James: Wisdom That Works

I saw this sign on a twitter post this past week that read:  Please Do Not confuse your Google search with my Medical Degree.  I thought it was pretty funny, because I could imagine all the new-found medical experts most doctors have to deal with daily.  Yesterday, I heard the Northwestern football coach sarcastically give out his email address, asking the 40,000 people who think they are “coaching experts” to write in all the plays they want to call. In fact, you don’t have to dive in too far into social media to here all kinds of experts chime in on any number of topics.  It seems we live in a time where anyone can become an expert on just about anything.  Our social media platforms reveal to us how people are now experts on giving medical advice, saving the planet, parenting, investing, or just living the good life. Everyone has an opinion.  In other words, we are living in days much like those of Old Testament where everyone thinks they are wise in their own eyes. But there’s a huge flaw with this way of thinking: For when EVERYONE has an opinion, when EVERYONE thinks they’re an expert on how to live your life; when EVERYONE is wise in their own eyes, something’s gotta’ give. For when everyone is wise in their own eyes, there’s going to be conflict, strife, anger, frustration and division.  There’s going to be friction in your marriage; there’s going to conflict in our community, and there can even be infighting within God’s Church.  For when you are wise in your own eyes, your so-called wisdom is just not going to work for everyone

How do I know this?  For one thing, it’s logical. The world is full of contradicting philosophies on how to do life.  If our world found a way where we could all live in harmony we would have discovered it by now and we’d be experiencing peace, there would be harmony in our culture and not division; and everyone would be treated fairly and kind.  But as it stands, our culture is full of conflict today. Secondly, our wisdom is limited.  No one really knows everything.  Even though our world is full of self-help, positive thinking guru’s, no one has ever solved the problems of human suffering, poverty, envy and murder.  Third, our wisdom is marred. The Bible teaches that all of us are sin-sick human beings, whose heart’s deceive us, so no matter how wise we think we are, no one has yet conquered our self-serving hearts.

So if this is true, is there really any hope for us? Is there a wisdom that works? Is there a way of thinking that can actually produce well-being in all my relationships?  Is there a wisdom that brings good and not strife? Is there a wisdom that can keep me from living a self-serving life, but at the same time give me the kind of life my heart desires?

Well that’s what we’re going to look at in God’s Word today.  For as we return to the letter of James, James reveals to us a wisdom that works. So, if you brought your Bible today, please open it to James 3:13-18; where James shows us the folly of worldly  wisdom in contrast to that of godly wisdom.  But first he shows us How to Be Wise in God’s Eyes  He gives us a picture of wisdom that works. And he begins with a rhetorical question: Who is wise and understanding among you?  Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.  James 3:13

James answers this question by showing us what true wisdom looks like:First, a wisdom that works is a wisdom that is observable.  You can see a wisdom that works by the fruit of a person’s life.  In other words, if you have a wisdom that works, you will produce good deeds.  That’s basically been the message of James throughout this book.  God saved you and gave you His Word, so as we obey it, His goodness can flow through us. You can see His goodness when we do good deeds for others: whenever you are patient with difficult circumstances, that’s observable goodness.  Whenever you give mercy to those who fail you, that’s observable goodness. Whenever you include others who are not like you, that’s observable goodness.  Whenever you love someone expecting nothing in return, that’s observable goodness.   True wisdom is the ability to put the knowledge of God’s will to work in your life in a way that it impacts others for good.  And it’s observable.  You can tell if someone has a wisdom that works if their faith is actively benefiting another believer.  That’s the first reality of someone who is wise in God’s eyes.

Second, a wisdom that works is a wisdom that reveals humility.  The way I like to describe this humility is this:  the one who produces good deeds isn’t thinking of what they can get for themselves by doing their deed.  They are not thinking of themselves, but thinking of others.  That’s humility.  But this humility doesn’t come from themselves, and it doesn’t come from the world.  Which leads to the third reality of a wisdom that works.

