Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But 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. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
I have had to read these verses over and over before they began to settle into my spirit. I first thought it was all about describing two kinds of "wisdom". But the more I read and reread, I began to see that I think they are about relationships. They are about life in the Body of Christ. They are personal. They are self-reflective. They challenge our fleshly way of thinking and doing things. To enhance our understanding of these verses, consider them from "The Message" by Eugene Petersen:
Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you have to do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom - it's animal cunning, devilish conniving. 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.
Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.
Some random observations: (I would love to hear yours as well!)
1. Desiring to be a wise and understanding person is not a bad thing. That means it does not fit into the category of "selfish ambition". It is good ambition. Selfish ambition is anchored in the "self" part of the phrase. Selfish ambition is not wise ... it is foolishness.
2. Things that fall into the category of 'non-wisdom' (so would that be 'foolishness'?)
- being mean-spirited - youth is no excuse, neither is old age.
- boasting - about anything, particularly about how smart or clever you are
- twisting the truth to make yourself sound wise - twisting the truth is ALWAYS untruth, always
- trying to look better than others - thinking you are better than others
- envy - other people's positions or possessions or persons ... leads to bitterness
- trying to get 'one-up' on others - unholy competition - someone has to 'loose'
3. The results of non-wisdom lead to divisions, wickedness, disorder (which will take us into Chapter 4)
4. We CAN have robust communities of faith! But they require real wisdom, Godly wisdom.
5. Godly wisdom is
- pure - which means it is cleansed of all ulterior motives and of self
- peaceable - right relationships between individuals and between individuals and God
- gentle - Aristotle defines this word as: "that which is just beyond the written law" and "that which steps in to correct things when the law itself becomes unjust". Barclay says this quality "knows how to make allowances, when not to stand upon individual rights, and how to soften justice with mercy, and always remembers that there are greater things in the world than rules and regulations."
- willing to yield, submissive - willing to listen, skilled in knowing when it is wise to yield
- merciful and full of good fruits - Christian compassion moves beyond emotion into action
- no partiality - James is highly concerned with our tendency toward playing favorites. Here he links impartiality with wisdom from God
- no hypocrisy - it's honest and doesn't pretend - no posers!
As we close, remember James' words in James 1:5 ... "If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly"
I want this thing, this Godly wisdom. So let's do it again ... let's ask God ... your family needs you to ask ... your church needs you to ask ... you need you to ask!
Our Lord and Father, fill us with Your wisdom for the good of our families and our faith communities. Increase our desire to be women and men of wisdom. That is our ambition ...
No comments:
Post a Comment