that strength mentally and physically. It is similar to when a 100 degree fever drops to a 36 and you’re sleeping safe and sound as a baby, or when the sea a raging storm ceases its violent wind and rain and is now a clear sunshine, calm as a lake, or when a nun tamed wild horse is trained by its owner to follow only his cues. In other words thew ord “meek” describes not those who are innately quiet, calm, and gentle but those who have a passion and strength within that overflows, even furious anger, yet being able to control one self adequately.

But “meekness” does not mean you have to keep suppressing your feelings to no degree so that they are never expressed. It is not keeping a Poker Face 24/7. There are many who in the inside sneer at others but outwardly are so well mannered that they never hear anything demeaning. This is not meekness but the epitome of pride.

Meekness is not, as the nonbelievers criticize about Christians, being weak, cowardly, and lazy to the point where one cannot or does not stand up for anything and avoids all conflicts. Nor is it keeping hidden envy and anger within while on the outside being well mannered and polite. It is not believing oneself to be so innocent and pure that he or she refuses to mingle with the “rough” crowd. It is definitely not desperately trying to keep a smile on no matter the circumstances and the people you’re dealing with that in the end you drive yourself to exhaustion.

Learn the “Meekness” of Christ    

True meekness is to love when we’re supposed to love, serving with kindness when we’re supposed to serve, and laughing when we’re supposed to laugh. That is why most importantly you should never get angry when it’s unnecessary, but do get angry when the occasion calls for it.


Jesus said “I  am meek and humble at heart. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me and you will find rest for your souls”(Matthew11:29). Jesus wasn’t always the gentle Savior we know Him tobe. Remember how he turned over the tables of money changers and sellers of doves, shouting they had changed the house of prayer as aden of robbers? He cursed the Pharisees who focused only on empty religious rituals and the outward observance of the Law and then boasting as if they were the only ones who owned the Kingdom of Heaven, as a brood of vipers. To the unrepentant city of Jerusalem He pronounced with mourning that Sodom and Gomorrah had fared far better than it.

In contrast however, when in front of the tomb of dead Lazarus, Jesus wept for the misfortune of humanity in bondage to sin, death, and the devil. To the woman caught in adultery who by the Law’s standards deserved death by stoning, He pronounced forgiveness, “I neither shall condemn you. Go and leave your life of sin”(John4). And to the Samaritan woman from Sychar, He offered the living water that would never run dry; he took away her guilt, inferiority, and the shames he was bound under and brought salvation.

Jesus exploded with anger when that was necessary and gave abounding love when that was called for. This is not to say that He was always swinging from one extreme mood to the other, but no matter who was around He expressed anger as anger and love as love, clearly for all to see. This is what we must learn from Jesus.

Why does the Bible describe the hot-tempered Moses as “meek”, more than that as the most humble man on the face of the earth? How was he transformed from the Prince of Egypt to the meekes tman on the planet? Let’s not think too hard, but change the question. When do Christians become most meek? Obviously in church, where they serve and love one another in peace. Rarely do people come to church to fight and argue.

How do we rebuke children when they are loud and boisterous at church? We say, “This is a house of worship. You should be quiet!” When people come to church they at least put to death any negative aspects of their personalities, carry their Bibles near their hearts, and are busy smiling at everyone. No matter what lies underneath those smiles everyone has a basic understanding that church is where God’s presence dwells and that He sees us. Moreover when we go back home after the Sunday service and for some unfortunate reason we get into an argument with our spouse, we are quick to change our hearts. “I just happened to meet God at church. Why should I let such a small matter upset me and stop me from loving my spouse?”

God is not just restricted to a church building however. He is with us wherever we go- our families, work, school. Even when we get in a fight with our spouses He sees and hears us. God doesn’t do indifference; He does not turn His eyes away no matter how shameful our activities are- like fighting with our spouse after Sunday service. That momentary conviction “You were just at church; you can’t act this way” is the Holy Spirit groaning within you. It is only when the Christian is assured that he is living daily before the Presence of God that he can truly become meek.

