The Myth of “Meekness = Weakness”

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“Receive with meekness the engrafted word.” (James 1:21)

The ancient Greek word for meekness has nothing to do with becoming a human doormat, but refers to the taming of something wild (like the wild horses captured, tamed, and trained by the Greek army to be war horses). This word also refers to the pruning (hence, “taming”) of a plant (tree, hedge, vine) previously allowed to grow in unrestrained wildness, without proper care or management.

The great English poet, Robert Southey, put it this way:

“Behold this vine, I found it a wild tree
Whose wanton strength had [swollen] into
Irregular twigs …
Wasting the sap and strength
That should have given forth fruit.
But when I pruned the tree,
Then it grew temperate in its vain expense
Of useless leaves, and knotted, as thou seest,
Into these full, clear, clusters, to repay
The hand whose foresight wounded it.

This pruning process is what the original Greek of James 1:21 is all about.

Pruning means subtracting something. Grafting means adding something. James balances pruning with grafting in the second half of the scripture, encouraging me to embrace not only loss of something old (pruning) but gain of something new (grafting).

Since “meekness” means pruning all thought of weakness, lack, or limitation from my life, God grant me grace to tame any undisciplined tendrils of thought that all the branches of my imagination be barren of sense, fruitful of Spirit, for thought always “passes from God to man,” not vice versa. (Science and Health, pages 103-104, 284).

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