Wisdom That Grows.

All right, if you have your Bibles, turn with me to James chapter 3. We're continuing our series through the book of James today. Just a quick reminder: if you want to follow our reading plan, we have those available at the welcome table, or on the Daily Rhythms app.

So we're going to read starting in verse 13.

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. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from heaven, but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 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. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:13-18

Let's pray. God, we thank you so much for your word that is alive and active. We thank you that we get to hear from you today, that your Holy Spirit is here, present with us. God, I pray for these next few moments, as we open your word and look at this text: would you examine our hearts? Would you speak to us? Lord, you know what we need today. You know the ways we are longing to hear from you. So God, would you speak? We ask this in your name. Amen.

So we're getting into wisdom today. Notice that James, when he writes, uses dramatic, strong language. It's not just, "oh, this might not be the best thing for you." It's, "all evil things come from earthly wisdom." He's dramatic here, but he wants us to catch this. He wants us to understand how much we need godly, spiritual wisdom in our lives.

I want us to notice, from the very beginning, that up until this point in James he's been talking about an active faith. The question he's been asking is, what good is faith if it never shows up in our lives? We can't just have good thoughts or good ideas. We need to live them out. Now he's doing the same thing, but with wisdom.

He's asking, what good is wisdom if it never actually shows up in our lives? Faith and wisdom are both invisible realities. They're things you can't always see when you keep them internal, but they do produce things in our lives. In my Bible, this section is titled "Two Kinds of Wisdom." James is comparing two types of wisdom.

So the question isn't, do I think I'm wise? He isn't asking us that. I think, in different ways, we'd probably all say we're wise about certain things. Instead he's asking, what kind of life is the wisdom that I have producing? What kind of life is the wisdom I practice, that I live out, producing?

Knowledge versus wisdom

Before we get into this, because sometimes when we think of wisdom we also think of knowledge, I want to talk about the difference. Knowledge is knowing a lot of things, but wisdom is a lot more active. Knowledge is knowing that a snake you see is poisonous. Wisdom is knowing how to avoid it.

I saw this happen the first time I took our staff on a retreat, years ago. I took our team to Tennessee, and I don't think there are many snakes in the Midwest. Where I grew up, I just didn't know a lot about snakes. Sure enough, we walked out onto our beautiful balcony. We were supposed to be retreating, and instead I was retreating into the house, screaming and jumping on the couch. I said, there's a snake out there.

I watched as one of our team members went out and said, "I got this, I got this." He gently put it on a broomstick and led it into the bushes. I asked him, how did you do that? Knowledge is knowing, I've got to avoid that snake. Wisdom is actually knowing how to avoid it, what to do with it. That's one of the differences.

Knowledge might say, I know what needs to be said. As Christians, we sometimes talk about needing to speak truth to people, and a lot of times we mean we just need to tell them they're doing something bad. Knowledge might look at someone and think, that's not living into the way of Jesus, that's bad. Wisdom has the discernment to know, okay, Lord, how am I going to say this and guide this person in a way that leads them closer to you and not further from you? There's a difference.

I want to go back to Genesis before we dive into the text in James, because in Genesis chapter 2 we see another example of different choices of wisdom.

You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:16-17

At this point in the creation story, God has given Adam and Eve everything they need. Then another voice enters the story, and in Genesis 3 we see this voice is against God. It tempted her to trust another source for wisdom. In scripture, that's the temptation, and where does this idea of earthly wisdom come from? The serpent, the snake. It leads them to question God's word: did God really say that? It leads them to try to make sense of things on their own, apart from what God had already said. Earthly wisdom causes us to start questioning God's word. Did God really say that?

Earthly wisdom also causes us to question God's goodness, because let's be honest, when we read the Bible there's a lot that doesn't make sense. When we live life long enough there's a lot that doesn't always make sense, and we can be tempted to question God's goodness. God, if you're so good, why are these things happening to me? We question his goodness, and then we go make meaning on our own, using our own wisdom and understanding to make sense of things.

The woman saw the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom.

