Christians in the Western world live in a time of great division between social and political ideologies. These divisions are so deep that there is little chance that either side will find common ground in which to work through their differences. Success, therefore, is often measured by who can dominate the other side by sheer force of will. Respect is garnered by one’s supporters through displays of mental, emotional, and if necessary, physical strength. Western culture is no longer a battleground of ideas, but of who can force the other side to their will through that strength.

While there is a time and place for the exercise of strength over one’s opposition, Christians must also remember the teachings of Christ that seem counterintuitive to the current landscape. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught what are known as the Beatitudes, among which he preached, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). The Greek word for “meek,” praeis, according to the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, means “pertaining to being gentle and mild.” In other words, according to Jesus, those who inherit the earth are not those who rely upon their physical and mental strength, but those who demonstrate a humble and gentle submission to God.

This kind of teaching does not sit well with most people in the West, especially Americans whose own history is one of rugged individualism. When presented against the current landscape of ideological warfare, where one side seeks to destroy and deconstruct anything that even hints of a Christian foundation, meekness feels like surrender to the enemy. How can Christians square standing against evil and establishing godliness in culture if they are called to act like weaklings before the opposition? The answer is that Christians are not called to be weak in the face of evil, but by strength through meekness that relies on God alone to win the battle.

For the perfect example of godly meekness, we need only look to Jesus. The perfect God-man, who took on human flesh that he might be our representative between God and man, was the pinnacle of meekness. It was Jesus who said,

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:29–30)

The word “gentle” is the same word translated as “meek” in Matthew 5:5. The Creator of the universe who took man from the dust and made him a living being, the one through whom all life and power exist, the one who will one day judge the living and the dead, is gentle and meek. And we are to learn from Jesus’ example and take our rest by trusting in him alone.

What examples should we then look to? For one thing, when Christ walked this earth, one thing he repeatedly demonstrated was his full commitment to submit to the will of his Father. For example, Christ was fully submitted to the Father in all that he spoke:

For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” (John 12:49–50)

Furthermore, Jesus did only those things that the Father commanded him. He made this clear to his disciples when he said,

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. (John 14:30–31)

Therefore, whether he was confronting the Pharisees over their man-made traditions and hypocrisies, or when he was silent before them during his trial despite their false allegations, Jesus said only that which the Father gave him. When Jesus was working miracles, raising the dead, showing compassion to the lost, teaching in the synagogues, or going to the cross willingly without calling “twelve legions of angels,” (Matthew 12:53), all that he did was according to the divine decree of the Father.

Where most people speak and respond out of the abundance of their hearts (Luke 6:45), Jesus was entirely dependent on the Father and His word. When confronted by the religious leaders of his day, Jesus did not defend himself but appealed to the Scriptures. In Matthew 22, he stymies his opposition by telling them to render to Caesar what is his, but to give to God what is rightfully his (v. 21), he confounds the Sadducees’ denial of the resurrection by revealing their ignorance of God’s word (vv. 29–32), and hangs the entirety of the Law and the Prophets on the greatest commandments to love God and love others (vv. 35–40).

Therefore, Christians must emulate the meekness of Christ in word and deed. They must resist the temptation to give in to emotionally laden rhetoric that appeals to the passions. When confronted with hostility and insult, they must remember that Jesus has called them to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39). Instead of being pulled into a tit-for-tat verbal war, Christians should direct their opposition to the Scriptures. This appeal to God’s word is not so that the Christian may be proven superior or vindicated, but that the world may know that they will be held accountable before the almighty Sovereign of the universe, and that their only hope is salvation in Christ alone.

Christians should also live out their faith in a manner that is consistent with their professed faith. Jesus told his people,

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:44–45)

Christians were once enemies of Christ themselves and it is only because of God’s grace that they have been redeemed. Therefore, they are called to treat their enemies with the same grace and care that God poured out on them. They are to “do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return,” because God himself “is kind to the ungrateful and the evil” (Luke 6:35). Therefore, even when Christians must stand in opposition to the ideologies of their enemies, it should be because they desire their repentance and salvation in Jesus.

Likewise, Christians should employ their strength and gifts in ways that not only seek to transform the culture so that it might desire to love and obey God, but also in ways that bring comfort and care to the suffering in ways permitted by Scripture. Certainly, Christians cannot support the promulgation of sinful depravity because the culture claims it will make them feel loved and affirmed. But when unregenerate sinners are genuinely in need and suffering, Christians can and should assist in ways that meet their immediate needs while pointing to Christ as the only source of true deliverance.

Meekness is not simply being weak before a culture, providing no opposition whatsoever. Rather, it is humbly submitting to God in every thought, word, and deed, not using one’s strength as an opportunity to sin, but to glorify God through the proclamation of the gospel to a dead and dying world. Even in opposing evil before God, meekness is using the strength God provides according to his divine decree and purpose.

Jesus was the epitome of such godly strength constrained by meekness. He did nothing of his own accord, but in all ways submitted to the Father. Though he had the power of the universe in his hands, he did not seek to dominate and subjugate his enemies. Instead, he humbly served the Father through the teaching of the word, obedience to the law, and his ultimate sacrifice on the cross that his enemies might be redeemed through his lovingkindness and grace.

Christians should seek to be constrained in like manner that they might win the world to Christ. Meekness is not weakness, it is trusting in the complete power and might of an almighty God who will use them for his own glory.