The Test of Humble Wisdom
James 3:13-18
(13)Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. (14)But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. (15)This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. (16)For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. (17)But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. (18)And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. (NASB)
Godly Response: A person must first understand that there is Godly wisdom and worldly wisdom, and the two are very different. Not surprisingly, Godly wisdom comes only from God. It is available for the asking, and it is taught extensively throughout the Bible. Wisdom is different than knowledge. True wisdom is the application of knowledge to transform our attitudes and behaviors thereby reshaping our lives towards righteousness. Therefore, true wisdom is not what you know, but it is how you live your life, and the attitudes and behaviors of your life demonstrate the type of wisdom that prevails in your life. We receive Godly wisdom from God when we become Christians. The Godly wisdom in a new Christian may not be very noticeable at first, but it increases as you study the Bible, pray and grow in your faith.
Godly wisdom is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, and without hypocrisy. Let's briefly look at each of these.
- Pure: Attitudes and behaviors from Godly wisdom will come from pure motive. They will have noble objectives that glorify God.
- Peaceable: "Peace" is also emphasized in the next verse. Those with Godly wisdom have a unique ability to be peacemakers.
- Gentle: James 3:13 also mentions "gentleness of Godly wisdom". The word "gentleness" was not an exact translation from the original Greek manuscripts, because there is no English word that really captures the meaning, but a multi-word definition would go something like this; an increased humility and mercy and the ability to endure all kinds of mistreatment or persecution and yet be kind, courteous, and forgiving.
- Reasonable: Of course, attitudes and behaviors from Godly wisdom will be reasonable and rational as inspired by a reasonable and rational God, however Godly reasonableness may not be so apparent to ungodly people.
- Full of Mercy and Good Fruits: Attitudes and behaviors from Godly wisdom will demonstrate mercy to others and will bear good fruit as it pertains to serving God and building His kingdom.
- Unwavering: Attitudes and behaviors from Godly wisdom will be unwavering and constant which leads to integrity.
- Without Hypocrisy: Attitudes and behaviors from Godly wisdom will be forthright and direct with no deceit or hidden agenda (what you see is what you get).
These attitudes and behaviors honor God and give glory to God. Christians take great delight in giving glory and honor to God, because only He is worthy.
Worldly Response: Worldly wisdom is what everyone is born into and, sadly, it is what most people seek and admire, but it does NOT come from God. The motive of worldly wisdom is bitter jealousy and self-ambition, and the Bible describes worldly wisdom as being earthly, natural, demonic. Let's briefly look at each of those.
- Earthly: Earthly can be seen as limited to earthly time and space. Earthliness does not believe in a heavenly perspective, nor does it believe in storing up treasures in heaven. Instead, it is trying to create its own heaven here on earth.
- Natural: Natural refers to fulfilling the desires of the flesh; if it feels good, do it. This perspective is completely focused on pride, selfishness, and hedonism.
- Demonic: Worldly wisdom is inspired and promoted by the devil and his demonic hoard of fallen angels. That may sound a little over-the-top to lots of us today (especially in America), but that is only because we are painfully ignorant of the spiritual warfare going on around us all day and every day.
These three components of worldly wisdom form the perfect storm for distracting us from the one, true, living God. Instead, we are overwhelmed in the pursuit of our own self-indulgent, earthly pleasures. But here's the real tragedy. Even for those who reach the very highest levels of human self-indulgence, it leaves them empty and wanting more. Worldly wisdom may bring apparent "worldly" success, but in the end, it is bankrupt. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
At the heart of worldly wisdom, worldly people are motivated by jealousy and self-ambition to serve, glorify and enrich themselves for the purpose of self-indulgence and opulence. Their gods are themselves and their stuff, and unfortunately, they are like the rich young ruler who was likely affluent and popular in his community, but he was doomed to hell for eternity, because he rejected Jesus in favor of his worldly possessions.