Blessed Are the Pushovers?

As anxiety intensifies leading up to Nov. 3, align your spirit with the Lord of peace through the Beatitudes.

Today’s beatitude: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)

Other words for meek: humble, lowly, powerless, disenfranchised. Being humble has good connotations. Lowly – not too bad. But powerless and disenfranchised – no one strives for those attributes!

Here’s how Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes the meek: “When reproached, they hold their peace; when treated with violence, they endure it patiently; when men drive them from their presence, they yield their ground. They will not go to law to defend their rights, or make a scene when they suffer injustice, nor do they insist on their legal rights. They are determined to leave their rights to God.” (The Cost of Discipleship)

Does this beatitude mean, “Blessed are the pushovers?” Are we supposed to be wimps?

It helps to understand the beatitude in this way: Jesus is not telling His followers to become meek any more than He’s telling them to become mourners. He’s speaking to people who are already meek! He’s speaking to people who don’t need directions on how to become powerless because they already are. He’s not saying, “Figure out how to become disenfranchised. Then I can bless you.” No. He’s meeting people where they are and promising them a reason for hope.

When the angel came to Mary, the young virgin was already at the low end of the totem pole. She exclaimed of God, “He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.” (Luke 1:52) God’s great reversal!

We pay so much attention to the mighty, the powerful, the news makers. How about paying more attention to the lowly, the poor, the nobodies? They’re going to inherit the earth! In the new heaven and new earth, the last will be first and the first will be last!

What if we gave less notice to the “important people” and more to the people who are used to being ignored? According to Jesus, lowliness is a temporary state for His children who will be receiving a heavenly promotion!

For further reading: Click here for a popular post from last year about the lowly around us.

Thanks for reading! Please consider sharing this article on social media. By subscribing to the blog, new posts will arrive directly in your inbox. For a full listing of previous posts, click here.