The Real Power of Humility and Meekness

Caring asks us to center others.

When pride comes, then comes disgrace,

but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 11:2, NIV

I keep thinking I’ll see some tears in the offices of political power, or during a press scrum in the halls of congress. Is it too much to hope that a few compassionate tears would salt the shouting matches on opinion shows?

The world is filled with a throbbing ache. How much longer can we blink back the pain?

It seems like the only compassion most of our leaders can find today is not compassion at all, but a nakedly political rationale to put a certain constituency first, which then forms the rationale for wars, and battles, and various forms of ugly condemnation.

I know, I am being naïve on a couple of levels: Tears are not professional, and my examples would be critiqued for “not the time and place.” But will the right moment to meekly lament the state of the world ever appear? What are we supposed to do with our feelings about the brutality of war and the cruelty of some political decisions? Furthermore, are we sure professionalism excludes caring for others so much that a little human emotion, rooted in humility, might occasionally leak out? Should we talk about Israel and Gaza, Russia and Ukraine, and brutal dictators without a little catch in our throats?

I’m also wondering about who expresses the grief of millions of moms whose sons and daughters have paid the ultimate price in wars? Who mourns for the art destroyed? Who laments the landmarks obliterated? Who weeps for the hospitals demolished?

The way things are—puffed chests, hating hearts, loud cursing mouths—it is hard to know who really cares. Caring asks us to center others. Focusing our attention on others, especially the weak, requires humility.

Humility, not tears, is the real issue.

Proverbial wisdom teaches us about humility:

True humility and respect for the Lord lead a man to riches, honor, and long life.

Proverbs 22:4, TLB

The All-Provisional Creator God does not pit us against one another like politicians. With God, it is never a zero-sum game with winners and losers. Instead, God's provision is sufficient for all creation.

Awe That Produces Humility

Knowledge that God’s provision is for all creation leads to sharing, to looking for a win for everyone—which in turn leads to peace.

Humility and reverence for the Lord will make you both wise and honored.

Proverbs 15:33

Fear of the Lord entails showing a deep reverence. Take the awe inspired by staring up at a sky full of stars and multiply it by a billion, and you approximate the awe that comes from contemplating the glories of the Trinity.

Such awe produces humility, which in turn makes us wise, and wise living leads to the appropriate honoring of others.

But…

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 11:2, NIV

This Proverb tells us that, inevitably, pride will always produce some form of disgraceful fall. But crucially, there is also a promise: modesty, realism, and a levelheaded approach to life leads to wisdom.

Wisdom in the Old Testament is similar to the New Testament gifts of wisdom, knowledge, discerning of spirits, and prophesy. Wisdom is the ability to see the world as God does and to engage with it on his terms. Every other view and motive are secondary at best.

This wisdom imparts the ability to recognize what is right and true. It supplies the ability to act in harmony with the right, the true, the good. This is not primarily intellectual knowledge held by social theorists, economists, and legal scholars. It is fundamentally spiritual and moral.

The Real Power of Humility and Meekness

Jesus’ eternal kingship was marked by his humility and meekness. Today we mostly see pretend kings devoid of humility and meekness, operating out of arrogant claims to earthly power—which is a grain of sand in the beach of Jesus' power. Jesus always used power for others-oriented love, never selfishly, and never to harm.

As the body of Jesus, we are to live in harmony with and express his being, his kingdom vision, his values, and his practices. Dallas Willard once said to me: If you want fruit that in any way approximates that of Jesus, learn to do what he did and teach what he taught, in the manner in which he did them.

Sometimes that means weeping–as Jesus did over the brokenness and faithlessness of Jerusalem of his day. For Jesus, weeping was the beginning of self-sacrifice, of laying his life down for others, for displaying the overflow of his humble heart: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Can we follow Jesus’ example of humility and be moved with so much compassion that our tears roll down with others-oriented love that seeks blessing and justice for all?