Opting Out of The Rat Race | Trinity Talks Podcast

Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode

of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla. I'm Melissa.

I'm Britton. I am Justin. And this week we are

continuing our series on the Sermon on the Mount,

specifically looking at the Beatitudes. And we're

continuing to talk about the Beatitudes. We've

done this for a couple of weeks already, started

by, let's see if I can remember them now. Blessed

are the poor in spirit, and blessed are those

who mourn. And now we're at number three, which

is blessed are the meek, for they will inherit

the earth. And meek, I don't know about you guys,

but that is not a part of my normal vocabulary.

You don't use it all the time? No, no. Unless

I'm talking about meek mills. Oh, right. Which

is the person I talk about every day. Yeah, it

comes up a lot. Of course, yes. OK, so because

this is a weird word that we don't use all the

time, we should probably start by figuring out

what it means. So when you hear the word meek,

what do you think of? So this Beatitude is actually

one of my favorite Beatitudes because I think

it's really cool where like when I think of Meek,

I do think of someone who is humble, someone

who isn't going to like fight to get to the top

and in that like take other people down. I think

it's but it's actual definition. I do not know.

OK, OK. What about you folks? What do you think

of when you hear Meek? like a children's hymn

that talks about like being like Jesus is meek

and mild. I can't remember the name, how the

tune of it goes, but think about this posture

of like just being very gentle, almost like,

almost like you could be trampled on and you'll

just let it happen. That's my raw definition.

Okay, okay. What about you Justin? Yeah, I think

it's got negative connotations. I watched this

documentary on Netflix about some fundamentalist

cult. Okay. And it was all about the women being,

like, meek and gentle and stuff. Yeah, just kind

of sweet and meek. Yeah, like a pushover. Okay.

Yes. But also, I think, like, what you were saying

was, like, the humility piece is part of it,

but I think, yeah, there's a lot of ways in which

the word has been abused and, like, meant to

be, like, you should be meek, therefore you should

never, like, stand up for yourself in any kind

of way. Yes. But I'm going to venture a guess

that that's probably not what Jesus meant. Yeah,

I think we're going to go in a different direction.

Yeah. OK. So what when Jesus uses the word meek,

like what what is he thinking of? Hmm. Well,

Britain was just telling me she's done a lot

of research on this. So I've done so much research

on this. Uh, yes, I'm definitely a scholar in

this. Um, well, the word is only used once, uh,

in the Greek and in the Bible. Um, but it's more,

it's not a posture of being like weak. In fact,

they say that the definition, the comparison

words would be like gentleness, but that's like

a not a good definition. So like the word meek

is probably not the best word. that could have

been used in that translation or in any other

translation. The other translation that used

the word gentleness. Yeah. And it's it's probably

unfortunately a poor English translation. But

more it's like this posture of the willingness

to to trust, to trust in God. And I think that's

what the willingness to trust in God, the willingness

to know that you're Like your reward or what's

coming like you you you trust in God because

you know what's coming and Yeah, I think that

and that I don't want to get us to the second

part of the verse But it does make sense to the

second part of the verse and in many ways So

if there let's say you're like you're waiting

for something and I think that's what Christians

are constantly in this state of waiting in many

ways You're not in a rush. You're not in patience

because you're so aware of what is to come. Right.

And the greater reward. Yeah, I'll stop there.

But that's that's kind of how in my deep research,

that's that's what I was getting. OK, OK, cool.

Yeah, I think I agree with that. I think there's

like an unhurried nature to meekness. I mean,

meekness is a word is a King James. Yes. Translation,

right? So I think it probably had positive resonances

when it was originally Sure used and they just

kind of kept it in the Bible. So it's kind of

lost its resonance, but gentleness Not botheredness.