Genesis 3:6

It puts in this detail, that she's looking and thinking, this could give me wisdom. So the first temptation is a wisdom problem. Is humanity going to trust God's definition of good and evil, of what's safe and protected and holy and pure? Or are we going to trust our own?

Earthly wisdom will always tell us to trust ourselves, to follow our desires. But heavenly wisdom is about submitting ourselves to the lordship of Jesus, to his kingdom and his ways, even when that doesn't line up with what we think is good in the moment. I love Proverbs 3:5-6. It's a classic guidance-and-wisdom passage you might have quoted, and it's one of my favorite scriptures to pray through and quote in times of need.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding in all your ways. Acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes, but fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

Proverbs 3:5-8

I love that addition, because sometimes we stop at "trust in the Lord, he's going to make our path straight." Thank you, Jesus, for making our path straight. But there's this next invitation: be cautious, don't be tempted to be wise in your own eyes, but continue to shun evil. That's what's going to bring health to your own body.

Show it, don't just tell it

So getting back to James, starting in verse 13: "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done, and the humility that comes from wisdom."

One thing before we keep going. In verse 13, "who is wise among you" was a common phrase used to refer to teachers at the time, those who were educated, who had a lot of knowledge, who would be considered wise among the people. Last time we were in James we talked about taming the tongue, which also pointed to those who teach and lead. One of the things we talked about was, how does this apply if you don't teach from a microphone on a Sunday? Does it apply to you? Yes, because all of our lives, as we follow Jesus, point people somewhere, hopefully to Jesus. James is laying it in a little harder, saying, those who have all this knowledge, what good is it if it's not leading to the wisdom God desires? He keeps drilling this theme: don't tell me you're wise, show me. Don't just tell me, show me that you're wise.

Think about why you wear what you wear, why you use the conditioner you use. It's one thing to see an influencer on Instagram going on about how great a skincare product is, and then you look at their skin and think, I don't really know if I want my skin to look like that. But the best recommendations are usually when you look at someone and think, what are you doing, what moisturizer are you using, I want that, will you tell me? It's when you can see the fruit that you're more likely to want it, more than if someone just says, let me tell you about this great product, let me tell you how it works. If you're looking and thinking, I don't really know if that's leading where I want to go, that tells you something too. Wisdom is something that should be seen. It should produce fruit. Godly wisdom should lead people to say, I want more of that. I want that kindness, I want that love, I want that mercy, because that person is living like Jesus. It's not just knowledge, not just facts. It goes beyond information.

Because the difference between knowledge and wisdom, and even earthly wisdom, is that earthly wisdom is really just knowledge, just facts, things we store up. Knowledge says the Bible tells us we should forgive. Wisdom is actually walking in forgiveness toward people. Knowledge says, yes, I know I should love my enemies, and here, let me quote you five scriptures about loving our enemies. Wisdom is actually knowing how to love people in specific ways when they need it, and being willing to endure how painful it is to love people who are hard to love sometimes.

I love that so much of James pulls from Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. As Jesus wraps up that sermon in Matthew 7, one of the things he says is, "by your fruit you will recognize them." There's so much in the gospels that points to that. It's your fruit that shows it.

Where wisdom starts: the heart

So now we really get into it, in verses 14 through 16, where James spells it out for us. Wisdom here is in quotes, because it's not real wisdom at all.

If you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from heaven, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

James 3:14-16

Notice, this doesn't begin with behavior. It begins with the heart. Although we're saying wisdom should produce fruit, that it should be something visible, it starts with the invisible: the things no one else can see, the seeds we're planting and allowing to take root. If you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition, if you boast and deny the truth, all of those things, such wisdom does not come down from heaven.

