Gentleness
“He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.”
Isaiah 40:11
These are hard times for the gentle. Some of you may have heard the term “Post-Christian.” The idea is that there was a time, even in the most secular circles, when at least some of the values that Christianity has contributed to civilization were generally viewed as good and desirable, and that we are now no longer living in such times. It is important to recognize that the world was even more brutal in the times before Christianity and, as some modern philosophers have highlighted, things like meekness and gentleness during those times in human history were viewed as a weakness or a threat, and definitely not a virtue.
It seems clear that there are many in our culture who want Christian gentleness to be shown toward themselves, while they themselves exhibit godless, brutal self-interest when dealing with others. This is how the unbelieving heart operates. When we think we are on our own, forging our own path in this world by the force of sheer will, we are ignoring the God from whom all blessings flow. When we deny Christ, rejecting God's way of salvation, we turn our back on any reason for gentleness. We turn away from the shepherd who would gather the lambs in His arms. The survival-of-the-fittest mentality of Rome or Nineveh or Babylon are alive and well today. Humankind’s sinful heart has not changed. Left to its own devices, the world still prefers the biggest, baddest wolf to the lamb and the gentle Shepherd.
The church is not immune to this either. I frequently encounter a kind of “smack-down theology” in which people find great delight in proving the other side wrong. They camp on subjects like God's wrath, reveling in God’s “toughness,” when it ought to terrify them and every one of us. When it comes to God’s wrath, our attitude should be “there but for the grace of God go we.” That is why gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit in the believer. If you belong to Christ, you know your condition. You know that you were separate from God, destined for hell, and had no ability to save yourself. A few verses before the one I opened with, Isaiah says “The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass” (40:7) It’s humbling to realize how helpless we truly are on our own. But God, in His goodness and love, provided a Savior, Jesus Christ, so that those who believe in Him will be saved and enjoy eternal life with Him. We gained this life by no work or merit of our own.
Everyone we meet outside of Christ is traveling toward hell, just like we were. Everyone we ever meet needs Jesus Christ, just like we do. They need to hear the Gospel from us. We are in this world to bring them the message that can save them. They don’t need us to smack them over the head. Friends, the appropriate approach to the wounded, doomed, cornered humans of this world is gentleness. It is a reflection of Christ's own goodness and a reaction appropriate to what He's done for us.
Christian gentleness is born from the understanding of our position in Christ and the position of the unbeliever in light of the Gospel. And it is the correct manner in which Christians should interact with one another. Paul exhorts Titus in his ministry:
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:1-7).
May the gentleness of our Savior who led us out of peril always be in the forefront of our minds; ; and may this understanding determine the manner in which we direct others to Him.