Yeah, I guess I mean you guys probably talked

about in other weeks How this the whole sermon

on the mountain to be attitudes is about this

reversal, right? The lash will be first first

shall be last So I just try to think about why

would we expect that the meek would not? inherit

the earth, right? What's Jesus being surprising

about here? And I think it's because you think

meek people are not, they don't have that go

-getter hustle attitude that it takes to get

and win the earth. Right. Right. Gentle people

are going to get walked all over, right? They'll

get taken advantage of. And you can't do that

in the real world. You need to sort of take the

bull by the horns and advance. Right. And Jesus

is saying, no. you know, a disciple of mine,

because the Sermon on the Mount is directed to

his disciples, is not worried about all that

stuff. You can afford to be gentle. You can afford

to turn the other cheek. Why? Because the actual

way of getting the prize of winning the earth

is by following me and not by grabbing all you

can get as quickly as you can. Yeah, yeah. Which

I think then connects really well to what you

were saying before, Melissa, about humility and,

yeah, just not worrying about all the stuff.

Right, because I can totally understand how the

word meek, when you first look at it, you think

it's a very negative, like, oh, they're little

and sweet and they can't stand up for themselves.

I think, though, that being meek... whatever,

whichever way Jesus meant it as is not a weakness.

I think a lot of times people in the world, they're

like, I have to step over other people or, you

know, they have to get vengeance or whatever.

And it's like, honestly, like, I don't know if

anyone saw Superman. I saw Superman last week.

Not yet. When it's like saying like kindness

is punk rock, you know, you can be kind and good

person. You can, you know, be soft and gentle.

And that's not a weakness. Um, and one of the

reasons why this is my favorite verse is because

I feel like I grew up in my life kind of as like

a meek Individual and sometimes I felt like I

had to change but I think through reading this

verse it's kind of like well No, I don't have

to change because There is still strength in

being kind and trying to be as humble and as

kind as I can and ultimately if it makes me more

like jesus who was is the most humble and the

most kind ever, then that's not a negative thing.

And I think that this beatitude really helped

me to see it in that way. Yeah. I think that's

a really great point. It's Jesus is the one exemplifying

all the beatitudes. Right. And it's it seems

ridiculous because how did Jesus's career end?

He got murdered by the state. Right. Yeah. Like

he didn't get all the things allegedly. And yet.

that was the route it took to actually inherit

the earth when the kingdom was handed to him

by his father. So it's, yeah, it's a very Jesusy

message. And I think it's like interesting too,

because it is just like, you know, again, in

this day, they kind of say like the loudest,

the strongest, the whatever is the one who's

going to inherit the earth. And I think it's.

Maybe as Christians, it's something for us to

think about like, you know, when the Bible says

be slow to anger, be slow to speak, be quick

to listen. Maybe a form of meekness is maybe

not being one to speak, but being one to actively

listen and be there with people. I think sometimes

like as Christians, we do want our voice to be

heard. Think though that even if you're not someone

who is going to like kind of say that no It's

kind of like nice to know that like hey, even

if you are a maker individual Jesus is on your

side kind of thing That's cool. Yeah Yeah, there's

This definition of meekness that floats around

Christendom sometimes that is power under control.

And the sort of theory behind this, not being

a Greek scholar myself, is that the Greek word

that's used for meekness is also a word that

is used for like a trained animal, like a horse.

So you like tame a wild horse kind of thing.

And so it's power under control. um i'm wondering

like what are your thoughts on that it strikes

me as helpful in some sense but also like a little

bit sort of points us back towards the power

that we want um which is maybe then not quite

as as countercultural as jesus is trying to be

i yeah i don't know what other folks think about

that definition go ahead jesson um yeah uh As

long as the power that you're talking about is

outside of yourself, and it's God's power and

not yours. Okay. Right? It's not like the power

of the gentleness and confidence a bodybuilder

has walking into a mosh pit. Right. It's like,

I could crush all you people if I wanted to.

I just won't. Right. That's not power under control

of the Christian. It's saying, I don't have to

worry about winning because my Father in heaven

and the Lord Jesus Christ has won it all already.

