A Word to the Wise (The Character of Wisdom)
The Character of Wisdom
Rev. Greg B visited our church in Mount Pleasant as a guest speaker. And he took us on a brief detour from Proverbs to preach from the book of James, also sometimes called “the Proverbs of the New Testament.” James speaks about wisdom, particularly in the James 3:13-18. And specifically, the text explains what the character of wisdom is.
Rev. Greg pointed out that most times, when people think about what wisdom is, they primarily think about pieces of information. Wisdom is often conflated as being one and the same as knowledge or street smarts. But as James points out, there is a specific character that real, heavenly wisdom has.
Wisdom is not marked by jealousy and selfish ambition. This is false wisdom. This is wisdom that is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. Because this is the type of wisdom that the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, were tempted with in the Garden, in Genesis 3. They were tempted to gain knowledge. The devilish serpent told them that they could “know the right answer,” if they would just disobey God and eat from the forbidden tree. And though Adam and Eve did gain a certain type of knowledge by eating the tree, it was ultimately a twisted, distorted, wicked form of knowledge that was antithetical with true wisdom. They abandoned the character of true wisdom by rebelling against the author and master of wisdom.
Instead, Rev. Greg directed us to gaze upon the person of Christ. Because James, who was biologically a son of Mary and a (half-)brother of Jesus, would have personally and intimately known the character of Jesus. And so when James is describing what the true wisdom from above is like, there is every reason to think that he simply described the character of Jesus, who he had known since his youth. “But the wisdom from above, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”
If we are to pursue wisdom, we cannot just pursue the right answer. And we also shouldn’t moralistically attempt to gain better character, as an end in itself. But we are called to come to the One who is wisdom, and to know Him and to learn from him. Knowing Christ is key for bringing about within us the character of wisdom which is from above.