Aaron and Miriam used Moses’ marriage to a Cushite woman as an excuse to pour out their long held complaints before him. They criticized him saying that he was not the only prophet, but they were also. Then God reprimanded the two by saying that Moses was a meek man and explained the reason for his meekness. “When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of myservant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”(Numbers12:6-8)

Simply put Moses never forgot even for a moment that God was with him, that he was living before the Presence of God. That is why he prayed then acted in line with God’s will. The reason why he sinned as we see in the incident where he strikes the rock twice near the waters of Meribah, was because he went ahead of the Lord’s command. Living and doing according to God’s will in all circumstances like Moses is the key and essence of meekness.

If so when was Moses at his meekest? “Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets. When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, ‘There is the sound of war in the camp.’ Moses replied:  ‘It is not the sound of victory, it is not the sound of defeat; it is the sound of singing that I hear.’ When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it” (Exodus 32:15-20).

When the people of Israel strayed to idol worship, this 80 something year old man threw the two tablets that God had made, forced the people to drink the ashes of the idol, and put to death the 3000 who were drinking and dancing before the Golden Calf. Though this was an explosion of anger, it was also the epitome of meekness. There is no irony or paradox here. Moses before this had been with Yahweh for 40 days. He had experienced the righteousness and the goodness of God. He understood God’s intention and purpose of why God gave the two tablets of the Law- because of God’s great love for the people of Israel and to bless them.

That is why Moses allowed all of his heart, thoughts, speech and action to be led by God’s righteousness, holiness, and life; he even allowed God to use his personality and innate character. The ultimate purpose and result of this terrible event was for God’s will and glory to be revealed and not on Moses expressing his anger, or that the Israelites were punished to die. When a Christian obeys God with everything he has in order to reveal God’s glory that is when meekness becomes complete. When the occasion calls for a burst of anger, yet if we remain silent, this does not equal meekness, but cowardliness. How can one be silent when the glory of God is trampled on?

What Moses Sought after

What do you suppose Moses worried about and wrestled with for the 80 years of his life before receiving the calling to deliver his people from Egypt? What do you suppose he sought after? No doubt he was asking “Where is God in all this?” He must have been thinking to himself “Why does God allow the people of Israel to suffer in such misery? If he has miraculously allowed me to become a prince of Egypt although I am an Israelite by birth, doesn’t it mean that I am supposed to deliver my people through my position and authority? Why did He turn a deaf ear to me when for the first time I tried to deliver my people, so that I had to spend 40 years in the Midianite desert, being a shepherd of all things and wasting my precious life?” No doubt Moses wanted an answer to such questions.

That is why behind Moses’ refusal and excuses to the LORD’s command to deliver His people was disillusionment, panic, and doubt all meshed into one. This was Moses’ attitude: “Where have you been all this time? And now you tell me, an 80 years old man who knows nothing but shepherding sheep to go against the most powerful nation in the world? I won’t do it.” We can sympathize with his hesitation since he had wrestled with this calling for 80 years on his own; four times he hesitated and made excuses, “Who am I to carry out such a gigantic feat?”, “If you are truly God what is your name?”, “What if the people of Israel do not believe that You sent me?”, “Don’t you know that I am slow of speech and tongue?”

To such questions of doubt, God was constant in His affirmation, “I will go with you and be with you.” In particular He showed a miracle through Moses’ staff and told Moses to take the staff with him to Egypt, one that has been weathered by years of use. What does this symbolic act mean? For the past 40 years of shepherding, God never left Moses not even for a moment. The staff he carried with his right hand even when he slept was symbolic of God’s Presence in his life. From then on the staff became for Moses not only a tool to bring about miracles but a symbol of God’s Presence.

The longer you wrestle with a question, when you finally find the answer you’ll have a greater assurance that will not easily be shaken. Moses who struggled alone for 80 years bowed down bare feet before God who appeared to him in the bush that did not burn out. Moses met God face to face and heard His voice. The Bible writes that he saw the glory of God, possible only for those in heaven, here on earth; it also says that the regular folk could hardly stare at his face because of the glory that was on him. After the burning bush incident Moses never doubted God’s Presence with him; he met God face to face and received clear word and specific directions. That was why he could obey God’s will and plan completely. During the last 40 years of his life, he ate, drank, slept, and acted before the Presence of God. This was the reason why inevitably he was the “meekest”person on earth.