For me and and I'm with them sure Yeah, yeah,

yeah, it's like in no like I think it as Christians

we we know the story We know how the story will

end and in knowing that I think there is a power

in that But it's who where's that power coming

from? It's not just based on knowledge. It's

based on that that trust it comes back to that

again in that trust in in God and knowing that

God is going to be the one to uh to keep you

and maybe that's that's why if we're following

the model of of christ even if you are put upon

a cross and you are killed by the state right

uh there is you know what the end will be um

and it makes all of it worth it and i think like

meekness is a choice um because i think like

humans we tend to want to like Be the opposite

of meekness in this world and ultimately like

Jesus He is God so he didn't have to be me He

didn't have to die on the cross for us, but he

chose to do that out of love For us and so I

think it's when if we were to step into kind

of like meekness that's a choice that we're making

and that choice is kind of like Surrendering

that power to God being like God. I could go

out there and Run around with my head cut off

like run around like a chicken with its head

cut off And be brash and whatever but ultimately

I'm going to choose to surrender to you and be

meek because You were and it's I think it's a

it's a form of witness to just sort of opt out

of the rat race It sure shows people like you

can be a disciple too. You don't have to. I think

of that game from the 80s that I had when I grew

up called Hungry Hungry Hippos. It's this insane

game where there's marbles in this center area.

And the only thing you have to do is just smash

this pad so the hippos eat the marbles. Yeah.

And it's just as crazy. It has no skill. You

just freak out and spam the thing. But a meek

person would just sort of like not do that. Yeah.

Like everyone else. And everyone else is kind

of looking at you like, why are you not doing

this? The hippo is getting the wall. Yeah. It's

like you're going to stand out by not. You're

not playing the game right. And you're like,

yeah, I'm not playing the game right. I'm a disciple

of Jesus, you know. Right. Because I know that

the real game we're playing is one in which you

have to choose between the Kingdom of Heaven

and the Kingdom of Earth, which is a theme in

this sermon. Yeah. Yeah. So what does it look

like, practically speaking, for someone to be

meek? Like, what does it look like to play the

game differently or to play a different game

entirely? I just like even before I get to like

the part of like, what does that look like? I

think the In being meek you're aware of something

like that. We don't Humans like to play like

we have power and maybe we have some some semblance

of it or we feel like we have like when we feel

we're in control but to I think it's a living

crisis to recognize that we are powerless and

All the things that we might have you might have

lots of wealth and all that but that could all

go away in a moment so this awareness of our

own lack of of like true power. I think that's

something that when you are meek, you you're

recognizing that you're recognizing that the

control I think I have don't really have it.

Right. And the things that matter here don't

necessarily matter as much as the thing that

that God has promised us. Yeah, I mean, that's

like a. A mindset? Yeah, yeah, it's a whole perspective

shift. But that informs how you live, obviously.

But yeah, that perspective shift comes first.

I think you're right. I would say there are a

few practical ways. One of the first ways, maybe

to demonstrate weakness is, again, being slow

to speak, being slow to anger, and being just

quick to listen, which is... Active listening

is a really difficult skill, but it's important

and it does make people draw towards you a little

bit more. The other thing too is also just, you

know, even just acknowledging times where like

maybe you're presented with an opportunity where

you can kind of get ahead, but getting ahead

comes at the risk cost of someone else. And there

is that mindset of like, which I've heard and

I have adopted myself of like, well, why should

I care about their progress? I'm doing this for

me, you know, I'm living my life, you know, kind

of thing. But actually being more considerate

of the of other people. And, you know, if there's

something that might benefit others, maybe even

sacrificing something that's yours to help other

people, which is hard. However, at the end of

the day, it's like. Jesus is on our side. And

if it makes him happy, then, you know, whatever

that may look like, maybe surrendering something

like I think it's something as Christians we

should go for. Mm hmm. And it's something like.

Jesus is on our side, like you said, and so like

the way of Jesus and like following Jesus in

order to like please God is important. But I

think it's actually ultimately also true that

like the way of Jesus just like. is the better

way. It's just like is the way that we are like

made to follow, right? And so like even if in

the moment that the choice to be humble, the

choice to to, you know, hold back or whatever,

like it doesn't always feel great right then,

but like it is the thing that like is ultimately

more meaningful. I think being meek also or gentle

or whatever, it's what frees you up to put other

people first. Like if you don't view yourself

in a zero -sum game, like one of us has to win.

If you're not worried about that, what's this

person's angle? I can't let them have any ground

in this relationship. If you're not worried about

that and you're confident in Christ, you can

feel free to... Be like, yeah, sure. You know,

I'm happy for you to go first and me to go last.

I mean, it's very like Jesusy. Right. Jesus.