A wisdom that works is a wisdom that comes from God.   Part of the humility that comes from wisdom, is understanding that your wisdom doesn’t cut it.  When you have wisdom that works you want what God wants, not what you want.  And if you want what God wants, you go to God to learn from Him what He wants.  And God gives wisdom to all who ask Him, so the humble person goes to God to get His wisdom. And if that describes you, then you are not wise in your own eyes, but you are wise in God’s eyes.

So let me ask you:  Where do you get your wisdom?  What do you rely on to help you make your decisions in life?  Do you rely on your own intelligence?  Do you rely on the latest self-help guru?  Do you go to your friends? Do you rely on your gut, your experience, your intuition?  What’s your source of wisdom?  Are you wise in your own eyes or are you wise in God’s eyes?

Well now that we have a brief glimpse of a wisdom that works, James wants to show us the folly of human wisdom.  And like he’s done before in this letter, het sets out to destroy worldly wisdom so we will stop relying on the kinds of sources that make us wise in our own eyes.  And his goal in doing this is so we will Reject Worldly Wisdom. Look at the text with me: But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.  James 3:14-16

First, we should reject worldly wisdom because of its motivating factors.  Worldly wisdom is motivated by bitter envy and self-serving ambition. Someone controlled by bitter envy is always seeking what is best for self, regardless of what might be good for another person.  An envious person actually wishes others to have less than what one has, whether that be with possessions or opportunities.  And where this destructive motivations comes to the surface is when a person manifests a fierce desire to promote his opinion to the exclusions of others.  His way is the only way.  He doesn’t listen to others, and exerts a dominating or forceful spirit to make his point.

The other motivating factor is self-serving ambition.  This is an interesting term that comes from the political realm and refers to “partisan politics.”  This motivating factor will do whatever is necessary to win.  This attitude manifests itself as a competitive spirit, a combative spirit that will actually undermine the competition by seeking to destroy them or their point of view.  Pretty much what we see being played out in our politics today.  There is no civility, no reasoning, only walking over whoever is in our way to get our way.  But this doesn’t just happen in politics, it happens in marriages, in communities like our own, and can happen in a Church when someone wants to get their way.

Basically, the person controlled by worldly wisdom wants what he wants, and will step over you to get it.  There is no humility in such a person.  His or her motivation is entirely self-serving.  That should be sufficient enough reason to reject worldly wisdom.  But James takes it a step further and describes the basic nature of worldly wisdom.

He tells us what worldly wisdom is.  By saying, Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. James 3:15

It’s earthly.  What’s that mean?  It’s limited. It limits its scope to things on earth. In that way, it excludes consideration of God.  It doesn’t see things in light of eternity but in light of immediate impact – what’s best for self-advancement or self-pleasure now.  This is dangerous, because earthly wisdom measures everything by how it affects you.  It’s focus is on how you can advance yourself, promote yourself, or assert yourself. So it is severely limited.

It’s unspiritual.  Or natural.  It’s natural in the sense it is wisdom from fallen human nature.  That means there is nothing of God’s Spirit in it.  What we have in its place is  human reasoning.  Such thinking doesn’t have the ability to even conceive of God thoughts let alone understand them or apply them.  That is why God says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  Isaiah 55:9 When we are wise in our own eyes, it’s all about us and nothing about God. It’s unspiritual.

It’s demonic.  James suggest that worldly wisdom is demon inspired.  This is where the motivations of bitter envy and self-serving ambition find their source.  As James says, For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.  So James declares that envy opens the door to all manner of wickedness.  He says that at the core of worldly wisdom is the selfish ambition that leads one to hurt others, destroy community, and divide the Church. When you are always looking out for what is best for you at the expense of others, nothing good comes from this. For this kind of wisdom only produces anger, strife, conflict, divisions and divorce.

And yet, we’ve all be influenced by worldly wisdom.  We’ve been taught to look out for number one all our lives.  We constantly bombarded with the message that life is all about you:  Have it your way. You are the creator of your own destiny. Success is doing what you want, when you want, where you want, with whom you want, as much as you want. Define success on your own terms.  But this is all self-serving wisdom.  And James says this way of thinking comes straight out of hell.  It doesn’t consider God. It is earthly, unspiritual and demonic. It’s limited, flawed and creates strife, division and chaos, and we should have nothing to do with it.  We must reject it.

