James 3:13-18 February 16, 2003
True & False Wisdom
James has been talking about what faith looks like – faith is shown by its good deeds, and its ability to control its tongue. From talking about the bad that come out of our mouths, he turns to the good that can come out of mouth – wisdom.
Wisdom is something that we should all desire. In Proverbs 3, there is a psalm to wisdom:
When I mention the word wisdom what do you think of? Do you envision the old wise man sitting on top of the mountain that the young person makes a pilgrimage to in order to understand the meaning of life? For James, this is not wisdom at all – James teaches us that true wisdom is always practical, never theoretical.
True Wisdom is Active (13)
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
Just as faith without works is meaningless, so to wisdom that does not show itself in good deeds and good character is worthless.
You might be the greatest armchair quarterback in the world, but Argos aren’t beating down your door – because while you might have a lot of opinions about how the game should be played, you can’t deliver the goods in the same way that the guys on the field can.
In the same way, you might be the greatest bar stool sage (or back pew sage), but if your many opinions about how “the world would be a better place if only…” are meaningless unless you can act on them.
True wisdom has feet, … and hands. True wisdom walks and works to show itself as wisdom. All the platitudes are the preacher are meaningless if they do not come to life in humility, strong character and good deeds.
God is telling us through James that true wisdom is not found on the mountaintop with our head in the clouds, but down in the valley with our hands in the muck of everyday life.
In Latin America there was a movement called Liberation Theology. It was mainly a Catholic movement, and it was mainly concerned with the political liberation of oppressed people. Like most movements it had strong points and weak points. One of it’s strong points was the idea that “Theology is done in the evening.” It was a reaction against theology (the study of God) done in isolation from the real in the ivied towers. They taught that the priests must be out and among the people in their struggle, and then after a day of work and interaction, you sit down and reflect on your experience with an eye to God and scripture. I think that James would agree – there is nothing wrong with thinking great thoughts, but those thoughts must be grounded in the practical wisdom of good deeds and a good character.
False Wisdom is Self-Serving (14-16)
But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
The Bible is rife with stories of people who prospered because of God’s Wisdom. Joseph goes through slavery and imprisonment to become the second in command of all Egypt, Daniel goes through … to become a advisor to the King, Ester attains the position of queen because of her beauty, but save her people through wisdom.
On the other hand we see the wisdom that God grants corrupted through envy and selfish ambition.
Saul, the first king of Israel is given wisdom by God, but that wisdom is corrupted when he steps outside of his role and tries to be both king and priest so that he would gain glory, that wisdom is corrupted when he hears the women in the streets singing that Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands. Saul’s envy and his selfish ambition in the end finishes him as king.
Solomon, known as one of the wisest people ever: his wisdom is corrupted by selfish ambition, as he tries to create a name for himself by collecting wives from all the pagan countries around him.
Hezekiah Served God with a whole heart, he tore down the idols that the people worshiped and had the people only worship God. God gave him great wisdom and military success, along with military miracles and healing. But one day when envoys came from Babylon, he had to show off and show them all of his treasures. Because of his selfish ambition, God removed his favor, and Isaiah prophesies, “"Hear the word of the LORD : 17 The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD . 18 And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, that will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon." (2 Kings 20)
Adding selfish ambition and envy to wisdom is like adding lemon juice to milk – it curdles it and ruins it.
God may give me the wisdom to reach many people for Christ, but If my motivation behind using that wisdom is to have a bigger and better church than my brother in law – the wisdom becomes twisted. If I use that wisdom to build my own empire rather than God’s kingdom, the wisdom is twisted.
God may give you wisdom to succeed in your job or business, but if you use that wisdom to push your way to the top, stepping on everyone on the way, you have perverted God’s wisdom and it has become earthly, unspiritual, of the devil!
God may give you wisdom to raise wonderful, well behaved successful kids, but if you want your kids to be that good so that they are better than your sister’s kids, or so that you end up looking like the perfect parent, you have taken that gift of wisdom and twisted it into a curse for your children.
Envy and selfish ambition destroys true wisdom.
Often times those people who are motivated to acquire wisdom because of envy and selfish ambition are also people who want to be in control, and have everything ordered to serve them, and everyone behaving to make them look good. James says that in the end, the opposite happens! In 16 he says: “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
True Wisdom Serves
17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is …
pure;
In the last little while we have separated the notion of purity and intellect or wisdom. We but up with the indiscretions of leaders as long as the country is running fine. This is not God’s way. God’s wisdom comes from a pure heart.
If we are controlled in our life by the wrong things that we do, soon we will try to use the wisdom that we have for the purpose of sin. This twists it. So God’s wisdom is pure. This is why Paul encourages us in this way “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, what ever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received, or heard from me, or seen in me – put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9)
James is not talking just about moral purity here – that is important, but he is also talking about purity of motives – that we would use the wisdom given to us to seek after God’s glory, his praise, and the furthering of his kingdom, not the furthering of our kingdom!
