More On Meekness
A reader pointed me in an interesting direction and I found some counter-cultural information.
Yesterday, I wrote about meekness and how I think it is critical to improving our political discourse. A reader pointed me to this clip of Jordan Peterson talking to Joe Rogan about meekness:
It’s a very interesting thought about meekness that builds on the idea that meekness is also strength under control (which I mentioned briefly yesterday).
I set out to find the source of Peterson's claim that our understanding of meekness has shifted greatly since the Bible was written. As Peterson says in the video, meekness used to be understood as “those who have swords, know how to use them, but keep them sheathed.”
Now here’s where it gets interesting and how the Bible flies in the face of our modern perception of meekness. In Matthew 5:5, as Jesus is teaching his Sermon on the Mount, he says, “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.” (KJV). Jesus is quoting Psalm 37:11, which says, “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
The Gospel of Matthew, written in Greek, uses the word πραΰς (praus) for meek. Scholars define the word praus as gentle, humble, not given to anger, and self-restrained (emphasis mine).
The book of Psalms was written in Hebrew, and the Hebrew word for meek used in Psalm 37:11 is עֲנָוִים (anawim), meaning the humble, the lowly, those who trust God rather than asserting oneself (emphasis mine).
The context of Psalm 37 is about how, even though the wicked prosper, we should maintain our trust in God. Thus, the Psalmist is urging us to be people who don’t seek to seize power through force or aggression, but rather to surrender our strength to God to be used by Him for the advancement of His will and His kingdom. This, of course, flies directly in the face of how people say political power should be obtained and exercised today.
Imagine how much better things would be if we;
developed strength, morally, mentally, and spiritually,
trusted God and exercised self-restraint,
surrendered our strength to God in order to,
build His kingdom, rather than our own fleeting political career.
Wow.
I’m grateful to the reader who pointed me in this direction.
Other posts in the L.A.M.P. series:
Purpose (coming soon).
Thanks for reading, and thank you for the feedback you’ve sent my way. Please, keep it coming.
