First Baptist Church
October 7, 2001
James 3:13-18
Have you ever met people who were absolute geniuses? They seem
to know everything. If they were on Jeopardy or Who Wants to Be
A Millionaire, they walk away winners. But have you ever noticed
that many geniuses, while exhibiting amazing intelligence or what we
might call wisdom, don’t seem to know how to boil water or make a
piece of toast, although they could tell you all the properties of
boiling water and how a toaster works. I am so thankful I’m not a
genius!! Aren’t you??
Our passage this week is all about wisdom. But the wisdom James
is talking about is not the kind that we generally learn in school and
from reading lots of books. The wisdom James is talking about is
heavenly wisdom. In order to show what true or pure wisdom is,
James compares heavenly wisdom with earthly wisdom. Once
again, as we strive to become more authentic Christians, James
teaches us where the true source of wisdom is — from heaven, and
where not to look for wisdom.
It may seem that James is stretching his point by saying the wisdom
you display is a reflection of your faith or lack of faith in Jesus
Christ. But as James has been trying to point out throughout the
entire book, our actions will ultimately tell the world if we are or are
not a true believer in Jesus Christ.
James begins by asking a question — "who is wise and
understanding among you?" It seems like a rather basic and
simplistic question, yet according to James, the ramifications for
demonstrating wisdom are eternal. James then helps us to know
what a wise and understanding person looks like, saying, ‘if you
have wisdom which is from God, then you will show it by your good
life and by the deeds that you do in accordance with that wisdom.’
So, what does James mean? The proof of wisdom and
understanding is shown by our deeds. Remember, last week we
spoke about taming our tongues. When we learn to keep our words
in check that is evidence of Godly wisdom. Only an unwise person
doesn’t know how to tame their tongue. Now, James takes it one
step further, and speaks to the issue of living in a manner that is
pleasing and joyful to God. That is what James means by living the
"good life." The good life is a life that seeks to please God in all of
our activities. And James says that Godly wisdom is evidenced by
our humility or our meekness. We generally view meekness as a sign
of weakness, however, that isn’t correct. Meekness is an attitude of
mind and heart which demonstrates gentleness, through a persons
strength of character.
James goes on to spend the next three verses showing us the
opposite of Godly wisdom and what earthly wisdom looks like. He
tells us when we harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition, those are
signs of ‘false or earthly wisdom.’ How would we define bitter
envy? In the Greek, bitter envy comes from the word which means
zeal. So, we have this zeal, a desire and in a warped way, an
enthusiasm to be bitter and envious of others.
We all know people who are filled, not just with bitterness, but with
a deadly combination of bitterness and envy.
Armand M. Nicholi, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Harvard
Medical School, explains that Sigmund Freud died at the age of 83,
a bitter and disillusioned man. Freud was one of the most influential
thinkers of our time, but had little compassion for the common
person. In 1918, Freud wrote, "I have found little that is good about
human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are
trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical
doctrine or to none at all. Freud died friendless. Even his famous
pupils, Carl Jung & Alfred Adler, were expelled from his life,
because they chose to disagree with him. Freud died a bitter and
lonely man. (Unfinished Business, Charles Sell, Multnomah, 1989,
p. 121ff.)
Bitterness is a deadly poison that we must get rid of if we desire to
live a life that is pleasing to God, and seeks eternity. You see, we
can come up with so many excuses as to why we’re bitter, but in the
end none of them work. Our excuses may make others feel sorry
for you, but they won’t change you. If you want to let go of the
bitterness that fills your spirit, heart and mind; then you must finally
call on God to help you. Most people I know who suffer from
bitterness have no desire to let go of it. They think they have power
over people, but they don’t.
Comedian Buddy Hackett confessed "I’ve had arguments with
people, but I never carry a grudge. You know why? While you’re
carrying a grudge, they’re out dancing." (Sermon Illustrations.com)
Whenever we hold a grudge, there is bitterness that is directed
inward. The other person may be totally unaware of it, yet, we’re
stuck.
E. Stanley Jones says bitterness is similar to a rattlesnake. "If
cornered, sometimes it will become so angry it will bite itself. That is
exactly what the harboring of hate and resentment against others is
— a biting of oneself. We think we’re harming others in holding
these spites and hates, but the deeper harm is to ourselves."
(Reader’s Digest, December 1981)
We need to know the difference between envy and jealousy. Envy
is wanting something which belongs to another person. Jealousy is
the fear that something we have or own will be taken away by
another person.
Dwight L. Moody once told the fable of an eagle who was envious
of another that could fly better than he could. One day the bird saw
a hunter with a bow and arrow and said to him, "I wish you would
bring down that eagle up there." The man said he would if he had
some feathers for his arrow. So the envious eagle pulled out some
feathers. The arrow was shot, but it didn’t quite reach the rival bird
because he was flying too high. The first eagle pulled out another
feather, then another — until he had lost so many that he couldn’t
fly. The archer then turned around and killed the helpless bird.
Moody’s point was ‘if you are envious of others, the one you will
hurt the most by your actions will be yourself. Source Unknown.
