The Epistle of James - Godly Values

Part 23 - earthly, unspiritual, of the devil

James 3v15-16

5^th October 2018

We've been thinking about three kinds of wisdom: godly wisdom, common sense, and worldly wisdom. Godly wisdom is, of course, seeing things the way God sees them. Common sense is things like, "If it's cold, wrap up well" or "Now and then check there's some oil in your car’s engine". Common sense has no moral value, but things will go better if you use it. Worldly wisdom seems wise, but is opposed to God's wisdom.

I've been on this planet sixty-two years now, and I wonder how much worldly wisdom I've imbibed in those years? Perhaps more than I realise. And it's probably the same for you. We've been taught things by our parents, and our peers, and our school teachers, and the media, that are opposed to God's wisdom, and sometimes we don't even realise it. That's why we need to soak ourselves in Scripture.

There was a time when a friend of mine would read the same Scripture over and over and over again. Somebody asked him "Isn't that brain-washing?" and he said "My brain needs washing". And it does, doesn't it? Your brain and mine need washing - to wash all the worldly wisdom out, so that godly wisdom prevails in our minds.

We've seen that truly wise people are humble people. If you're truly wise, you'll know what a sinner you are, and you'll know how much you've got to be humble about. None of us deserve to be a Christian, or to survive on this planet. We deserve the fires of hell, and yet we're here. Jesus described Himself as humble (Matthew 11v29) and if Jesus is humble, we really ought to be humble.

We also thought about bitter envy and selfish ambition, and said that if your religion is all about "me, me, me, me, me", you haven't begun to become wise about the things of God. Jesus, our leader and example, gave his life for his friends. For Jesus, life wasn't about Himself; it was about us. And our lives shouldn't focus on ourselves, but on each other, and on our neighbours who don't know Jesus yet. This is real wisdom. Real wisdom is self-sacrificing. It doesn't envy, because my position is unimportant to me. It doesn't consist of selfish ambition, because I haven't got any ambition other than to glorify God, to see the lost saved and to build up the church.

But James hasn't finished teaching us about wisdom. I've been calling the things we've talked about worldly wisdom but James doesn't. James says:

James 3v15
"such wisdom doesn't come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil".

I've argued that it's earthly. James says it's also unspiritual. I'm told that the Greek word really means "soulish". This false wisdom comes not from the council of God, but from the human heart. It's how I feel, and what I want, and how I think. If repentance is real, it's not just repenting from all the gross sin in our lives. It's repenting from thinking that what I think matters very much. God's perspective is important. Mine isn't. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. Putting God first, putting God's wisdom first, putting God's ideas and God's ways first, is spiritual. Basing our decisions and our actions and even our body language on how I feel or what I think is unspiritual.

And then James goes even further and says worldly wisdom is of the devil. I don't think of my Christian brothers and sisters - and I certainly don't think of myself - as being of the devil. We're children of God. But in every one of us there are ideas that I've called worldly wisdom, but actually they're from the devil - they're from the pit of hell. All our selfishness, all our ambition, all our envy, and indeed a thousand other things, like judgementalism, criticism, and negativity, are so contrary to God that they must come from the enemy.

I don't think I want God to give me a score card of how many of my ideas are of the devil, but surely some of them are. We need to grow in wisdom, and wisdom is agreeing with God. Wisdom is seeing things as God sees them. Wisdom is acting as God would act. Wisdom is speaking as God would speak, forgiving as God would forgive, loving as God loves. Wisdom is non-judgemental. Jesus was the friend of prostitutes and tax collectors. He was the most non-judgemental person on the planet.

James 3v15
“For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you have disorder and every evil practice”.

There are lots ofways to cause disorder and every evil practice, but envy is one and selfish ambition is another. If you wish you had what your brother has, if you wish you stood where your brother stands, if you wish for a life like your brother's life, or friendships like your brother's friendships, or respect like your brother's respect, or a bank balance like your brother's bank balance, there will be disorder and every evil practice. If you indulge in selfish ambition where what you really care about is how you're looking, what you're achieving, where you're going - there will be disorder and every evil practice. Envy and selfish ambition are earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. They will damage the church, and they will wreck your life.

Having spent rather a long time discussing wisdom that's not godly, next week we'll look at wisdom that is godly:

James 3v16
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.