Wisdom from Above

Introduction

Have you ever received bad advice? If you’re a human that has any social engagement at all, I’m willing to bet that you have. Even if it’s just bad advice through social media, because there is a LOT of bad advice out there.

The most obvious example I can think of are recipes that I’ve come across on social media. I don’t know what possesses some so-called “influencers” to recommend some of the recipes they recommend. Things like fried mayonnaise, ramen noodles stewed in chocolate milk, some cookie-and-milk-based slop warmed in the microwave.

Just because you think it up doesn’t mean you have to post it. And, of course, there’s a lot of MUCH more seriously bad advice out there. I mean, it’s not that big of a deal to waste a few dollars on a bad recipe, but what about bad financial advice, bad investment advice. I’ve known people who’ve lost hundreds of thousands of dollars because of bad financial advice. (For the record, that’s why we’re offering Financial Peace University, starting this Wednesday, in part to counteract all the nonsense you hear out there.)

But it’s not just financial advice. There’s relational advice, marriage advice, parenting advice, spiritual advice. Everybody these days wants to be an influencer, but only a small percentage really have any wisdom of value.

And it’s a problem. Because as serious as bad financial advice is, significantly more serious is advice that wrecks your marriage, advice that ruins your kids, advice that empties you spiritually. I mean it’s one thing to file for financial bankruptcy. It’s quite another to bankrupt your soul.

So, how do you know who to listen to? That’s the big question, isn’t it? As followers of Jesus, how do we discern good, godly advice that will encourage us and build us up spiritually, either online or in person, from the foolishness of the world that will ultimately destroy us?

That’s what we’re going to talk about this morning in this fourth message from the insanely practical book of James. The title of the series is New Year, Fresh Faith, and the title of the message today is Humbly Wise, because that’s what we want to do. We want to identify the humbly wise people in our lives worth listening to, and ultimately, we want to be humble, wise people that influence others for the glory of God.

And to do that, we’re going to dig into that passage we read together earlier, James 3:13-18, starting right here at the top in verse 13. Let’s look at it together.

James 3:13 NASB 2020

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.

Here, James is building on that theme that we looked at last week, that we shouldn’t elbow each other out of the way to be teachers, because teachers will be judged more strictly for what we teach.

But some people are called to teach. Some people are called to lead the church. Who are those people? James says, “People who are wise and understanding.” That’s why he asks that question, “Who among you is wise and understanding?” He’s not looking for a list of names. He telling the church how to choose teachers who will honor God with wise and understanding teaching.

And in the second part of verse 13, he tells us how to recognize people with that kind of wisdom. Again, he says, “Let him show his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.

Gentleness of wisdom. That means when someone criticizes you for the way to teach, for the way you instruct, you don’t bite back. When someone questions your authority on a subject, you don’t chew them out in indignation. When someone derides the way you teach in public, you don’t try to make a public spectacle of them. No! You invite them to coffee to hear their perspective and when they give it to you, you thank them for their input. Why? Because it’s not about you, and truth is, they might be right.

And if you don’t respond with gentleness, you’ll never grow.

That’s why, when it comes to wisdom, what you know pales in comparison to what you do.

And that brings us to the first fact that I want to take home today about how to discern good, godly wisdom from the destructive false wisdom of the world? And that’s to…

Look for wisdom that’s practiced, not spoken.

Again, it’s not about what you know; it’s about what you do with that knowledge. Some of the most intelligent, vocal people I know are also some of the most foolish, prideful people I know. And as a result, their knowledge is worthless, because no one takes them seriously.

The bottom line, if you’re looking for wise people to speak into your life, you don’t look for a know-it-all. You don’t look for someone who has an immediate answer to all your questions. You look for someone who keeps their head when they’re under pressure, when they’re falsely accused or maligned.

And if you want to be wise? Work to become that person. Your wisdom will not necessarily grow with your knowledge. It won’t necessarily grow with your experience or your exposure to ideas. Your wisdom will only grow as your humility and gentleness grow.

Look for wisdom that’s practiced, not spoken. Let’s keep reading. Pick up in verse 14:

James 3:14–16 NASB 2020

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.

James says that true, godly wisdom is incompatible with jealousy and selfish ambition. That kind of wisdom does not come from above. It doesn’t come from God. Wisdom characterized by jealousy and selfishness is earthly and natural.It’s not wisdom at all, because that’s our default position! Everybody looks out for themselves! That’s normal!

And that’s why we have all the problems we have. James tells us that disorder, every evil thing—it’s all the fruit of jealousy and selfish ambition. I’m not going to get too deep into local Memphis politics, but what do you think is at the root of all the mess with Memphis Shelby County Schools? I’m not saying where the fault lies, but I promise you, at the root somewhere is jealousy and selfish ambition.

Because when people are only looking out for themselves—jealous when they’re not getting the attention that they think they deserve, working to promote their agenda and their agenda alone—of course there’s going to be disorder—no one working together. Of course there’s going to be all kinds of evil—people breaking all the rules to please and glorify themselves.

And that brings us to another key to telling the difference between good and bad wisdom. Look for wisdom that’s practiced, not spoken, and second…

Learn to recognize false wisdom when you see it.

Because it’s not just the MSCS School Board. It’s everyone who displays bitter jealousy and selfish ambition.

Again, that’s the emotional drive of false wisdom. So, if you have any sense of jealousy in your heart, you need to weed that out, because that’s not of the Lord. If there’s any sense of selfish ambition, if that’s what’s driving you to do what you do for the Kingdom, you need to beg God, plead with God, to change your heart. Ask Him to give you a hunger for Him, for His honor, His glory, His praise.

Our motivations matter. It matters why we do what we do for the Kingdom. Because if our motivations are off, it’s only a matter of time before disorder and evil rise to the top.

