Wisdom

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

—James 3:13–18

We live in a world where knowledge is literally at our fingertips and exploding at an exponential pace. The Internet means instant information of global events in real time. When I was young, we had to dig for information. By the time I was a teenager, I had worn out my entire set of Encyclopædia Britannica. Today, all that information is available with a simple click of a mouse using any number of free Internet search engines. Many of today’s textbooks are out-of-date before the print is even dry. People today have access to more knowledge than at any time in history. Knowledge is readily available to everyone.

Yet wisdom seems practically nonexistent. Paul’s words to the Corinthian church could well be addressed to us: “There is not a wise man among you” (1 Corinthians 6:5). Look around at the evidence. Lives are in shambles. Position, power, and prosperity have not brought the peace and purpose they had promised. In our world where so many hopes are smashed and dreams are dashed, we desperately need wisdom.

There is a stark difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is the accumulation of facts. With dedication to the goal, determination to work hard, and a commitment to the long process, anyone can accumulate facts. Our problem is not accumulating facts. Our problem is our lack of wisdom: we aren’t able to take the facts we’ve learned and put them into practice in real-life situations and at points of need.

James recognized that if we are ever to put our faith into action through good words and good works, we’ll need wisdom, and he was quick to point out two sources of wisdom available to us. Natural wisdom is offered by the world’s systems and philosophies. Then supernatural wisdom comes from God, and we find it in His Word.

James said the world’s wisdom is rooted in the secular, in the sensual, and even in the satanic. Worldly wisdom has contributed to so much of what is wrong with our culture: a drug epidemic, an abortion holocaust, and a national debt of astronomic proportions are only the beginning of a list of the problems that plague our society.

Never have we needed wisdom more than we do today. But the wisdom we need is the wisdom of the Word, not the wisdom of the world. “The wisdom that is from above,” said James, “is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” This kind of wisdom is the God-given ability to perceive the true nature of certain circumstances in order to apply His will to the issue at hand. This wisdom only comes from “above.”

We all need this kind of wisdom. We need wisdom to know how to provide for our families. Husbands need wisdom to know how to live with our wives “with understanding” (1 Peter 3:7). Parents need wisdom for leading their children in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). We all need heaven’s wisdom for the myriad decisions we make every day.

Above all, young people today need wisdom. The most important and life-altering decisions aren’t made in our more mature years when we have experience and perspective. We make key decisions when we’re young. Where will we go to school? What will we study? What vocation will we pursue? Whom shall we marry? We answer these questions and many more like them during our late teen years or early twenties. Tragically, too many of these decisions are made based on the wisdom of the world, not the wisdom of the Word.

Knowing the Lord Jesus Christ in an intimate and personal way gives the believer a great advantage over the unbeliever. The only wisdom nonbelievers have at their disposal is the wisdom of the world that—according to James—at best is “earthly and sensual” and, at worst, “demonic.”

Solomon, not yet twenty years of age, was about to be crowned king of Israel. He had to follow in the footsteps of his father, King David, one of the most dynamic and successful leaders in all human history. At this time of his young life, Solomon was pure in mind and virtually void of pride. God asked him, “What shall I give you?” (1 Kings 3:5). That is to say, “What do you want from Me?”

Everyone wants something. Whatever our age, what we want may not be what we need. However, what we want serves as a very good indicator of where our heart is. Incidentally, there is a greater tragedy than not getting what you want. It is wanting something, getting it, and then finding out it isn’t what you really needed after all. We can all tell true stories of people whose lives were ruined because they got what (or whom) they wanted only to find that the wisdom of the world did not lead to the fulfillment they had hoped.

When God asked Solomon what he wanted, Solomon had the right answer. His priorities were in the right order. He didn’t have to ponder or think long and hard about his answer. Right away he requested, “Give to Your servant an understanding heart . . . that I may discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9). Solomon desired the wisdom that comes from above, not wisdom from the world, so he asked God for wisdom. Solomon recognized the lack of wisdom to be his greatest need. Years later, when penning one of his proverbs, he wrote, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7).