One of the things that ticked people off about

him is that he kind of wouldn't take sides on

stuff. Right. Right. Like when they come up to

him and they're like, so should we pay taxes

to Caesar? Right. Right. And he's like, yeah,

I guess. Right? You know, people are wanting

him to sort of like put a stake in the ground

and he's like, look, you guys can fight about

this. Right. What I care about is serving others.

I'm going to die for you people. And anyone that

wants to follow me, come follow me. Right. Right.

But yeah, you don't have to worry. It's not it's

not a competition. I mean, and I also think this

applies to the church. Like I want the church

to be known as a as a gentle thing, a gentle

body. But one of the problems I see sometimes

is that the church forgets that it's not locked

in battle for ground on the earth. Right. Right?

So you freak out and you're like, unless we get

these laws passed, unless we're in charge, then

we're going to lose. I'm like, no, you can't

lose when you're a disciple of Christ. You can

put other people first. The church can put other

people first. The church can lose and the church

should lose in this world for the sake of the

world. Just the way Jesus did. It's the priority,

right? If your priority is to create like some

sort of Christian earthly kingdom here, then

yeah, of course, the church should want to be

strong now in in the earthly understanding of

what it means to be strong. Right. Which is aggressive,

boasty, you know, trampling on others like those

types of things are are what we should prioritize

now. But If we're really looking at like that

second part of the verse, then none of that should

matter. That is not our priority. Yeah. Yeah.

So then I think that leads naturally into the

second part of this verse, which is inheriting

the earth. So Jesus says, blessed are the meek

for they will inherit the earth. And I think

based on what you were just saying, Justin, like

what that then means is something along the lines

of like, it's already won. And so following the

way of Jesus means that We don't need to worry

about it. It's kind of a given But yeah, so what

like what does this whole inheriting the earth?

Like what does that actually look like? What

does that mean? Because I think you're the professor

Not today What does inheriting the earth mean

Well, I think in the sense that that's the goal

everybody wants I mean there's a song by a band

called tears or fears called everybody wants

to rule the world right and that's the Their

default at least for a lot of people sure right.

The goal is winning the game of getting this

earth But you don't have to do anything to get

that all you got to do is follow this guy to

the cross right you got a And if you do that,

then it's Christ's world. I mean, to get super

theological about it. You know, this world was

created through in and with Christ, as Colossians

says. It's his. And then it's not only his, he

goes and redeems it when it screws up and brings

it back to him. It's Christ's world. That's the

reality of what this this this this whole and

by world, I mean, everything creation. Yeah.

So if you're going to get it, you got to get

in cahoots with the guy who has it, which is

Jesus. And sin is really just pretending or being

deluded into thinking you can have something

that is rightfully Christ's and it's not. Right.

But you're going to get that not by fighting

for it, but by residing yourself to the discipleship

of Christ. Right. I also like I feel like this

rest can be seen kind of in a tangible way as

well, which is, I find that if you are someone

who is meek or you choose meekness, humility,

gentleness, that is something that people do

draw towards. It is something that is a way that

you can spread the gospel because, you know,

spreading it gently, you know, being meek can

also be serving people. So go into places where

people, they're going through really hard times

and saying like, I'm going to serve you, I want

to put you first. And then by doing that, you

do kind of people do come to you and people do

feel like, you know, this is a place where this

is someone that I can be around. I feel like

that's another way of thinking about inheriting

the earth, which is like, oh, yeah, you know,

it's not necessarily like, you know, I guess

you get people to kind of like see. Jesus and

be more open to the gospel. And if we are as

Christians, we are Jesus's church now and he

works through us. I think then that. Yeah, it's

the meek who are going to show people who who

Jesus is and kind of like encourage people to

seek out Jesus. Yeah, I think about like there's.

This this verse that says, you know the meek

shall inherit the earth um, and the first beatitude

blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is

the kingdom of god and this is it's a bit of

a false dichotomy, but I think of the kingdom

of god as Kind of this like spiritual realm,

but this the earth is like very fleshy it's very

like this things you can like touch and like

the the word that's used there is the same as

like the soil the dirt the the earth, right?

