Worldly Wisdom or Godly Wisdom
James 3:13 – 18
Raise your hand if you think that you have wisdom and understanding! I see several humble of people here today that are not raising hands. I also see that none of you fell for the trap that James lays out in his lesson today.
As you might have gathered Wisdom is the topic of the day. James is writing to people that have been raised as Jews, a culture that grew up with an extreme expectancy of knowing the scriptures thoroughly and abiding to strict application of the Jewish laws, rituals and sacrifices. Many Jews thought of themselves as experts in the Law and believed that they had great spiritual wisdom because of this detailed knowledge of the scriptures. They thought that they had God given wisdom.
As we saw during the ministry of Jesus, the religious elite in Israel, the Pharisees, were happy to debate the vastness of their understanding of the scriptures with Jesus, to explain and detail how and when he was wrong and when he and was in violation of the Law.
In fact, we heard in our Gospel lesson last week that the Pharisees challenged Jesus when the Disciples ate without washing their hands as was the custom. But Jesus rebuked the Pharisees called them hypocrites and told them to let go of “manmade” laws, Worldly Wisdom not God’s Wisdom. To start our lesson James decides to challenge the Jews by asking Who among you is wise and has understanding?
At first blush I suspect that when they read that question many of the former Jews said “sure, absolutely, I am wise about issues of faith”. “Great” says James with tongue in cheek “then your lives will be an example to the rest of the world of the humility that is born of true wisdom.”
But James challenges them again: if your heart is full of rivalry and bitter jealousy, then do not boast of your wisdom because you cannot deny the truth. You may acquire a certain superficial wisdom, but it does not come from God—it comes from this world, from your own lesser nature, even from the devil. For wherever you find jealousy and rivalry you also find disharmony and all other kinds of evil.
James is telling them that they have Worldly Wisdom if they are being envious, bitter and full of self-ambition because that type of wisdom is unspiritual and comes not from heaven but rather from Satan himself, the ruler of this world. Where Worldly Wisdom exists, there will be always be disorder and wickedness.
Despite our human desire for things of this world including worldly “wisdom” all is not lost. James tells the young Christians there are two kinds of wisdom. We do not have to be relegated to worldly “wisdom” James tells us that we can have Godly Wisdom in our lives instead.
So what is the wisdom of which James is writing? In scripture, wisdom is not academic, philosophical, or intellectual. You can have knowledge and not be wise. You can be an “educated fool”, the Pharisees showed that time and time again. Our world is filled with them. We live in the most skilled, knowledgeable, and advanced generation ever. We also live in the most profane, violent, and hedonistic generation ever. We have knowledge. We may have Worldly Wisdom. But we lack Godly Wisdom. But how do we acquire God’s Wisdom.
If we go back in James 1:5, we find these words, “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.” Specifically, the kind of wisdom that the Book of Proverbs exhorts us to seek is the wisdom with the skill to produce an attractive life in God’s sight.
Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” This knowledge of God comes through God’s self-revelation of himself in scripture. The wisdom of God is found in the word of God.
Proverbs 2:6, declares, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.” True wisdom is based on knowledge, but it is more than knowledge. It is the ability to live in a manner pleasing to God because you understand His truth and where you live in constant submission to His Spirit, applying that truth to all of life. James tells us that
“The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” Let’s see if we can make sense of that.
Firstly, Godly “wisdom” is Pure. The Greek word means to be unmixed or untainted by any impurity that would come from worldly acts of jealousy or selfish ambition. In other words, purity is the absence of any sinful attitude or motive. Our motive for seeking wisdom or for using wisdom must always be to glorify God and to build up the person to whom we are speaking.
Secondly, Godly “wisdom” is Peace-loving. As we saw in our study of Ephesians 4:3 last month, we are to be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Seek peace and pursue it with diligence if we are to have Godly “wisdom”!
Thirdly Godly “wisdom” is Considerate. The man with this quality “knows how to forgive even when righteous justice gives him a perfect right to condemn. He knows how to make allowances for actions against him, when not to stand upon his rights and how to temper justice with mercy
Godly “wisdom” is submissive. The word literally means “easily persuaded.” It does not mean being gullible or naive, but rather being willing to defer to the intent of others, so long as a core doctrine or moral principle is not at stake. In other words, as James told us two weeks ago, Godly wisdom is “quick to listen and slow to anger” and knows when to yield for the sake of peace.
Godly “wisdom” is full of mercy and good fruits. Being merciful means not only having compassion for the person who is suffering not because of anything that they have done, but also showing compassion to someone who is suffering because of his own fault. (Barclay, p. 96).
By adding “good fruits,” James is taking us back to last week when he said that our faith must show itself in practical good deeds. If we see someone in need and do nothing to help, “what good is that?” In other words, Godly Wisdom is not theoretical, but practical. It rolls up its sleeves and takes action.
Next Godly “wisdom” is without a trace of partiality. The word used by James can mean “impartial” in the sense of not taking sides based on personal beliefs. But it can also mean “undivided,” in the sense of unwavering loyalty to God and His purposes. Godly wisdom does not play politics with the truth, shading it according to personal advantage. Rather, it holds unswervingly to the truth in love.
Finally Godly “wisdom” is sincere or without hypocrisy. It is intentionally purposeful and sincere with integrity. What you see is not a mask or a cover for ulterior motives or deceit, waiting to retaliate. Author Douglas Moo says, “The person characterized by wisdom from heaven will be stable, trustworthy, transparent.”
So, there we have it, as James lays it out in front of us Worldly Wisdom and Godly Wisdom; one earthy, unspiritual and born of Satan which sows discord amongst the people of God and the church and the other one authored by God, which is pure, peaceable and full of mercy, reaps good fruits and builds up the church and its’ members. Two kinds of wisdom, Worldly Wisdom and Godly Wisdom, which will you chose? Which will you embrace? Which will you display to the world around you?
Hear the Good News my friends…….
Finally, James tells us today that “a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.” The point is simple: You reap what you sow. If a farmer sows corn, he reaps corn, not beans. Using God’s Wisdom if you sow peace, you will reap peace. If you sow selfishness and strife, you will reap conflict.
James is telling us that we are complicit for the conditions in which we live and worship because the harvest is not accidental or serendipitous. If you see a church or a home where there is peace, it is because the members have worked to cultivate peace. They have listened to one another, respected one another, judged their own selfishness and pride, and sought to live in accordance with godly wisdom, not worldly “wisdom”.
Friends, we need God’s wisdom! It is available from on high and is pure, leading to a holy and open life of gentleness and graciousness. Envy and bitter self-seeking actions come from Worldly Wisdom influenced by the devil. But God works in us, to instill His Wisdom in his children, to make us wise and understanding, and our actions must reflect that.
I asked you when we got started how many of you had wisdom and understanding and none of you raised your hands but let me amend that now by saying this, if you are willing to commit to:
- being pure in intentions,
- being peaceable and gentle,
- have a willingness to yield to others,
- if you are full of mercy and show good fruits
- and are without partiality and hypocrisy, seeking to sow peace
then you can now raise your hand because you have considered the two kinds of wisdom, Worldly Wisdom or Godly Wisdom, and you have chosen Godly Wisdom, you are wise and have understanding and you will reap a harvest of righteousness in your life. Amen.