Jesus told us the meek would inherit the earth. The cynical among us don’t see that happening. Seems like the meek will have a difficult time garnering enough votes to rule or even filibuster. And even if they could filibuster, being meek, they probably won’t.
Meek leadership does not appear to be the fruit of democracy. This seems to hold true for capitalism as well. Seldom do meek and CEO go together. Unless it’s a story about the CEO of a multinational corporation crushing the economic dreams of a meek family store owner.
Stockholders are not prone to champion meek business plans, or meek business moves, or meek leadership principles. Capitalism is an arrogant system with little tolerance for the meek among us. Capitalism 101 teaches us that the aggressive mouse gets all the cheese. And then he overprices the cheese and sells it to all the losers who didn’t realize the maze was a race.
As the meek fare poorly in our economic and political systems, they are equally inept in the world of entertainment. So far the meek have not inherited Hollywood. They don’t even have a star on the Walk of Fame. Forget the star, they don’t even have fame. Which is understandable considering one must hand over their meekness to achieve fame.
It’s in most movie and television contracts. “To ensure the necessary profit margins, Tom Cruise must hand over the last vestiges of what still remains of his meekness. Although he may feign meekness at awards shows, he must not display actual meekness. If Mr. Cruise becomes meek at any time during the pre and post production of this film, his contract will be nullified. Also, please make sure Mr. Cruise acts crazy on Oprah.”
A meek celebrity is an oxymoron, like a vegetarian carnivore or an intellectually stimulating episode of The View. It’s just not a reality we are going to see in our lifetime.
Even so, Jesus told us the meek will inherit the earth. If this is so, then how will it happen?
Maybe the church will get it done? Maybe not. It appears the meek run into the same problem when it comes to our religious circles. From church council infighting, to disgruntled congregants, to controlling “visionary” pastors, to just about every conflict coming down to an unwillingness to embrace meekness. Sure, the meek try their best to bring peace to the room, but the arrogant, the power hungry, the self-righteous, and the pharisaical know-it-alls often control the agenda.
Unfortunately, in the public discourse, Christians are often defined as the least meek people in the room. We’re the angry parents in front of the school board, the hecklers at the rally, the “I know my rights, and I want you fired” religious zealots. We’re the knee-jerk reaction, “let’s start a campaign against” whatever person or position that stands in our way. If a Christian is in the news, meek is not in the headlines. Of course, we could just blame the media for such a horrible misrepresentation of our meekness. I’m sure that’s what meek people would do.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Which makes me think, what earth is Jesus talking about, what land is the reward for the meek among us?
I sometimes wonder if the ground we are fighting for is even worth having. The Apostle Paul wrote that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. Or in the Greek it reads more like, “there is a new creation.” Christ ushered in a new kingdom, a new earth, and a new foundation for everything to be built upon.
Even so, we are still fighting for so much dust and rust. Maybe the meek will never inherit the earth I see. Maybe they will inherit a better kingdom, a better land, a better destination. I sincerely hope the meek will inherit a new earth. Because right now, the proud are currently destroying the old one
“Live from Seattle with Doug Bursch” can be heard 4-6 p.m. weekdays on KGNW 820 AM. Doug Bursch also pastors Evergreen Foursquare Church. Evergreen meets at 10 a.m. Sundays at 2407 M St. SE next to Pioneer Elementary School. He can be reached at www.fairlyspiritual.org or doug@fairlyspiritual.org.