I want to break every one of these down, but don't worry, James gives us the antidote. He gives us the wisdom for what to do with this. We're not going to leave here thinking, wow, I'm the worst, I have all this stuff going on. Back at the beginning of James, chapter one, he talks about the type of person who looks in a mirror and immediately forgets what they look like and walks away. I want us to remember that as we walk through James's teaching, because he's saying, I don't want you to keep living in a way that isn't leading you to the life you really long for, the life you were created to live. So this isn't a condemning thing, when the Holy Spirit convicts us of something that's growing in us. It should be exciting: oh, thank you that you told me I had a hair out of place so I could fix it. Thank you that you can tell me my shoe was untied so I didn't trip. Can we think of it like that, saying, okay, Holy Spirit, as we go through these next few verses, will you convict me, will you correct me, so I can start living how I was created to live?

That's what we're after. Before we examine others' fruit, we always look at our own fruit first. Starting with bitter envy: if you find yourself questioning, why do they have what I don't, if you find yourself struggling to celebrate other people's success, there could be roots and seeds of envy that need to be uprooted in our hearts.

Selfish ambition describes a self-promoting spirit. If you always feel the desire to win, to be on top, to be noticed, to be right, selfish ambition could be taking root. James isn't confronting something far off that nobody can relate to. He's confronting specific things I think all of us, if we dig deep enough, could relate to at some point. The biggest one is that selfish ambition, that need to be right rather than righteous. It's one thing to know the right things, but do you really want to win an argument and lose a connection and a relationship with that person in the process?

There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end, it leads to death.

Proverbs 14:12

There's a way that seems like it's going to get us where we need to go, but it leads to death, our selfish ambition and desires. But we keep looking to Jesus.

Earthly, unspiritual, demonic

When James says such wisdom does not come from heaven, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic, let's take those one at a time.

Earthly. When I read this, I think of earthly wisdom as being so focused on the temporary that we can only see the current moment, and not the eternal reality that goes far beyond what we can see. As followers of Jesus, our hope is that we recognize we're living on this side of eternity, but there's more to come. That's why, when we get defeated and we're down and asking, God, where are you in this, we remember this reality is temporary, but we have eternity with Jesus. When we have this earthly wisdom, this earthly mindset, we're only thinking about what's going to benefit us in this moment, right here, right now. But heavenly wisdom has eternity in mind and is present with the Spirit, asking, help me discern how to apply this right now.

Then we get to unspiritual, which is talking about being ruled by the flesh and not the Spirit of God. I want to talk about this, because when we say things like deny yourself, lose yourself, that doesn't mean becoming people who let everyone walk all over us, who never speak up or have opinions. That's not what we're talking about. I want to pause and talk about denying ourselves as the difference between our true self and our false self. Some of you may have heard this language before. Peter Scazzero, in his book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, talks about this a lot.

He talks about our false self as who we think we should be, based on how other people see us and perceive us. The false self is ego-driven, self-serving, protective, because we're always protecting the image of who we think we need to be, how we think we need to show up. But our true self leans into who God created us to be as image bearers. Our true self is made in his image, is confident, is free to not deny our personality traits, but to say, God, you made me this way, and I'm going to embrace it. I'm going to pay attention to why I see things the way I do, or even why certain things frustrate me, rather than ignoring that I'm frustrated. I'll ask, God, why am I frustrated with this, and what might you be speaking to me in the unique way you made me, about something nobody else clearly sees?

So embracing our true self is embracing who God created us to be. When we say we're denying ourselves, we're not saying we're all going to be the same, talk the same, have the same personalities, lead the same way. We're saying we're all going to deny our false selves. We're going to let go of our pride, our selfish ambition, our egos, and pay close attention to God: who did you make me to be, and how can I freely walk in that identity?

The psychologist David Benner writes that the false self is like the air we breathe. We've become so accustomed to it and its presence that sometimes we're no longer aware of it. When I read that, it hit me differently, because for many of us there might be areas of our false self we're not even aware we're living into: a false reality where we're still living according to the world's standards, or pressures, or identities placed on us. I sense the Holy Spirit wants to highlight that for some of us. What do we need to shed? What do we need to let go of, so we can live into the reality of who God uniquely created us to be?

So denying our false self is really asking, am I living for myself? Am I hiding behind pride, or am I free? Am I living as an image bearer?

