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James 3:13-18
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The Worthlessness of Worldly Wisdom James 3:13-18
A few weeks ago our family was walking through the Nature Center at the Hixon Forest in La Crosse. We were talking with the receptionist and when she discovered I was a pastor, she mentioned a church group that had come through recently. She named the denomination—I will not—but told me how one person described their church,“We believe the Bible and everyone else does not.” I don’t know if this person said these exact words or if this was just this woman’s interpretation of what was said, but her comment was taken as a supreme example of self-righteousness. It was taken to mean that the people from this woman’s church are the only ones who are right and everyone else is wrong. Karen and I looked at each other out of the corner of our eyes because we knew what the other person was thinking. On the one hand we would have a lot in common with this Christian woman. She obviously has a high view of Scripture which we share with her. I was saved in this denomination so I know they are firm on their teaching of salvation by grace through faith. But I would never tell someone that our church is right and everyone else’s is wrong. This Christian woman committed what is seen by the world as the unpardonable sin—self-righteousness. James begins this next passage with one of his classic “show me” statements. 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? I won’t ask for a raise of hands, but how would you respond to such a question? Do you have wisdom and understanding? Most of us would tend to answer yes to this question, especially when you consider the alternative. The opposite question would be, “Who is foolish and lacks understanding?” We don’t like to think of ourselves as foolish, so we claim to have a decent amount of wisdom. Beware because James is setting up his readers. He assumes that most people will answer “yes” to his question—who is wise and understanding among you. James can picture his readers raising their hands and saying, “Here I am—I’m a wise person.” So you think you are wise, do you, then Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. Here we have on of the indispensable characteristics of a wise person—humility. Humility has to be one of the most misunderstood virtues. We tend to think that humility is a form of weakness or quietness. So far in James we have learned that everyone lacks wisdom and must ask God in order to receive it. Let’s assume that we pray and ask God for wisdom—how do we know if we have received such wisdom? Well, in this chapter James gives an explanation of wisdom to serve as proof. If you prayed for wisdom then it should be present in your life and the chief evidence of wisdom is the virtue of humility. First James defines humility by describing what the absence of humility looks like and then describing the evidence of humility in a person’s life. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. If you claim to have wisdom but also have bitterness and jealousy then this is proof that you are deficient in wisdom. He is saying, I don’t care how smart you are—I don’t care how many good decisions you have made—I don’t care how many people you have helped—if you are self-centered then you lack wisdom. Notice how he describes this selfish, false wisdom—he says it is earthly, unspiritual and of the devil—literally demonic. Each of these descriptions is the opposite of what we should strive for as Christians. Would you rather have a character that is earthly or one that is heavenly? A lack of humility is of the earth --not of heaven. It does not reflect the character of God and heavenly beings. This is why it is also called unspiritual. It lacks the character and content of the Holy Spirit. It is characteristic of a person who does not know God and does not possess the spirit. Finally James says a lack of humility is demonic. What would you do if you discovered a Ouija board, tarot cards and a Satanic Bible in your son’s bedroom? Would you take a casual attitude and declare—“Oh well, boys will be boys after all.”? Would you play a game of “Go Fish” with your son using the tarot cards? NO! You would drag your son out into the yard by his earlobe and then have a nice little bonfire with this demonic pile of garbage. Why is it we immediately recognize such obvious demonic influences such as ouija boards and tarot cards but we ignore or downplay jealousy, selfishness and self-respect in our children? James says that selfishness is just as demonic as tarot cards. I’m not suggesting we point our fingers at one another and scream “demon, demon” at every instance of selfishness. I don’t think we should hold an exorcism when our children demand their own way. But I do think we should see any elevation of self as a tool of Satan used to corrupt our relationships and rebel against God. Have you ever heard people use this kind of excuses—“what’s the big deal—what I did didn’t actually harm anyone.” Leave us alone—what does it matter what two consenting adults do behind closed doors.” Yes we all struggle with sin, but it is extremely dangerous to privatize your sins and wall them off as if they were isolated incidents. Sin—even the most private of sins—always begets more sin. There is no such thing as victimless crime or a sin that does not cause harm. The next verse explains what I mean. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. What if you have a room full of children and one of them is determined to get their own way—you have disorder, don’t you? What if you have a room full of adults and one of them is determined to have their own way—again disorder reigns. Ryan and Heidi’s new apartment is in Tomah and Heidi mentioned that there seem to be more churches in Viroqua then in Tomah. Why is this? Because of jealousy and selfish ambition which has led to multiple church splits. It only takes one or two people in a church who are determined to get their own way before disorder and conflict run amok. Selfishness does not usually affect only one or two people. An entire church can be affected by the problems of only a few. There is no such thing as a victimless crime or a sin that does not cause harm. Next James paints a picture of what a life of humility can look like. As opposed to a so-called wisdom that is earthly, he said in v.17, 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. This is a kind of summary of good deeds that flow from genuine faith. I want to focus on the word submissive. This is not the usual word which is translated to submit, but the literal meaning of this word is “willing to yield”. That’s a great little phrase isn’t it? How many arguments and conflicts could be resolved if everyone practiced a willingness to yield? How many disagreements have you had with your husband or wife because neither person was willing to yield? Some of you have had to change jobs over the years because you were not willing to yield to your boss. Some might be thinking, “But I can’t yield when the truth of Scripture is at stake!” You are right—we must not yield the truth of Scripture under any circumstances, but how many interpersonal conflicts are actually about the unchanging truth of Scripture? When