Wisdom from Above

“Wisdom from Above”

 James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

In doing my research for this sermon, I ran across a book entitled; How to Argue and Win Every time. I don’t recommend it. But obviously a lot of people have read this book because it has been on the national bestseller list several times. According to the author Gerry Spence, we were born to win arguments. The problem, says Spence, is that we have been locked up by our parents, our preachers, and our teachers. We have been taught like puppies, “Don’t bark!” Arguing sets us free, he said. Life is an argument that you either win or lose. You can win by buying his book and learning how. Here is a whopper of a quote that comes from page 15: “When we give ourselves permission to argue, we become like born again gladiators.” I suppose that for some people the idea of becoming a born again gladiator is an appealing image, but when I read excerpts from this book I came away shaking my head. This is what the book of James calls the wisdom of the world. In our passage of scripture, James is urging us to seek a higher wisdom, the wisdom that comes from above, and that is what we are going to talk about for a little while this morning. Let me give you the background. The book of James is a call for the Christian Church to live out the law of love. Jesus said that we are to love God with all our hearts and minds and strength and soul – and to love our neighbors as ourselves. In the first chapter James says, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only.” In the second chapter James says “If we love our neighbor as ourselves, we are doing what is right.” In the 3rd chapter James talks about taming our tongues. In our passage of scripture this morning, James is talking about arguments in the church and how we should speak and act with wisdom – God’s wisdom – when we deal with one another.

Next time you find yourself wanting to argue or fight, ask yourself why is this important. Is it because I want to win, or because I want this or I want that? All of this is what James calls being double minded. We have all these mixed motives that make us want to fight. But wisdom from above is pure or single minded. Saint Paul said to the Philippians (2:3) “Be of the same mind as Christ.” Paul said to the Romans, (12:2) “Do not be conformed to the ways of the world but be transformed by the renewal of your minds.”

 James tells us that wisdom from above is sincere, and humble. My favorite Abraham Lincoln quote comes from one of his early political debates. During the debate his opponent accused him of being two-faced. Mr. Lincoln says one thing but he will do another – he is two faced. This is the oldest political trick in the book. If you accuse your opponent of being two-faced, then no matter what they say people will think that they are being two faced. How do you respond to that? Worldly wisdom says attack back. Accuse your opponent of something worse. The best defense is a good offense. Attack, keep on attacking, and win. We all know how negative campaigning works. But that is not what Abraham Lincoln did. Rather, after his opponent had called him twofaced, Abraham Lincoln said: “If I had two faces do you think I would be wearing this one?” 

This week I want to ask you to continue  to pray that God will give you wisdom in dealing with others. James said, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to us. That is how we get wisdom from above.