James 3. 13-18 - True Wisdom...

The Christians James wrote to had the pressure of living between two worlds, the Jewish and Greek ones, and not fitting fully in to either, because of a faith which was itself in the process of finding the right words to describe itself - so not everything was all neatly tied up (the way some of us like things to be!) There was pressure inside and outside the Church.    As he tries to nail down what Christians need in order to survive and thrive, James asks, "Who is wise and understanding among you?"  "Wisdom" is moral insight and skill, rather than the academic knowledge we Western Christians like to possess. "Understanding" in Greek literally means "over-standing", looking down over the subject, possessing a comprehensive knowledge, seeing the whole picture.  


But, says James, real wisdom and understanding are about conduct, and they are also about character. .  J A Motyer says James give us not verbs but adverbs.  In other words, he is not so much concerned with what we do but how we do it.  The Message translates "Live well, live wisely, live humbly."     The conduct James is looking for is basically the "Meekness of wisdom".  Meekness is a difficult word... J A Motyer suggests it means a "properly low regard for ourselves". Various translations suggest "Quietness; humility, modesty."  It is a readiness to learn, to be corrected."  See James 1. 21. "With meekness receive the word..."   But meekness doesn't mean that we are timid.  It is not what Leslie Mitton calls "a colourless neutrality."  Numbers 12. 3 tells is "Moses was very meek"  What do you say when your brother and sister are criticising you, totting up your weaknesses (including your foreign wife!) and kind of saying "Hey Moses, do you think you are the only person God speaks through?"  Well, at that point Moses was very humble, quiet, and modest.  But that quiet confidence goes hand in hand with heroic courage and determined purpose, and as the story of Moses and his brother and sister shows, God is on the side of the meek. He spoke and affirmed Moses' place of leadership. Wisdom and understanding is able to be teachable and humble.  


Proverbs 30:21-23 says "Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up: a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food; an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress."  When I was a kid in East Kilbride, the government started to allow council tenants to buy their council house at a discount, and our neighbours across the road bought theirs.  It was great.  We had a grey front door because that was the colour the Council painted the doors.  They had a purple front door. It was a statement. "We used to be council tenants and now we are home-owners."  It used to rile my Mum.  Whenever people come from nothing, they can be a pain: like a slave who becomes a king.  What's the problem with people who come from nothing? The problem is that they still have the mindset of the slave, so are not secure in being king. But Moses was raised with royalty, as the adopted grandson of pharaoh, so he was secure in leadership.  


On the other hand, if we have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts (We'll look at what they are in a moment), we should not "boast and lie against the truth." That's what the Greek literally means ... In other words do not deny it.  

Nile in Uganda by Michael Shade.
 This work has been released into
the public domain.

Our Pete has a friend who went to Uganda, and went swimming in the Nile... where he caught a very nasty parasitic infection called bilharzia and was very unwell when he came home. Point of the story?  "Denial" is not a good river to swim in.  
* We are in denial, boasting and lying, if jealousy and selfish ambition are there but we don't recognise them. We are saying how much we love the people around us, when really we can't stand them.   We are claiming, "I don't have jealousy and ambition..."
* Alternatively we can be in denial, boast and lie against the truth, if we say that jealousy and selfish ambition are OK.  "It's just the way I am made.  You need to be tough to survive. I know I'm right.  Nobody messes with me.  He/she had it coming to them!"  We freely recognise that these things are present in our lives... but we have turned them into a virtue to boast about - and in so doing we lie against the truth.  
So what is in our hearts?  It does no harm to have that scan...  to be absolutely honest about what is going on inside us. 


There is a wisdom that is marked by bitter jealousy (Greek zelos - Zeal.  Not always a bad thing, we might say: when Jesus cleared the temple, John 2. 17 says the disciples recognised "Zeal for God's house".  However, in the NT the word is usually something ugly. Certainly when Zeal becomes bitter and is accompanied by selfish ambition, (the desire to be noticed and recognised, be part of the powerful party, looking for things to argue about) it becomes something ugly. Zeal for God can so easily become distorted into a personal dislike towards others who are different to us and a then become a sense of rivalry towards them.  


Now that may be the wisdom of the world.  James agrees: it is (literally) earthly; it's the world's way; but it is also unspiritual or sensual (the Greek is literally soulish, from the psyche) and demonic.  It the world's way but it is an act of indulgence in our lower nature just as much as getting drunk or having a one night stand just because you feel like it.  Ultimately, that kind of wisdom comes from the earth - the world and its way of being; from our inner drives, and from the enemy himself.   It doesn't come from God.  In Galatians 5. 20 it is part of the works of the flesh.

London Met Police riot gear,
by Hozinja; work has been
released into the public domain.

That wisdom from below, does produce results, though. The world likes to get things done.  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practise. (ESV)  Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats.  (The Message)  This kind of wisdom results in disorder, where things fall apart, and all kinds of mean dealings.  

That's worldly wisdom; and if it is in our hearts, we had better face up to it.


So who is wise and understanding?   What is Godly wisdom like?
* Godly wisdom is first pure - its motives are not mixed. 
* It is  peaceable. Just as worldly wisdom divides and causes fighting, godly wisdom unites and makes for peace. 
* It is gentle; it treats broken people with a generosity and a tolerance that enables them to grow.  That is a quality we need in a diverse fellowship where sometimes "hurt people hurt people"  
* It is open to reason, easily persuaded. Not easily led but prepared to look again at the facts and reconsider the conclusions.  Too many Bible-believing Christians reject what they cannot understand: "Don't confuse me with facts: my mind is made up!" 
* It is full of mercy (which means we are prepared to care for others even if their problems are their own fault!) and good fruits, 
* It is impartial not judgemental; not putting people into wee boxes. Once you have boxed someone up as a boring old traditionalist or a raving extremist, it's easy to dismiss them and their concerns. 
* It is sincere, unconcerned about making a good impression.  
There's something there for all of us.  


And that kind of wisdom, it produces results too.  
We want the harvest of righteousness. We want people to pull their socks up and be better people.  We want our kids to be polite.  We want people to treat us right, and to behave properly.  How do we get that? Not by sowing righteousness: not by always telling people how they should behave towards us. We get it by sowing peace.   




Where does all this come from? It's such a tall order. But James is talking about  "The wisdom that comes down from above."  It is God's gift, God's grace at work in our lives.


© Gilmour Lilly February 2012