WHAT IS MEEKNESS, REALLY?

WHAT IS MEEKNESS, REALLY?   –  MEEKNESS IS NOT EQUAL TO WEAKNESS

_By Travis Marie Hamby, guest writer used & posted with permission

Are we too meek and thus too weak?

Growing up in the mountains of North Carolina we had ministers,
known as hellfire and brimstone preachers. They were quick to point
out the difference in heaven and hell, which is good. And too often
many explained that we should be meek to escape hell and go to heaven. “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth” they
quoted from Matthew 5:5. But they totally ignored Proverbs 27:5.
“Open rebuke is better than feigned love.”

http://www.ChristArt.com
Christ was meek but not weak.

According to them we were never to cause arguments nor were we to defend our personal point of view if it happened to disagree with
others. According to them, we were never to take exception to
slight remarks or what some would consider petty things. We were
supposed to be ‘meek’ in all things pertaining to things done or
said. In other words, according to them, we were supposed to be a
proverbial doormat regardless. I used to wonder sometimes if this
kind of message didn’t turn many off who would otherwise consider
becoming a Christian, knowing, as they should, that they really do
have both a right and a responsibility to speak up for themselves
and for what they believe in. Today I am older and have studied my
Bible and in some instances I agree that the Bible does tell us that
a kind and loving manner will turn away wrath and help avoid
disagreements, but in other instances I believe we have failed
miserably. Jesus never failed to defend the things of “His Father”,
“Our Father”. We are told in Numbers 12:3 that Moses was
also meek. Moses was a leader who never failed to defend
what was right. It took strength for Moses to appear before Pharaoh.  As an adult dealing with a degenerate society I would like to see
some balanced teaching on Proverbs 27:5: “Better is open rebuke
than hidden love”. It is possible that we have carried the meek
message too far by failing to save room for the things of “Our
Father”. We let prayer be taken out of school, speeches, etc. Now
we seem to let others take many things of “Our Father” out of the
public square because of a false sense of meekness. I believe this is the one thing that is drastically wrong with our Nation today, a problem from which all other problems stem. We are trying to ignore God, forgetting to stand up for the things of “Our Father and His Son”. I do not believe we are supposed to be meek concerning these things. I feel we should determine that this was founded as His Nation and should remain His nation.Ecclesiastes chapter 3 says: “A time for everything…a time to keep silence and a time to speak…” We should be meek concerning petty things pertaining to ourselves and try to show love and kindness, but as to the things of “Our Father and His Son” we should speak up to keep God in our nation and our lives.“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them….All things that are exposed are made manifest by the light,..” (Ephesians 5:11&13) Jesus asks, “What good is salt that loses it saltiness?” (Luke 14:34-35) If and when we do try to preserve, (salt preserves), our nation as “His” nation, a people living by His rules, only then do I think that we would see a great change for the better and a great difference all around. Now is the time to speak up, because being meek does not mean hiding our light
under a bushel. Jesus didn’t, Moses didn’t, and we shouldn’t.

Stand up, speak up, and when time is up, we’ll go up!

— Travis Marie Hamby   (images courtesy of www.ChristArt.com)