From the First Beatitude to the Third

How do the Beatitudes begin? First and foremost is the call to be “poor in spirit”. It is a call to realize just how pitiful our souls are apart from God and that we are but sinners worthy of death. That is why our text tells us that we are not to mourn so much for the trials and tribulations we face, but for our spirits that are poor. That is, because we realize now that apart from God we will constantly thirst no matter how hard we try to fill ourselves; there is only failure and hopelessness waiting. We who are Christians should now mourn when our spirits are even slightly distanced from Him. Then will God reveal who He is and grant us the light of healing and comfort. Simply put then we will be able to quickly reconcile with God and are assured of His presence in our lives. If this is so how can we not but be “meek”?

A Christian who is assured of living with the Presence of God and that His righteous light and upholds him will live like a lion. He will be flowing with confidence and no matter what hardship he faces will not cower from them. Though there may be trials and tribulations, instead of dismay, worry, and anxiety, he wears peace and freedom. Though a great storm overtakes every thing he has so that he is left with nothing, his spirit is in peace.

No longer will he be like a wild untamed horse running to and fro, his legs beating the air without a sense of purpose. Although his past traits and personality is still well alive, because he walks with God, he is able to restrain himself according to the will of God. Now even though pride, appearances, testing, temptation, desire of the flesh, and sins continue to seep into the heart he will not let those things overcome or control him. That is because he has taken Christ’s yoke and is constantly learning from Him that he becomes meek like the Savior every day.

Jesus did not promise to make up the loss the Christian suffers out in the world or to bring vengeance to those who have wronged him. Nor did He say that we are to become more docile in our personality and character and treat everyone with mere gentleness and that only then He will bless us. He is asking us whether as true Christians we are living before His presence daily and always acting accordingly.

Why does the Christian not become meek no matter how hard he prays? Why no joy even after we worship, no victory after our praise, and no transformation even though we study the Scriptures? Why do we cower under the world and its denizens that we so often fall into the devil’s trap? That is because the Christian does not know who he really is. Just because we’ve become Christian does not mean that our personalities suddenly change to being kindhearted or meek. Nor do we suddenly get an increased measure of boldness.  

A Christian is someone who participates in the joy and sorrow of God. They must hear the sigh of God, see His tears, wear His righteousness, and know His joy. We must rejoice over the things He loves while mourning for the things He mourns for. That is what is meant by walking with God always. It is not enough to merely know that God is omnipresent. But we must know that “my” God is now walking beside me with my hand in His so that I will never be shaken no matter what happens. We must think as He does, speak as He does, and act as He does. Did not God command Moses who made excuses that he was a man of slow speech “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say”(Exodus4:12)?

The Scriptures tell us that “Glancing this way and that and seeing no one” (2:12) Moses killed the Egyptian official. Up to that moment Moses was not a meek person. This does not mean that he was hot-tempered, but that he still feared man and the world’s reaction. Obviously he had no assurance of God’s Presence with him, but merely out of self-righteousness he could not contain his anger. God’s grace and love had not full control of him at this stage.

In contrast when he threw the two tablets and put to death 3000 Israelites it was not out of his own anger, but out of the holy indignation of God. He was consumed with God’s frustration, sorrow, and anger. There was no room for any worry, fear, or anxiety to shake him from carrying this out. This is the true picture of meekness.

God protects the believer as the apple of His eye; He does not skip even a heartbeat but has His eyes fixed on us. But this does not merely mean that He protects us from getting into a traffic accident, or having a heart attack. Just as Moses had a staff with him 24/7 that symbolized God’s Presence so we also each have the “staff of Moses”. Yet now because of Jesus we have become the temple where God’s Spirit dwells. Now God can speak directly to us, face to face. The problem is though often times we close our ears to His voice. The only reason being this: We do not want to participate at all in God’s anger, sadness, and mourning, but only in His joy and that without any price and sacrifice on our part.

There is no other reason why God saved us by putting to death His Only Son Jesus Christ on the cross. It is so that we can stand against sin, Satan, and the wicked forces of darkness to explode God’s indignation on His behalf. All the while we participate in His mourning that looks upon those souls with His pity who are captive to such forces. It is only then the Presence of God through the Holy Spirit will empower and comfort the Christian to truly become “meek”.

9/4/2011