Then we get into more intense language: demonic. This reflects the pride, the rebellion of Satan himself. It's the same lie that starts all the way back in Genesis: you don't need God's wisdom, you know what's best, question God's goodness, question his character. Earthly wisdom always points us back to those demonic lies, that we can't trust God, that we can't seek him, that we can't come to him. Verse 16 tells us that where you have envy and selfish ambition, you'll find disorder and every evil practice growing there.

But here's where we get to the good part. What do we do with that? After we pause and ask, God, what are the seeds being planted here, what's taking root, what is my life producing, if it's not producing love and peace and patience, what do I have to shed? We get an invitation, starting in verse 17.

The wisdom that comes from heaven

The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:17-18

This is what we want to be living for. We want to be people sowing seeds of peace, but this is intentional. I think of even today, as we're worshiping, our team praying this morning about the gift it is that we get to come close to God, that he speaks to us and wants to be with us and abide with us. There's an invitation: are we showing up to allow those seeds to be planted? And are we letting that flow from our lives?

Notice these aren't big intellectual qualities James is naming. It's character. We need to start by purifying ourselves, by being people who are pure before the Lord. Purity, in its simple form, means unmixed, undivided devotion. James's invitation is, if we want to understand, if we want to walk in, if we want to live into heavenly wisdom, we can start by asking, are we willing to be completely clean of anything else besides Jesus? Are we willing to practice daily repentance, saying, God, show me what's happening in my life and how I can turn to you? Can we align our hearts with God, with that undivided devotion? There's tension here, because it means taking time to slow down and examine our hearts, to actually ask, God, will you show me any ways I'm not living for you, any seeds taking root that aren't of you? It's both being present, simply being, and being proactive.

That's why we talk so much about practicing the ways of Jesus, looking at where he was, how he spent his time, and how we can live like that. We don't want to just sit back and do nothing, but to recognize that as we move, as we practice these things, we're becoming more like Jesus every step of the way. Peace-loving: peacemakers, something that's made, something that takes courage and humility. It's active. Considerate and submissive. It's hard sometimes when we read a word like submissive, because it sounds so strong. But James is saying we need to live in a way where we're fully submitted to the ways of Christ, to his kingdom, because the good news is that's how we were created to live, as our true selves. The more we live into that reality, the more freedom and peace we'll find, because it leads us to living like Jesus.

This word submissive means teachable, willing to yield, not stubborn, not defensive. It doesn't mean compromising who we are. It means embracing that we were meant to live under the rule and reign of Jesus. Even Jesus, in the garden before the cross, prays in Luke 22:42, "not my will, but yours be done." He's admitting this is hard, there's a struggle, but God, not my will, but yours be done. There's a submission to God's plan. Are we willing to submit in that same way?

Full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Fruit isn't manufactured, it's planted, which points us back to being proactive: what seeds are we planting? Impartial: no favoritism, no hidden agendas, not selecting when we're going to live out wisdom and when we're not, but submitting to it and taking time to slow down. And sincerity: no masks, no hypocrisy, being the same person in private and in public, at almost any time of day, ready.

So then how do we get there? Wisdom plants seeds. Wisdom is proactive. Wisdom is abiding, being present with Jesus, and proactive, planting the seeds to live into the character qualities James is talking about. Everything we do in life is sowing something. Every conversation, every conflict we have or avoid, every response, every word, every decision, we're always planting seeds. That can feel overwhelming, but it's actually good news, because if we choose to slow down, listen a little more, discern and act based on that instead of going with head knowledge right away, we're going to start to practice and become more like Jesus, and see that transformation happen.

So what is James trying to tell us here, in these moments? What does he want to make sure we don't forget? Our so-what today is that wisdom is not measured by what you know, but by what your life is growing, what fruit is being produced. What do we do with this? How do we respond to the invitation James is laying out for us? It starts by examining the fruit, asking, am I focused on being right, or am I focused on living righteously? Not all wisdom is going to lead us to life. Some wisdom is going to tell us to protect our pride, to hide, to be defensive, to not let anything be revealed. But godly wisdom helps us become like Jesus, which sometimes means peeling back the layers, getting to the root of what's going on, and surrendering and submitting that.

