James 3:13-18 *
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
Who is wise and understanding among you? To get to the bottom of that question, I have devised a little quiz for you this morning. This quiz is made up of three questions taken from a sample I.Q. test.
The first question is: If you rearrange the letters
“R-A-P-I-S,” would you have the name of A) an
OCEAN, B) a COUNTRY, C) a STATE, or D) a CITY? The answer is: D. “R-A-P-I-S” can be
rearranged into P-A-R-I-S, the capital city of
Here is question number two: Which one of the following
animals is least like the other three?
Your choices are A) HORSE, B) KANGAROO, C) DEER or D) DONKEY. The correct answer: is B. Kangaroos move around on two legs while all
of the other animals walk on four.
Last question, I promise. Mary was both the 13th highest and the 13th lowest in a spelling contest. How many people were in the contest? The answer is: 25. Twelve contestants finished ahead of Mary, and twelve finished behind her. 12 + 12 + 1 (Mary) = 25.
So who is wise and understanding among you? Is it the person who was able to answer of all these questions correctly? Is it the person who gets straight “A”s in school? Is it the person who holds an advanced degree from a prestigious university? Is it the person who can outwit, outsmart and outlast everyone else? I suppose the answer depends on your definition of “wisdom.”
Actually I am not the first person to ask this question. The Bible writer James raises it in our text for today. He was writing to Christians who didn’t always act like Christians, to believers who were trying to hang on, to people who were in desperate need of direction from God’s Word.
We are thousands of miles and thousands of years removed from James, but we are in need of the same things. We need to be confronted with our sin. We need to be comforted with God’s promises. We need the guidance and direction that come only through God’s Word.
Therefore, it is good for us to revisit the words of James, to examine what he has to say to God’s people about this penetrating question…
WHO IS WISE AND UNDERSTANDING AMONG YOU?
I. The world offers many answers
II. The Lord has the
final answer
I think that most people associate wisdom with
knowledge. Knowledge is a measure of how
much a person knows, how many bits of information are stored in the brain. The square root of 121 is 11. The capital of
But James does not equate wisdom with what a person knows. According to his definition, wisdom shows itself in what a person does. “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom (13).” A good life is evidence of godly wisdom. A deed done in humility is the mark of true wisdom. This is precisely where the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of the Lord take different paths.
James warns: “But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth” (14). James didn’t want to create a bunch of Pharisees, people who were only concerned about their outward actions, people who were obsessed with how they were perceived by others. What is just as important as the action itself, what is perhaps even more important than the action itself, is the motivation behind the action. And those motives are not always pure.
The world says you need to study hard in high school to get into a good college. The world says you need to study hard in college to get a good job. The world says you need to go to graduate school to move up the ladder, to increase your earning power, to get ahead in life.
There is nothing wrong with encouraging your children to work hard in school. There is nothing wrong with wanting to get a good job. There is nothing wrong with making a six-figure salary. As long as you can answer one little question: Why? Why is that so important to you? Why do you spend so much of your precious time doing the things you do?
If bitter envy is the driving force in your life, then your accomplishments are nothing to brag about. If selfish ambition is what fuels your fire, then you aren’t really improving your lot in life. You are only denying the truth.
James says: “Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven, but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil” (15). Earthly wisdom focuses on earthly pursuits. That makes sense. Human wisdom is not concerned with spiritual things. That is understandable. But does James overstate his case, does he go a little too far when he says that the world’s wisdom comes from the devil?
Let’s take a look at one example. Moses records the origin of the world in Genesis 1 and 2. God created the world and everything in it in six days. But you would be hard-pressed to find this information in any science textbook. And unless you attend a Christian school, it is unlikely you will ever hear this explanation in the classroom.
Instead the world has used its God-given wisdom to create a universe without God. God says that he created everything with his Word. Science talks about a big bang and primordial ooze. God says that he created everything in six days. Science claims that this process took billions of years. God makes it clear that he created human beings to be the crown of his creation. Science maintains that we are nothing more than highly evolved animals.