Because, again, look at the source of jealousy and selfish ambition. Sure, it’s natural. Everybody does it—everybody who doesn’t belong to God. Everybody who is manipulated by the evil, demonic, spiritual forces of this dark world.

James’s point is that if you give yourself over to this, if you allow the wisdom of the world to reign in your heart with jealousy and selfish ambition, even if you think you’re working for the Lord, you’re not. You’re on the wrong team.

And if you follow someone—some teacher, some influencer, some spiritual leader—and if, when you look deeper, all you see is a trail of chaos, disorder, broken relationships, all kinds of evil, it’s time to look for wisdom elsewhere.

We must learn to recognize false wisdom when we see it—whether we see it in ourselves or in the leaders and teachers around us. Let’s keep reading, Pick up in verse 17::

James 3:17–18 NASB 2020

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Alright, so where do we look for wisdom? If jealousy and selfish ambition reveals the wrong kind of wisdom, how do we recognize the right kind? How do we recognize “wisdom from above”?

Well, James helps us here. Just as we can tell demonic wisdom by the jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder and evil that it leaves in its wake, there are qualities to look for in people who are truly wise. Let’s look at them together. First, they’re…

Pure

That doesn’t mean “perfect,” but it means the pursuit of purity. The truly wise person will work hard to live in a way that honors Jesus, not out of a spirit of legalism or pride, but out of love and gratitude for what Jesus has done for them.

Second, people with wisdom from above are…

Peaceful

They demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, peace. And this is not just peace with God, although that’s certainly part of it. It also means peace with themselves—they’re not always trying to get ahead at the expense of others. Peace with other people—they’re not prone to conflict and they work to reconcile broken relationships. Peace with with the world—they’re not complacent, but overall, they’re satisfied with their position in life.

Truly wise people are peaceful. They’re also…

Gentle

Gentleness is another fruit of the Spirit. Gentleness doesn’t mean “weak.” It means “in control, calm under stress.” Gentle people deescalate conflict instead of blowing it out of proportion.

Fourth…

Reasonable

A truly wise person will know when concede and when to stand firm. They’re not going to be a hothead who holds their position even when they’re wrong.

Pure, peaceful, gentle, reasonable, and fifth…

Merciful

Jesus said, “blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy.” Again, this is just a product of what it is to walk with Jesus. You are quick to forgive, ready to forgive, not excusing sin, but always correcting in love and refusing to take it personally. You are merciful because you understand the mercy that has been poured out generously on you by a God who loves you deeply.

Pure, peaceful, gentle, reasonable, merciful and…

Impartial

A direct translation of the word there is actually more than just “impartial.” It means “without a trace of partiality,” completely devoid of partiality.” Remember that James has already condemned favoritism toward the rich while marginalizing the poor, so that’s probably what he has in mind.

Because you’re not chasing your own agenda, because you refuse to cave to the demonic temptation of selfish ambition, using people for your own gain, you have no problem refusing to show favoritism. There’s really no trace of partiality in you, if you have the wisdom from above.

People with the right kind of wisdom are pure, peaceful, gentle, reasonable, merciful, impartial, and finally, seventh, they are…

Real

The literal translation is “without hypocrisy.” What James probably means is that wise leaders will avoid being the kind of leaders that Jesus criticized most, the Pharisees, who were empty, puffed up, always thinking of themselves as better than everybody else. That kind of behavior is the opposite of wisdom from above.

On the contrary, someone who is really wise, they’re not going to see themselves as separate from or better than the people around them. Like Jesus, they will be right there in the middle of it all. But because they’re not perfect like Jesus, they’ll also be quick to confess their faults, quick to own their mistakes, quick to show that they don’t have it all together.

They’ll be real.

And that brings us to the third principle that I want us to take home today from this passage. Again, we’re discerning good advice from bad advice, good wisdom from broken wisdom. Look for wisdom that’s practiced, not spoken. Learn to recognize false wisdom when you see it, and third…

Learn to receive true wisdom when you recognize it.

When you see someone with that “wisdom from above,” when you see someone who is pure, peaceful, gentle, reasonable, merciful, impartial, and real, follow them. Listen to them. Learn from them.

What’ll happen? /Two words:

Righteousness and Peace.

As James says in verse 18, “The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

That’s the kind of leader you want to follow. That’s the kind wise mentor you want to know.

Because what you’ll find…I can guarantee it…is that the reason they are all those things, the reason they sow righteousness and peace follows them everywhere, is because they follow a Savior who is pure, peaceful, gentle, reasonable, merciful, impartial, and real, a Savior who sows righteousness and peace. Don’t you see? All of these characteristics are the characteristics of Christ!

Jesus is pure! Jesus is peaceful! Jesus is gentle! Jesus is reasonable! Jesus is merciful! Jesus is impartial! Jesus is real! Jesus is the righteous Savior who has sown peace with God man through His death on the cross!

Jesus is the source of this wisdom from above! And so it only makes sense; if we want to be wise—really wise—it has to come through the power and influence of Jesus!

And if you want to follow really wise people, you will follow people who walk in the power of Jesus.

Doesn’t mean you don’t listen to anybody else or take advice from anybody else. I’m not saying you can NEVER take advice from someone who’s not a believer yet. But if you do, be very, very careful, and cross-check that advice with someone else, someone who has the wisdom of Jesus.

And listen, just because they SAY they have the wisdom of Jesus, just because they go to church, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have this wisdom from above. Plenty of people go church for the wrong reasons. No, look at the fruit. Again, don’t just listen to wisdom that’s spoken. Watch for wisdom that is practiced.

Watch for people who walk with Jesus.

What about you? Do you walk with Jesus? Has there ever been a time in your life when you have surrendered your life to Jesus? If not, you can do that today.