But then in its place, James would have us Receive Godly Wisdom: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. James 2:17-18

Godly Wisdom is Pure.  And what that means is this:  Godly wisdom is free of moral or spiritual defects.  It’s unstained by the world.  It is incapable of producing anything evil.  For the purity of godly wisdom reflects God’s character.  It is of God.

Godly Wisdom is Peace-loving.  Therefore it is gentle or considerate of others – which means it is open to reason – it considers the other person’s well being over one’s own, even to the point of forgoing your right to be right.  So it is also submissive.  It doesn’t force it’s own way. It’s peace-loving.  Do you see how contrary this is to self-serving worldly wisdom?

Godly Wisdom is Full of Mercy and Good Fruit.  Think of how God sees you.  He always has your best interests at heart.  We constantly sin.  We constantly fail to measure up.  But God doesn’t force us to measure up, but constantly gives us mercy.  He never gives up on us; refuses to get frustrated with us; but is constantly seeking what is best for us.  Can you imagine having a wisdom full of mercy and good fruit?  If you have a wisdom full of mercy and good fruit you will be considerate, you will not judge them, you will be forgiving and understanding, and good fruit will come of it.

Godly Wisdom is Impartial and sincere.  In other words, God’s wisdom keeps him from judging us.  He is impartial to us.  He loves us all the same with a genuine love… Now, can you imagine what this kind of wisdom can do for you in your relationships with your spouse, your children, with one another? I mean look at what this kind of wisdom produces:  Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

In other words: The goal of Godly wisdom is a culture of peace!  This is what peace-makers produce.  This is what people who are full of pure wisdom, peace-loving wisdom, merciful, gracious, impartial and sincere wisdom produces.  They produce a culture of peace – a culture of shalom – what James calls a harvest of righteousness.

This is God’s vision for every relationship.  Righteousness is not simply about moral living, it’s about right living.  And when God’s people apply God’s wisdom in their every day lives, they will treat one another right – the way God intends us to treat one another: with purity, peace, consideration, submission, and mercy.  And when we treat one another in these ways, the result will be a culture of peace:  Shalom. Shalom is the harvest of righteousness.  You see, peace is not simply the absence of conflict, strife and division. When the shalom of God is lived out among God’s people there will be prosperity, physical and emotional health, contentment, security and salvation. That’s the goal of godly wisdom!  That’s the harvest of righteousness.  And it is produced by peace makers, who are full of godly wisdom.  They will create shalom – the kind of culture God wants to produce in your family in our church and eventually in our world.

Are you beginning to see why God would have you reject worldly wisdom and receive Godly wisdom? Remember true wisdom is the ability to put the knowledge of God’s will to work in your life in a way that it impacts others for good.  And we cant’ do this on our own.  This wisdom doesn’t come natural to us.  It comes from God.  So the big question for us today is this:  How can I receive God’s wisdom?  I’m glad you asked.  Because James has already told us.  He began this letter by writing: If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5

So the application is obvious: we need to go before God and ask for wisdom. And we need to humbly seek it.  That was the attitude of Solomon in 1 Kings 3, who confessed that he was but a child and in need of God’s help.  And like a child he was desperate for it.  That’s why he wrote these words in Proverbs 2, instructing in how we should ask:

If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.  For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  He holds success in store for the upright, He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for He guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.    Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Proverbs 2:3-10

This is why we are doing Bible Study 101, so we can equip you to search for it as for hidden treasure.  This is why we want to connect you to a Journey Group, so we can help one another put God’s wisdom into practice in our everyday lives.  And this why we reimagining our neighborhood groups this fall – so we might create a culture of Shalom together.  But we must create it with the wisdom God gives.  So lets reject worldly wisdom, and receive God’s wisdom so that we might have a wisdom that works and brings about peace!