Proponents of evolution may think of it as a purely scientific theory, but at its very heart and core this widely accepted, academically respected teaching is from the devil. If there is no God, there is no accountability to God. If there is no accountability to God, there is no fear of punishment from God. If there is no fear of punishment from God, then I can do whatever I want whenever I want. And the only one I have to answer to is me.
Talk about bitter envy. Talk about selfish ambition. This is more than wanting to keep up with the Joneses. This is more than wanting to climb the corporate ladder. The ultimate goal of worldly wisdom is to take the place of God, to sit on the throne of God, to stand up and declare: “I am my own god.” And that kind of attitude plays right into the hand of the devil.
What happens when we reach this point? What kind of fruit does the tree of worldly
wisdom produce? “For where you have bitter envy and selfish
ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice” (16).
Think of some of the amazing advances of this past century: the invention of the airplane, landing a man on the moon, breakthroughs in medicine and agriculture, the computer and the internet. These human achievements have led to some bold predictions: the eradication of disease, an end to world hunger, the end of war on earth.
But at the beginning of the 21st century is our world a better place? How hard does one have to look to find disorder and every evil practice? Now people use airplanes as weapons. The recent SARS outbreak reminds us that medicine does not have all the answers. Pornography is the number one industry on the internet. And even here, even in the richest nation in the history of world, there are still thousands of people who go to bed hungry every night.
The world’s wisdom leaves us with more questions than answers. Some don’t know what to believe anymore. Others are inclined to believe in nothing at all. People are confused, but their confusion is your opportunity. Their sense of hopelessness is your opening to share the hope that you have. Maybe you don’t have all the answers, but you do have access to the one who does.
Earlier in his letter, James wrote: “Every good and perfect gift is from above” (
Think of the
smartest person you know. How would you
describe that person? Would you use any
of the words from James’ list? The
reason I ask this is because intelligence is sometimes associated with
arrogance. “I am the most intelligent
person in this room, and I want everyone else to know it.” Or sometimes people can be guilty of using
their intelligence to dominate or manipulate others.
Heavenly wisdom is
not motivated by self-interest. It’s
pure. Heavenly wisdom isn’t
arrogant. It’s
peace loving, considerate, even submissive.
The wisdom that comes down from heaven isn’t manipulative. It is impartial and sincere.
The wisdom that
comes down from heaven sounds a lot like a certain individual who came down
from heaven. Jesus was pure, perfect, holy, without sin.
Jesus came to bring peace into a sinful world. Jesus put the needs of others before his
own. Jesus submitted to his Father’s
will. Jesus was so full of mercy that he
died for you. Jesus was so impartial
that he died for the sins of the world.
In the same way that
worldly wisdom produces bitter fruit, the Christ-like characteristics of godly
wisdom produce a harvest of their own.
James says: “Peacemakers
who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness” (18).
Peace is the
garden. The peacemaker is the
gardener. These conditions are ripe for
a harvest of righteousness, for a harvest of “deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom” (13). This
concept may seem like the opposite of what passes for worldly wisdom. God’s wisdom is different. God’s wisdom is radically different, and it
produces radical changes in the hearts and lives of people.
When God opens my
eyes to see what I already have, what I want isn’t so important anymore. When God shows me what he has already done
for me, my accomplishments don’t seem so great anymore. When my small mind tries to comprehend how
God could give up his Son to rescue a sinner like me, I might not be able to
understand it, but I can thank Him for it.
And I can show my thanks in a life of humble service.
Maybe you don’t have
an I.Q. of 150. Maybe you will never be
a card-carrying member of the Mensa Society. Maybe you are (or maybe you aren’t)
intelligent in the eyes of the world, but I know (and James will back me up on
this) that I am looking at a group of wise and understanding people.
The Lord is the
source of true wisdom. The Lord is the
supplier of godly wisdom. In his Son he provides
the solution to the world’s number one problem. In his Word he makes us wise, “wise for
salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy