James: Where Faith
and Life Meet
Wisdom and Understanding
4/28/12
Solomon was the king of Israel after his
father David died. He was a good king
for most of his life. He accomplished in
his life what no other king before him or after could ever imagine. He began as a fair and just ruler, he took
the vision of his father to build a Temple for God in Jerusalem and made it a
reality, he established trade with other nations, he had a peaceful (for the
most part) reign and he possessed a wisdom that surpassed his contemporaries worldwide. Solomon
wrote over 3,000 proverbs and 1,500 songs.
Most of the book of Proverbs was written by him as well as the book of
Ecclesiastes and The Song of Songs (Solomon).
His wisdom gained him worldwide fame.
The queen of Sheba came to visit with him to see if the sayings about
his wisdom were true.
Solomon has gone down in history as the
wisest King Israel has ever had. Why is
this so? Because he asked God for
wisdom. When he first took over the
Monarchy God told him to ask him for anything he wanted and Solomon responded
with asking for wisdom in ruling over the people in Israel. That is a noble thing for a King who is
granted any wish to ask for. He knew the
importance of having godly wisdom in ruling over God’s people.
Unfortunately Solomon didn’t always rule
in wisdom as he gained fame and power he did unwise things like taxing his
people unfairly, and acquired many wives and allowing them to continue
worshiping their pagan gods. Although
during Solomon’s reign Israel nation of peace but after his passing they
experienced the fallout of his sin which resulted in a division that would
forever divide country. God blessed
Solomon with 40 years of leadership over the nation of Israel. For the most part He ruled with the wisdom
God gave to him. However he was a flawed
man (like us all). We can only assume
that when Solomon died he came back to the Lord (it seems the book of
Ecclesiastes points us in that general direction) as he realized that all the
material wealth, power and influence he had is empty if the Lord is not present
in it all.
Wisdom
In today’s text we will be looking once
again at the topic of wisdom and more specifically what true wisdom does and
does not look like, and we will look primarily at wisdom that comes from God. If you recall back in James 1:5 the author
encourages his readers to ask God for wisdom if they lack it and He will give
it generously. You may also remember I
noted that wisdom was not defined as acquiring more knowledge, information or intellect. It is not collecting data, learning more
facts and getting numerous college degrees.
Wisdom is much more than filling our heads with information and facts. In the New Testament the Greek word for
wisdom is Sophia σοφία which means the ability to understand
and as a result act wisely. It is the knowledge and practice
of the fundamentals for godly and upright living.[1] It is not enough to just have knowledge,
practicing what you know must be present.
Simply put wisdom is a way of taking
knowledge, understanding it and applying it in order to make the right
decisions.
An example of wisdom is found in the
story about automaker Henry Ford as he asked
electrical genius Charlie Steinmetz to build the generators for his factory.
One day the generators ground to a halt, and the repairmen couldn't find the
problem. So Ford called Steinmetz, who tinkered with the machines for a
few hours and then threw the switch. The generators whirred to life--but Ford
got a bill for $10,000 from Steinmetz. Flabbergasted, the rather
tightfisted car maker inquired why the bill was so high.
Steinmetz's reply: For tinkering with the generators, $10.
For knowing where to tinker, $9,990. Ford paid the bill.[2]
Wisdom and Understanding
In
today’s passage James 3:13 – 18 James spends a good amount of time talking
about wisdom and understanding. Last
week we looked at the passage on the dangers of the tongue or words we speak
and concluded with a challenge to use our words wisely by allowing the Spirit
to be our guide in the words we speak. Here
he continues to speak to the whole community of believers and not just the
leaders. He uses his discussion to that
a person who actually allows the Spirit to control the words he/she speaks is
in fact a wise person. James shows us
exactly what true wisdom looks like and what false wisdom looks like.
Vs.13: James
asks those who claim to have special insight and understanding in spiritual
matters to come forward so they may be tested or put under a scope (so to speak)
to see the authenticity of their claim. We should note that James does not wish to
check their theological backing or intellect (however I do not believe James
implies these are unnecessary) instead he says that one’s wisdom is made
evident by the life he leads, the good works he does and the manner in which he
does both of these. Not theological
intellect.
The basis
on which one demonstrates wisdom is by the life one leads. He does not live contrary to the ways of God
but instead by the good deeds he does that bring glory to God. And the manner in which the life and deeds
should be first and foremost lived out in humility. True wisdom ultimately produces good deeds
and humility. As we have noted all along
these traits are not those that save us but are evidences of the true faith is
Jesus we have.