was the last time a difficult disagreement in your home was about a key doctrinal issue? It is rare that we argue about truly important matters. We usually have trouble due to jealousy and selfish ambition. The concept of submission and surrender can be illustrated by Alcoholics Anonymous. Quoting now from Philip Yancey. “The historian of Alcoholics Anonymous titled his work Not-God because, he said, that stands as the most important hurdle an addicted person must surmount: to acknowledge, deep in the soul, not being God. No mastery of manipulation and control, at which alcoholics excel, can overcome the root problem; rather, the alcoholic must recognize individual helplessness and fall back in the arms of the Higher Power. "First of all, we had to quit playing God," concluded the founders of AA; and then allow God himself to "play God" in the addict's life, which involves daily, even moment-by-moment, surrender.” http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/008/33.72.html I realize AA has been criticized because of the generic concept of a higher power that they use, but realize that the average recovering alcoholic in AA, even if he or she is an unbeliever, has a better understanding of surrender than the average Christian. If you do not have a general willingness to yield then you do not possess humility and you do not have wisdom. Disorder and evil practice rules the day in the absence of humility, but a humble person can bring about great good. Look at v. 18 again, 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. At first glance it appears that James has introduced a new topic in this last verse by mentioning peacemakers. He hasn’t changed topics, rather the term peacemaker is a summary of v. 17—a wise and humble person is also a peace-loving person. So a peacemaker who sows in peace is the exact same thing as a humble and wise person. Most of you have spent the summer harvesting multiple crops because you sowed the seeds in the Spring. If you sow a bean you harvest beans. If you sow a tomato seed you harvest tomatoes. In the same way, if you sow peace and humility, you will reap a harvest of righteousness. Here is a great story told by Ken Sande, founder of Peacemaker Ministries about how righteousness can be harvested in abundance “The pastor of a church I attended during college clearly understood the importance of seeking peace with an estranged brother. He demonstrated this the Sunday I brought a friend named Cindy to church for the first time. I had met Cindy at school and learned that she was struggling in her spiritual life, largely because the church she attended provided little biblical teaching. Thinking that she might find meaningful instruction and encouragement from my church, I had invited her to worship with me one Sunday. I was unprepared for what took place shortly after Cindy and I took our seats, because I had forgotten that during the previous week's Sunday school period my pastor and an elder had gotten into a public argument. Pastor Woods called for the attention of the congregation and asked the elder with whom he had quarreled to join him at the pulpit. "As most of you know," Pastor Woods said, "Kent and I had an argument during Sunday school last week. Our emotions got out of hand, and we said some things that should have been discussed in private." As I thought of the first impression Cindy must be getting, my stomach sank. "Of all the days to bring someone to church," I thought, "why did I pick this one?" I was sure this incident would discourage Cindy from coming to my church again. Pastor Woods put his arm around Kent's shoulders and went on. "We want you to know that we met that same afternoon to resolve our differences. By God's grace, we came to understand each other better, and we were fully reconciled. But we need to tell you how sorry we are for disrupting the unity of this fellowship, and we ask for your forgiveness for the poor testimony we gave last week." Many eyes were filled with tears as Pastor Woods and Kent prayed together. Unfortunately, I was so worried about what Cindy might be thinking that I completely missed the significance of what had happened. Making a nervous comment to Cindy, I opened the hymnal to our first song and hoped she would forget about the whole incident. The rest of the service was a blur, and before long I was driving her home. I made light conversation for a few minutes, but eventually Cindy referred to what had happened: "I still can't believe what your pastor did this morning. I've never met a minister in my church who had the courage and humility to do what he did. I'd like to come to your church again." During subsequent visits, Cindy's respect for my pastor and for Kent continued to grow, and before long she made our church her spiritual home. She saw real evidence of God's presence and power in those two men. Their humility highlighted God's strength and helped Cindy to take Christ more seriously. As a result, she committed herself to Christ and began to grow in her faith. As I watch that growth continue to this day, I still thank God for those two men and their willingness to obey the Lord's call to peace and unity.” http://www.hispeace.org/html/trup01.htm Here is how this wonderful promise from James goes well beyond the normal process of sowing and reaping. If you sow tomato seeds you get tomatoes. There is always a direct relationship between sowing and harvesting. But when you sow peace and humility, you don’t just get peace and humility, but as James wrote—you get a harvest of righteousness. Isn’t that a great word picture? In June we picked 50 pounds of strawberries and afterwards my back was sore. That was hard work, but how would you like to bring in a harvest of righteousness? That wouldn’t be work at all—that would be pure joy!
This also brings out the difference between Christ-centered humility and any other act of humility. In other words, what makes this humility in James distinctly Christian in comparison to a non-Christian practicing humility. This is such an important distinction because our goal and calling in life is not just to create better people. I could teach you to love more, to be kind, gentle and humble—all things which make a person nice and make for a better society, but this is not Christianity. The difference is that for the Christian, our humility begins and ends with the person of Jesus. We show humility because Jesus was the perfect example to us of a humble person. We show humility because if all of our gifts and talents have been given to us by God, then we have nothing to boast about. We show humility because pride and rebellion are forms of idolatry and self-worship. If we worship Jesus Christ we cannot worship ourselves.
This receptionist at Hixon Forest was so turned off by the perception of self-righteousness in one Christian woman that she remembered the incident several weeks later. Now what would have happened had this Christian woman been a wonderful example of humility? Chances are this receptionist would have remembered the woman just as plainly but with admiration instead of disdain. As Christians who exclusively worship Jesus Christ, we ought to shine as examples of humility. 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.
Rich Maurer August 22, 2004 |