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Lesson Nine: The Fruit of Gentleness SUMMARY: In this lesson we will be looking at the concept of gentleness, and what it looks like in the Spirit-filled life. We will find that it is not the negative trait of shyness or weakness, but a trait that reflects sensitivity and concern for others. We will also discover that it is critically important for Christian leaders. of the road. So, he headed over to the trees, telling 1. How does our current culture view the words “gentle” his companions that he was going to “preach to our or “gentleness?” If someone is called gentle, is it a sisters, the birds.” As soon as he began to preach all the compliment or a negative assessment? What about birds alighted on the ground and remained motionless while he walked among them. They did not move or the older term “meek” or “meekness”? fly away until after he finished with a blessing offered 2. How can God be both gentle and an omnipotent, for them. These are just some of many stories that are righteous judge at the same time? told concerning the gentle nature of St. Francis, and the way that he touched both humans and animals. 3. In what kinds of situations would you most want someone to call you “gentle”? LEAD-IN QUESTIONS:
4. How can gentleness enhance the ministry of the church, both within the structure of the congregation and in our witness to the outside culture?
The Gentle Saint D I SCU SS How can teaching children to be kind to animals become a training ground for learning gentleness in their relationships with other people?
When I think of the word “gentle,” I immediately think of the great St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). His nurturing heart and concern for others is part of his legacy to the world. His gentleness and genuine love for others is memorialized by the many hospitals named after him. He is noted for having founded the Order of the Franciscans and the Order of the St. Clares (the so-called Poor Clares, named for his dearest friend). Though starting out as the son of a middle-class merchant, Francis abandoned the secular world to spend his life as a mendicant (a beggar) who served the needs of others. The men who joined his order were not ordained as priests but rather were called friars (meaning “brothers”) who chose to leave the ordinary affairs of the world to serve God and their fellow brothers and sisters. St. Francis was gentle with others but hard on himself, seeking to kill off all sense of pride and self-love through strict religious practices. Later in life he was said to have received the stigmata, considered a mark of great spirituality in the Middle Ages, in which a person literally bleeds from the locations of the wounds of Christ.
Gentle Bear, Gentleman
In 1967, a television series began that lasted two years before going off the air. Entitled Gentle Ben, it was set in a Florida game preserve. The story was about the friendship and adventures of a young boy named Mark, and a 750 lb. black bear named Ben that Mark had helped rescue from poachers as a cub. The show brought out the contrast between a huge black bear and the word, “gentle.” If you have ever looked at the teeth and claws of a large bear, the word gentle, would not likely come to mind. Even looking at the pictures of the young actor, Clint Howard, laying on top of this massive bear (whose real name, by the way, was Bruno) feels uncomfortable. Yet the creature had been so trained that it consistently kept its power under control and demonstrated gentleness throughout the series. It is this contrast between strength and gentleness that we will be talking about throughout our current lesson. In our day, words like “gentleness” and “meekness” are often not used as a compliment. Unfortunately, the word has become associated with people who are overly sensitive, introspective, and easily hurt by others. We say we must be careful with a “gentle soul” so that we don’t accidentally damage them in some way. To describe someone as gentle is kind of to admit that the person is lacking in strength and fortitude. We think of a gentle person as a nurturer rather than a leader, and someone who cares more about treating people kindly than pushing or challenging them.
Francis was also famous for his gentleness toward animals. On one occasion24, he and his two companions entered the village of Cannara, and before beginning It is interesting to note that if we add one word as a to preach, St. Francis ordered the large number of modifier to it, it takes on a whole new meaning. How swallows gathered there to stop making noise. They often have parents told their son, as he was heading obeyed him and remained totally silent while he spoke. to the prom or out on a date, that he should be a The power of his message was so great that virtually “gentleman” that evening. The term seems to have an the whole village was ready to abandon the city and unwritten code attached to it: the young man is expected follow St. Francis. As he traveled down the road towards to show good manners (such as opening the door for another town, he noticed that an enormous number of his date), make sure that she is treated with respect, birds were perched in the grove of trees on the side and then have her back home at the agreed upon 24 See The Little Flowers of Saint Francis, (Trans. Heywood, 1906), https://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/lff/index.htm
