How do we discern wisdom within the community? James tells us:
Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
James 3:13-18 – NRSV
There are two kinds of wisdom that are possible within a community: earthly and heavenly.
Earthly wisdom seeks to gain credit, and to warp the facts so as to present a story that heightens the wisdom and intelligence of the individual above that of his or her peers while glossing over personal mistakes and missteps. It seeks to establish both human glory and human guilt, slanted in the direction glory to me and guilt to others. This telling of the story disconnects both story and teller from the truth, and it also begins to disconnect the teller from the community. A false, slanted, or ambitious telling of the story of God’s people is destructive, and serves satanic purposes, not divine ones. If the community relies upon it, they will misperceive their real location and misdirect their course into the future.
Heavenly wisdom gives the credit and glory to God and to his people. This kind of wisdom speaks the truth, and the truth, though sometimes painful at first, is a salve to heal the wounds of the body of God’s people. This truthful version of the story seeks to tell the narrative from a heavenly perspective, valuing the actions of all and the words spoken by all in light of heavenly purposes. A narrative described by heavenly wisdom lifts up God and makes clearer his purposes. This telling of the story of God’s people allows his community to truly understand where it is, and to make its way forward with God’s work based on a true and reliable reckoning of the facts. The teller of this story seeks mercy for God’s people and peace among that community. Because such a narrative serves truth and justice among God’s people, it is righteous.
How would we evaluate our wisdom today? Is our telling of the stories of the day earthly or heavenly?
Every day brings the opportunity for heavenly wisdom, and the temptation to use the wisdom of the world that surrounds us. You hear worldly wisdom in the news every day; spending more time on blaming problems than solving them, using ten times more words to avoid responsibility than to accept it, slanting the narrative to strengthen the individual instead of the truth and the community. You hear people retell the facts so as to make it clear that they need more power, more resources, more money, or fewer restrictions and less accountability. Worldly wisdom infects our government, our towns, our schools, our churches, and our families. It altogether too easily can infect a ministry. Will we avoid imitating what we hear every day? May God strengthen us to allow it to be so. Every day God’s word offers a countertestimony to the world around us. Every day, there are those within God’s community who offer their countertestimony to the worldly telling of the facts.
May God help us all to seek and to speak his wisdom this very day.
Grace and peace through God’s divine wisdom,
Ron