Appearing to have wisdom without purity is like having a glass of pure clean spring water with only a small piece of rotting flesh in it – it is mostly good, but the impurity makes it undrinkable.
then peace-loving,
There are times when we think that wisdom is the ability to strategize so that your way wins out. If you can come out on top and been seen as right, that is wisdom. God’s wisdom is not a wisdom of winning, it is a wisdom of reconciliation.
Imagine that you are the ruler of a country, and part of your country is in rebellion, they have no respect for your rule, your laws, or even you as a person. There has been battle after battle against the rebels, you have had victories, but they still choose to rebel. One night you gain prophetic understanding that the only way to win over the rebels was to send your own child to be an emissary for you to the rebels. Peace would not come immediately, in fact they will kill him, but somehow, out of his death, they will see their wrong ways, and they will gladly come under your rule. This is the choice you have to make – to sacrifice the life of your own son for the friendship of a bunch of rebels. What is the wise choice?
God chose peace – he chose to sacrifice his son for the friendship of the rebels. He chose the sacrifice of his own child to have peace with us when we didn’t even want peace. He chose to loose his son in order to save the relationship.
Wisdom brings peace – not war.
Romans 12:18 “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. All you have to do is read a short history of American foreign policy to understand that the opposite is also true: that war-makers who sow in war will reap a harvest of evil.
I read the story of a woman in the states who recently placed a bumper sticker on her car that read, “Peace is also patriotic.” She parked her car at a mall, and by time she came back to it, the sticker had been ripped from the car.
God’s wisdom is a wisdom of peace – a wisdom that brings reconciliation in conflicts – not a wisdom that wins at every cost.
considerate,
submissive,
What makes the wisdom that comes from above “peace loving” is that it is it is considerate and submissive. Other people translate these words as “gentle and open to reason.” Wisdom not only has hands and feet, but it also has ears! Wisdom that is true is able to listen to the people around it, for both advice and explanations. We might think that wise people should have all the answers, but the reality is that truly wise people are able to listen for the answers.
Biblical submission is not allowing your self to be walked all over by people what their way over you. Biblical submission is defined by putting others interest over yours – it is the opposite to selfish ambition, it is the opposite to self interest – it is “other interest”
full of mercy and good fruit,
Many times we might think that wisdom is about doling out justice. The wise person makes sure that everyone in their sphere of influence gets what they deserve. The wisdom that comes from above gives people more than they deserve.
A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death.
"But I don’t ask for justice," the mother explained. "I plead for mercy."
"But your son does not deserve mercy," Napoleon replied.
"Sir," the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for."
"Well, then," the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman’s son.
Jesus tells a story in the Gospel about a farmer who is hiring workers during harvest time. He goes out to the market and hires people first thing in the morning and promises to pay them what is right at the end of the day. At 11am he goes to the market and finds people who haven’t been hired yet, so he hires them, he goes back to the market twice more and hires people. At the end of the day, a hour before quitting time he finds some workers standing around the market – they haven’t been hired – he hires them for the last hour of the day.
At pay time he lines them up from the people who worked the shortest to the people who worked the longest, and he pays them one at a time. He pays the workers who only worked 1 hour a full days pay! The people who had been working since 6am thought they had hit the jackpot! “If he paid these guys for a full day, what’s he going to pay us?” But as they get closer to the front of the line, they find out that he is paying everybody for a full days work – and they are furious! “These guys worked an hour tops, and we worked all day in the hot sun and you pay us the same?”
The farmer replies – “I’m giving you what we agreed on, no less, what is it to you if I give these guys the same even if they don’t deserve it?”
What kind of wisdom is that? – it’s God’s wisdom, and I thank him that he does not give me what I deserve, but he showers me with mercy. If he gave me what I deserve I’d be dead.
God’s wisdom is a wisdom of mercy, and ours should be to.
impartial
Galatians 3:26-8
26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
In Christ, all the outward distinctions that we have become almost nothing. No matter what clothing we wear, we are first clothed with Christ. No matter what we look like on the outside, whether it be our ethnicity, our economics, or our gender, the enveloping of Christ covers that.
Isaiah 11:3-4
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
Sincere
The old joke is “What counts in life is sincerity, and once you can fake that you’ve got it made.”
James describes God as the Father of lights in whom there is no shifting shadow. God’s wisdom comes straight out of his character – there is no shift from what is in his heart and what comes out of his mouth. We must be the same way. If our wisdom is to be truly wisdom, it must be sincerely what it is, nothing hidden, nothing tricky, but pure and simple.
Conclusion
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
Let’s strive for wisdom – and active wisdom with its feet on the ground, not with its head in the clouds, a wisdom that is modeled on God’s wisdom – pure, peacemaking, gentle, able to listen, full of mercy and good gifts, impartial & sincere