A set-apart summer

I want us to focus today on examining the fruit, and to set a focus: how do we continue to lean into being both present with Jesus and proactively planting the seeds we want to see grow in our lives?

One of the things we've done the past couple of summers, and tomorrow's June 1st, so it's kind of our summer kickoff after Memorial Day, is what we call our Set-Apart Summer, where we take intentional time to really consecrate ourselves before the Lord. Consecration, that big fancy word, means set apart and fully devoted. I want to invite us as a community to step into this again: what does it look like for the next three months to really lean into practicing the ways of Jesus?

Some of the ways we've set that up: we have our Daily Rhythms journals at the welcome table, with morning, midday, and evening prompts to spend time with Jesus, to read scripture, to pray, to notice, to practice the examen and examine our hearts before the Lord. We also have the Daily Rhythms app, if you want it on your phone, where you can track everything digitally, and it's private. We always say we don't read your journal entries, nobody does. But I want to encourage you to ask the Lord, what would it look like for me to lean into new rhythms with him this summer, to be set apart and fully devoted?

One of the practices we practice here is ending our days with examen and gratitude, truly sitting before the Lord and saying, God, would you show me, where were you today, where did I see you, where did I experience your goodness, reminding ourselves of his goodness. Because Old Testament to New, one of the things that can keep us farthest from God is when we simply forget the things he's done for us, when we don't take time to be thankful for the specific moments he's shown up. Take time throughout your day to ask, God, where did I see you, where did I experience your wisdom? Then move to a place of repentance, inviting the Holy Spirit every day, will you show me any ways I'm not living for you, how do I need to turn back to you again, submitting ourselves to him in gratitude and rejoicing.

What I want us to do today, I'm going to invite you to stand, is take a few moments even now to examine. A few questions I want us to ask and process with the Lord, and then the team is going to lead us: am I trying to be right, or righteous? Am I looking at my life saying, I'm trying to have all the knowledge, all the skills, I want to be seen as right? Or am I seeking righteousness, seeking a life that points people to Jesus, where his love and mercy flow from me? Then ask the Lord to show you, where do I need to submit my pride to the lordship of Jesus today? That's a hard one, and sometimes it takes us asking the Lord to show us. But what could our world look like if everyone, every day, was saying, Lord, where was I prideful, remove it, where was I protecting myself over other people, remove it? We would be living in a much more loving space. It starts with us as followers of Jesus, saying, let's go first, being willing to acknowledge our pride, acknowledge our false self, and then asking the Lord to show us, in practical ways, how we can be present with Jesus and proactively start planting seeds that lead to purity, peacefulness, gentleness, mercy, sincerity. The type of wisdom where we don't have to wonder, God, is this you, is this not, but we're so close that we feel the whisper, the gentle whisper of the Spirit, not just telling us that snake is poisonous, but saying, hey, I follow Jesus, so I don't have the wisdom of this world, but wisdom from the Lord, and I actually know how to handle this, how to really see this through, how to really see deliverance and freedom and healing.

That's what we're after, but it takes us being proactive and participating with Jesus. I believe that even today, as we process and pray, Jesus wants to heal us of things with our false self. But it takes us participating. So I want to give you a moment to set that focus, to ask the Spirit to highlight where in your life rightness has come over righteousness. Where do you need to submit your pride, and where do you just need to see Jesus again, be present, and start planting those seeds?

Holy Spirit, I pray right now, would you speak, would you move? We surrender these moments to you. Would you come cleanse us again? God, we thank you for the truth and hope found in scripture, that you want us to live into your wisdom, that you want us to live into our true identities, into the righteousness and fullness and power of your kingdom. God, I thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit, that isn't distant, that isn't far off, but is here with us. Lord, for some of us here, maybe it's like, I don't even know what it's like anymore to hear from God. Would you remove any shame that comes with that? God, would you step close? Would you step close, Jesus? We love you, Lord, and we ask, would you speak? We surrender this to you. Holy Spirit, you're welcome here. Thank you.