The
humility a person displays in godly wisdom is found in the understanding of our
place before God. It is birthed in us as
we understand and acknowledge that apart from God we are unable to achieve any
level of spirituality God requires of us.
If we truly understand in humility the part we play in our salvation,
the grace we have received and the mercy shown to us (they are all gifts from
God) then this should overflow in how we conduct our lives and treat others. In
godly wisdom there is no room for boasting and no room for pride because what
we have is given to us by God.
On the
contrary the pagans believed that intellect and understanding of divine things
(with no regard moral conduct in most cases) constituted wisdom and James puts
this idea to rest.
It
reminds me of this story… In January 1970, Max Born died. A close friend of
Albert Einstein and a colleague of Max Planck and Otto Hahn, the nuclear
physicists, he was one of the great minds of the twentieth century. In an
interview on German television before his death, Born commented: “I’d be
happier if we had scientists with less brains and more wisdom.”[3]
Vs. 14: These
leaders or believers who claimed to be wise yet display bitter jealousy and
selfish ambition and in having these characteristics are in fact fooling only
themselves. These two traits are the antithesis of humility that is weaved into
the wisdom God gives to us.
Vs.
15: The false wisdom these believers
claim and brag about is not from God. An
empty intellectual wisdom that reaps bitter jealousy and selfish ambition is
earthly (no regard for the will of God or His realm), unspiritual (or man
derived) and most emphatically demonic (pertaining to demons. It is derived and inspired by demons). Basically false wisdom is characterized by the world, the flesh and the devil.[4]
Vs 16: What
makes this false wisdom distinctly demonic and not from God is when
envy/jealousy and selfish ambition are present thus displaying disorder and
evil works. God is not a God of disorder
but of peace (1 Cor. 14:33). Thus anytime there is jealousy and selfish
ambition present then God is not present in the situation and the end result
will always be damage to individuals and the whole church.
Vs. 17:
James now describes what godly wisdom looks like. Like true faith is evidenced by the good deeds
we know true wisdom is evidenced by the fruit or the life a person leads.
True
wisdom is…
1)
Pure –
blameless, upright, innocent, faultless, and pure from carnality.
2)
Peaceable/peaceful
– Promotes peace and brings peace.
3)
Gentle – Mild
and fair
4)
Open to reason
– Not completely close minded, one who is compliant.
5)
Full of mercy
– Kindness and goodwill towards the afflicted and miserable.
6)
Full of good
fruits – These are the acts that are produced from true wisdom and faith.
7)
Impartial –
Shows no favoritism because of status, wealth and race.
8)
Sincere –
Genuine, transparent… You are who you say you are.
Vs 18: A person with genuine godly wisdom will sow
peace which will ultimately produce the righteousness of God. According to James 1:20 the anger of men
(which is earthly, of the flesh and demonic) does not produce the righteousness
of God. According to 3:18 peace
does. In Matthew 5:9 Jesus says, “Blessed
are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.”
Conclusion
Wisdom… I am sure we wish we had more wisdom in our
daily decision making. How often have we
found ourselves in situations where we could use some wise counsel or a little
godly wisdom in making the right decision?
How wonderful would it be if we could just look up into the sky and find
the answers written in the sky to life’s most difficult decisions? As parents, employees, employers, students,
disciples and ultimately believers in general we are to ask for wisdom in our
lives and we should have wisdom in our daily decisions. The wisdom we do have should first and
foremost be grounded in humility and also have at least the eight traits of
wisdom that James describes. Jesus warns
his disciples in Matthew 10:17 about the persecution they will face, he tells
them (and us) to be wise as serpents (seek and use godly wisdom) and be gentle
(an attribute to godly wisdom) as doves because we are being sent out to the
wolves of the world who will seek to devour God’s people.
We now have the solution to the problem
of dissension that may have arisen in these churches as a whole. Individuals who claimed to be wise and
influential were using their words to cause divisions and disorder in the
body. However James shows that a wise
person will be one who has submitted himself to God in humility and allows
himself to be spirit-filled and driven in all aspects of his life including and
especially in areas of the words he speaks and the wisdom he exudes.
[1] Strong, J.
(1996). The exhaustive concordance of the
Bible: Showing every word of the text of the common English version of the
canonical books, and every occurrence of each word in regular order.
(electronic ed.). Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship.
[2] Today
in the Word, MBI, April 1990, p. 27.
[3] Tan, P. L.
(1996). Encyclopedia of 7700
Illustrations: Signs of the Times. Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.
[4] Moo,
Douglas p. 173
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