James goes on to tell us that selfish ambition is also a sign of earthly
wisdom. Selfish ambition literally means someone who shows an
inordinate desire for power or prestige. It was also linked to running
for political office.
As we know selfish, bitter and envious people don’t show humility
and their good deeds are done only for their own gain — asking,
"what’s in it for me." We’ve all met people like that. I have met
people who are so bitter at life, who call themselves Christians, yet, I
would honestly ask if they really know who Jesus Christ is, because
I never see love and humility, all I see is judgment.
James tells us this type of wisdom is not from heaven, it’s earthly,
unspiritual and from the devil. It is earthly because it is the wisdom
the world preaches. It is the wisdom that we gain when we watch
one of the many talk shows, or read books that have good sounding
answers, yet are not answers that God would agree with.
Unspiritual is the next step down. Unspiritual wisdom comes from
those who just don’t care to do good or even give advice that can be
construed by some as good. And finally, James tells us that there is
wisdom that people take that is of the devil. When we are
concerned about our future and call the psychic hotline or consult
tarot cards or knowingly accept advice that is contrary to pleasing
God, that is wisdom from the devil.
James wants us to be sure to understand that this is not heavenly
wisdom and we should never say this is what God wants me to do.
Because God would not ask you to do anything that is contrary to
demonstrating His love and grace.
So, James concludes his section on worldly wisdom by explaining
that whenever you have envy and selfish ambition, you will also find
disorder and every evil practice. James is trying to get us to realize
that when we buy into this worldly wisdom nothing good is going to
come from it. For example, when we exhibit selfishness and envy in
church, we will find ourselves falling into periods of instability,
disorder and unruliness. Add to that practices which are evil, vile
and wicked — and you can begin to understand why worldly
wisdom can be very, very dangerous to the church.
Often times we recognize that bitter/selfish people seek to cause
trouble. They don’t admit it, but they want to bring people down to
their level and want to be the center of attention instead of God.
They seek to hurt others and do not respect authority.
I want to make one disclaimer — I don’t want you to think all
wisdom from the world is bad. There are many, many things that we
learn. However, we must seek wisdom from God so that we can
live lives that are honoring and pleasing to God. That is why James
tells us in 1:5, if any of you lacks wisdom, then ask, and God will
give it generously.
James tells us that wisdom that comes from heaven, is first of all,
pure. It means Godly wisdom is uncontaminated and free from
impurities. If God is going to give you His wisdom, then you will
know that this wisdom is perfect. Do the end results always end up
perfect? Unfortunately not. Because God has placed His wisdom
into human hands, and sometimes we take God’s grace and wisdom
and turn it into evil.
James gives a list of 7 things that come from God’s wisdom. It is a
list that we can readily compare to the Fruits of the Spirit in
Galatians 5 that Paul wrote. When we look at each item we notice
that these are all noble and really not that far out of our reach. They
are all doable. It ultimately becomes a matter of the heart.
I just want to say a couple of words about each one —
Peace-loving - doesn’t mean someone who is a pushover. Instead,
it’s someone who strives to be at peace, to be calm, a person who is
untroubled and undisturbed. This is a person who has let go of
anxiety and trusts God.
Considerate — means someone who doesn’t abuse a position of
power, but remains calm & seeks to be true to Godly ideals.
Submissive — can sound like a person who is passive and a
pushover, but it really means someone who is steady, thinking and
intuitive who recognizes the truth when heard and willingly receives
that instruction.
Full of Mercy and Good fruit — go hand in hand. They can be
related to earlier comments by James. Mercy and good fruit are
characteristic of someone performing acts of kindness and
compassion in the name of God. Doing good deeds because of our
love of God.
Impartial — is a person who is single-minded and doesn’t show
favoritism, which James spoke against in 2:1. An impartial person
has a singular purpose in trusting God. This is the opposite of
someone who is double-minded, as James said in chapter condemns
in chapter 1 & 4.
Sincere — is a person who is not a hypocrite. It is someone who is
genuine.
To follow this Godly wisdom is not always easy. There are so many
pressures that are thrust our way everyday, that it becomes easy to
give in to the wisdom of the world. We can take the path of least
resistance, the path which has the smallest chance of personal harm
and then we can make all the rationalizations we want to justify our
decisions.
Yet, the ultimate goal is peace within the community, not because we
are people who "want to keep the peace" at all costs and avoid
conflict and confrontation like the plague, but it is to experience a
Godly peace when we make the correct decisions, even the difficult
ones. This becomes so difficult when there are so many competing
voices, but we can always be assured that we are making the
correct decisions if we stop and pray for God’s wisdom, the wisdom
that is 100% pure, wisdom that has no imperfections, wisdom that
will always, if we desire lead us to the right path, the path of
righteousness, for His names sake.
Everyday we are confronted with decisions, not so much which pair
of shoes will we wear, but how am I going to honor God. My
friends, as we seek to become more authentic Christians may we
heed these powerful words of James and ask God for His wisdom
and may we know that we will be blessed for following Him.