And so there is this sense in which, like, what

Jesus is saying to us is that, like, this has

practical implications for the places that we

love, the places that we walk on, this, like,

the actual stuff of the world and not just, like,

our nice ideas about it. Yeah. I think that,

like, sin separates, right? And sin has separated.

are dwelling with God on the earth as like I

think Adam and Eve had a very tangible experience

with with God on the earth like it was it was

all very connected but sin has made us feel like

there's there's a space with God and then there's

this real matter thing and that's these like

they're separate but they're not and the kingdom

like kingdom or inheriting the earth Like we

talked about it, I think the last time I was

here about like the kingdom being past, present

and future. And I feel like that this verse is

leaning into the present and future. Like the

meek now, to be meek now is to give people a

taste of what that reunification looks like.

And then inheriting the earth is when that's

it's done. It's the future. And it's. I think

that's what it does, especially when people are

having encounters with someone that is truly

embodying what this verse is talking about. It's

rejoining for that person. We're living in this

separate, very like, if God isn't present, then

it's harsh and it's cold and it's dark. But when

God is in the mix, then there's... There's a

new way of seeing things. There's light. There's

there's joy. There's peace. There's care that

happens in that. Yeah, so I feel like there's

like the like this verse is kind of leaning into

those two, those two other stages. And it's preparing

us like if you enter into that that kingdom mindset

now, you are just you're going to inherit that

reunification that God has promised us. I mean,

scripture calls that reconciliation. Exactly.

It's the reconciliation of the earth to God.

It's not just human beings. It's all things are

reconciled in Christ. I mean, there's that verse

that I can't remember, but I know it's in Handel's

Messiah, which is the kingdom of our the kingdom

of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord

and of his Christ. Right. So. eventually this

rebellious thing that we call the Earth is going

to be reconciled and brought back into the fold.

And to inherit the Earth, I think, means we get

to live here the way we were supposed to, right?

The reason for which the world was created was

that we could live in harmony with God as creatures.

And we get to experience that. But if you want

to sort of circumvent that and try to take this

for yourself, You don't get to experience that

right? Yeah. Yeah, and I think The the other

word like we've talked about Earth a bit but

the other word in this sort of sentence that

feels important to me is like the inherit part

because If if you are inheriting something in

a very worldly sense, it means that like you

own it but not quite yet That there's there's

a sense of a future coming of a thing, right?

Yeah, which I think feels really important in

this context of like inheriting the earth because

if it was just a theirs is the earth like the

kingdom of god then then we might be tempted

to think like oh it's mine so i can do whatever

i want with it now oh yeah right whereas jesus

says no you will inherit it and so later in the

future when all things have been reconciled when

the world is set right and like y 'all are seeing

god face to face and it's all good then you get

the earth. But right now, it's still God's. And

ultimately, it will still be God's. But right

now, it's still God's, so you're still living

under the rules of God. I think what's kind of

cool about that is when we think of an inheritance,

it's kind of like someone had it, and now they're

passing it down. I think when we look at the

whole verse, it's like, blessed are the meek,

for they won't inherit the earth. It's like,

well, Jesus is and was meek first. And you know,

this is as well. So it's kind of like for us

in a way, it's kind of like we kind of have to

step into that role of meekness as well. And

then we also, I guess, inherit that kind of have

a pass down onto us. Yeah. Yeah. Like meekness

is like a family trait. Yeah. Right. Yeah. If

you get to the the original start of it all,

like we were we were we were designed to be stewards.

to care for the earth. That's a part of our role.

