Meek & Mild?

Jesus said the meek would inherit the earth. 

I'm no scholar of Greek or Aramaic, so I can't tell you exactly what Jesus meant when he said that. But I think about the "meek" people I have known and loved. The quiet ones who do good without expecting anything in return and never make a show of it.  The ones you can always count on when the going gets tough.

I know that—below their seemingly serene exteriors—the meek are not pushovers. Being meek doesn't mean you never fight back. It simply means you know how to pick your battles.

You know this. You've seen it in every movie where the skinny little guy is constantly pummeled by the big bully. He only fights back when someone smaller or weaker than he is becomes a target. On that day, he fights smarter—uses the bully's extra weight as leverage to knock him off his feet. Jumps on his back, twists the bully's arm behind him, and puts enough pressure on it to finally make the bully scream "UNCLE!!!"

And we all cheer. Because who doesn't love that story?! 

Of course, after he's humiliated the bully in front of the entire school, our hero goes back to being his usual kind, meek self. Because he's meek at heart. He knows that violence is almost never the answer. But sometimes it is the answer, and meekness does not preclude doing what must be done.

Think Clark Kent. Or Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Or Jesus, who took a literal whip to the bullies who were defiling God's house with their greed.

And if the bully is willing to stop being a total douchecanoe, our meek hero will share his candy bar at recess and invite him over to play touch football with the other neighborhood kids. Because that's what the meek do.

I suspect Jesus knew that, in the end, it would be the meek—those who had turned the other cheek, swallowed their pride, "kept the peace," silently borne the pain and suffering inflicted on them by the mighty—who would fight like hell for love.

I believe Jesus knew that, at some point, the meek will find their courage. They will rise up, and the roar of their collective voices will shake the foundations of the earth. They will give up on politeness and social graces to force a stiff-necked people to face just how much evil and cruelty there is in the world.

They will tell the truth and shame the Devil.

And, in doing so, their righteous anger will usher in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

Watch out for the meek. Watch for those who are fighting for their lives/rights, or the lives/rights of those they love. They are coming to your family gathering, your church, your organization—and they will make you uncomfortable. How you respond to that discomfort will determine everything that comes after.

Can you can lay down your admonitions to "be nice"?  Can you listen without flinching to the hard truths they have to tell? Can you reckon with your own complicity in the evils of this world—accepting responsibility without making excuses? 

And—most important—will you mend your life to help end those evils?

If not, the meek are about to tell you—with the last bit of courtesy they can muster—to get the hell out of the way. They have a world to inherit.

If so, welcome to the Meek Resistance. It's not easy here. You will have to give up being "nice" to be good. You will have to risk alienating the bullies of the world—and you are likely to get pummeled in the process. It will hurt. It will cost you. It might even kill you.

But one thing you can know for certain: It will be worth it. Jesus said so.