Ask a Pastor Column

Q: The Bible says, “Blessed are the meek.” When I look around at real life it doesn’t seem like the meek are being blessed, it seems like they’re getting passed over. How can this verse be true when experience seems to show the opposite?

A: The truths of God’s Word often contradict what we think we know about how the world works. This forces us to choose between trusting ourselves or trusting God. Christ’s teaching about meekness in Matthew 5:4 is a great example.

To begin, let me first explain what it means to be meek. In the Bible meekness means to be humble and understated; to exercise self-control even if it means getting less than you deserve. This flies in the face of our modern perspective, which preaches self-promotion and selfishness as the real way to get ahead and be blessed. We have turned pride and self-promotion into an art form; writing resumes and Facebook posts proclaiming all our gifts, achievements and abilities. Yet the Word of God remains; “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

Now, the Bible does not ignore reality. Many passages of Scripture acknowledge that you can enjoy temporary (even life-long) benefits through being selfish and pushy. All sin has temporary benefits, and many are deceived by those benefits into ignoring morality and doing whatever it takes to get ahead (Psalm 73:3-9). Yet the Word of God still says; “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

Ultimately, the only way to understand the blessing of meekness is in the context of judgment. Bad people do bad things and it seems to work out for them for a time. But one day God is going to judge all those who broke the rules in “un-meekness.” All the corner-cutters, all the cheaters, the liars, the thieves and the proud will be removed from the earth (Psalm 73:12, 18-20; Revelation 21:7-8). They will pay in blood for every blessing that they stole from the deserving. In that day the meek will inherit the earth, because the meek will be the only ones left.

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