I think in understanding what it means to be

meek, we have a very different, like we talked

about at the beginning, like what people think

it means and then what scripture is really trying

to get at with this term. If we have a pure understanding

of it and we see ourselves as stewards, and we

see ourselves not in the rat race for trying

to win, but folks that have already won, we're

coming into the realization that God had always

prepared this for us. We were always supposed

to be a part of this. It's not something I have

to try and win because sin has created this delusion

in my mind to think that I need to win this,

but it's always been mine. And in coming into

Christ, I am now again up in the realization

of what who I'm truly supposed to be and my role

within this greater thing that's called life

for the earth and and whatnot because we are

in in Christ we are co -heirs, right and So yeah,

like it's like it's like I am just realizing

I'm coming like I've fallen out of the delusion

and now I'm living in the true reality. Yes of

what it means to be human, of what it means to

be a child of God. Yeah, that changes. I think

that changes a lot. Totally. I'll still study

for my test, but you know, like it does change

the perspective on like it's a lie. It's all

a lie. And that's why I could put you first,

because I know that like what's for me is for

me. What's for you is for you. And we're all

a part of this bigger thing. I keep thinking

of that, the prodigal son parable that Jesus

says, where, you know, the prodigal son tries

to take everything for himself ahead of schedule,

but then even he gets it anyway, right, when

he comes back and repents. Then the older brother's

all annoyed that the younger brother's getting

accepted. And what does the father say? Like,

what are you worried about? Everything I have

is yours. You don't have to freak out. It's not

like your younger brother's gain is your loss.

This is yours. You're going to inherit it. Yeah.

So don't freak out, you know? That's right. So

if we were rewriting the Beatitudes. Oh boy,

I don't want to do that. No, no, maybe not. Just

don't freak out. It's all yours. Just chill.

Chill. That's the verse. The verse is chill.

I also like like what Britt said as well because

it's like, yeah, like honestly, like if you look

at the whole world right now. We are being stewards

of the world. If anything, we're destroying this

planet and all the animals and all the land and

everything. And I also think, oh my gosh, I had

a thought, now it's gone. Okay, wait, no. Okay,

someone else go. Okay, we shouldn't do that.

We shouldn't destroy the world. That part. It's

like, oh, okay. It's basically like, I think

that... Okay, so if we want to serve people,

right? In my opinion, you can't serve people

if you don't have some sort of meekness, because

if you're serving people without the meekness,

it's in a way it's like, okay, so you're doing

it for your own gain, you're not actually doing

it for someone else. So I do think that if we

want to serve the world, we want to take care

of the world, then we have to be meek, you know,

because I would venture to get us to the people

who are. You know doing whatever they're doing

the world. They might think I'm doing it for

the world It's like no, you're not doing it out

of meekness. You're doing it out of pride You're

doing it because you want something in doing

that you're destroying the world so I guess if

Being meek is a way for us to be the original

stewards that we were supposed to be Can I Say

something in a different direction. Yes, totally.

I like what you're saying before about how like

you kind of grew up naturally meek, I guess,

or introverted or whatever. And one of the weird

things about church, or should be, is that people

like you are the people that we should be looking

to for leadership and guidance. This is one of

the ways that the church could be countercultural,

should it choose to be. Because normally when

we think of leaders and people we should emulate,

Like who's the alpha dog? Person who's got like

the clear vision and wants to do stuff and he's

saying look, you know the real disciples that

are gonna make a difference They're the quiet

intro. You just sort of have a leg up. It's kind

of like how jesus says To the the rich young

ruler like it's easier to get into heaven if

you're poor, right? Why because you the world

doesn't have leverage on you. Yeah when you're

poor, right? Uh, you don't have to be They can't

say, like, if you don't play by the rules of

the world, we're going to take your money away.

Right. And that's exactly what happened to the

guy. He's like, I can't follow you because I

want my stuff. Right. But it's the same. Gentle

people have a leg up. If you're not already worried

about winning, it's going to be easier to follow

Christ. And in the church, we need to listen

to people like that and not just the sort of

hurried Alpha people. Right. Yeah. Well, if you've

already won Christ, there's nothing better. So.

Yeah, there you go Yeah, so um This as it as

we've said is the third Beatitudes. So first

blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are those

who mourn? So how does meekness relate to those?

Previous two concepts I think so you started

to sort of draw a bit of a parallel there But

like you know those when we talked about the

poor in spirit We talked about you know, this

is a spiritual state, but it also is a very real

material state at points So yeah, those who are

are poor I don't want to say that they're like

More likely to be meek. They're not there's there's

differences there, but I think They're more likely

to be powerless. Yeah If you're not invested

in the world, yeah as much as others what can

the world do to you? Yeah I do think poor and

speak any of you talked about this probably but

poor in spirit the way I understand that is Means

being poor all the way down Okay, it's not you

can be rich in material things as long as your

pores we know it's like be poor all the way Right

all the way down to your spirit because I think

anyway, never mind. There's some textual issues

there, but Right, but that's why I think and

you pointed this out before that I think this

is kind of a parallel to the meek The meek will

inherit the earth is a parallel to the poor in

spirit, right? Right. It's sort of saying like

just be unattached. Yeah, don't be as attached

to this world as possible and yep We usually

think that the people who've got more have risen

higher Right are the people that we should be

paying attention to and emulating. It's like

no god has blessed them Yeah, right. But jesus

is saying no no to these other people who are

actually blessed. Yeah crying Poor introverts.

That's what we should emulate that sounds Sounds

like me Crying poor introverts who people make

fun of right? Okay, okay I mean like elementary

school. Yeah Yeah, that That seems wild to me.

Yeah, but also like the way of Jesus is sometimes

wild We follow a guy who was killed right? Yeah,

I mean he didn't win. He's not Napoleon He got

nailed to a cross while Napoleon lost to also

Britain Not me not me not me no no the country

Yeah, I mean he We follow a crucified lord, right?

So what we expect? Yeah Yeah, very cool Yeah,

so blessed are the meek. Yep, the the people

that Aren't trying to win the people who just

have tapped out of the game Blessed are they?

For god's got them. They will inherit the earth

Yeah, because the meek know they've won. Yeah,

they know we know But like, not in a cocky way.

Just in a like, it's fine. Which is like the,

I guess the Christian current mainstream thought.

The tradition I was raised in, the meekness was

very cocky. It's like, we're not gonna interact

with all these things, and we're just gonna watch

these folks burn. Because we are waiting to go...

somewhere else. We're waiting for this world

to be destroyed, to be made new. Like there's

a whole other place that we could go that is,

I'll just say that's a dangerous place to be

so disconnected from the suffering from the all

the things that are happening in this world.

Like meekness is removing the ego to put someone

else forward. um but it's for someone else it's

it's for a betterment it's not for like this

meh you suck anyway yeah no jesus opted out of

the world because he loved the world right like

all the way yeah the world this is how you love

the world you don't play by its rules and you

die for it yeah exactly and i think it's like

you know for us christians we're called to spread

the gospel it's like sometimes as Christians,

we can see just the world and what people are

doing inside of it. And it's kind of like there's

a better way. You know, those who aren't following

Christ, it's like there is a better way that

you don't have to suffer. You don't have to be

in this pain. And sometimes it can feel like

we're watching everything on fire. And it's like

just come to Jesus, come to Christ. Right. But

then it's like, oh, my gosh, I lost my thought

again. Oh, my God. It's like, OK, it's like.

It's okay. It's like if you want to be meek you

have to like engage with the world You can't

just like watch it. Yeah Beyond fire. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah something like that Yeah, no totally

totally like you get the water to turn to stop

to stop the fire Like you're you're not and you're

not thinking like if you let's we move into the

fire and water analogy Like you're not thinking

about well, I need to like keep all this water

for me like hoarding all this water sometimes

we hoard all this knowledge we hoard all of the

the things the greater truth that we know um

and just watch watch people burn like that's

i don't think that's the spirit that we should

be uh leaning into you it's one that's more it's

focused on sharing it's one that's focused on

Caring for others knowing that they are they

they too are they were in the delusion that we

were into And you know with that fire water analogy

It's like sometimes if as Christians, you know,

we have that water sometimes going to the fire

means that we're gonna get burned too and I think

sometimes that's really really hard to accept

but Jesus did die for us and he died a horrible

death So sometimes it is like yeah, we're gonna

have to get burned But at the end of the day,

God does have us. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. Thank

you so much, folks. I think this has been really

helpful to unpack the word meek, because like

I said, it's a weird word. We don't use a whole

lot. But then also like put this in the context

of what it means as a whole life follower of

Christ. And knowing the ultimate ending, which

is also a really helpful sort of note to end

on. So thank you so much. And thank you for tuning

into this week's episode of Trinity Talks. I

hope that this has also been helpful for you

to start to think about what it means to follow

Jesus in a world where sometimes we are tempted

towards things that are not the things that Christ

ultimately calls us to. But there is still goodness

in it. And we will see you again next week.