James Study - Part 8

“Hey, what’s that on your tree?”

James 3:13-18 (Message #8 in James Series)

INTRODUCTION:

            For some of us it has been a long time since we took a biology or botany class, so I know that I am asking a lot from you this morning but please bear with me. Remember those assignments the professor loved to give out where he asked you to make a notebook of 20 different kinds of trees, taking photographs, collecting leaf and seed samples, and listing the predominate characteristics of each tree? How did you go about differentiating one tree from another? What did you look at to determine what kind of tree you were dealing with?

            Of course, you can do it the hard way, by examining the bark and the leaves, and the shape and size of the tree, etc. Or you can do it the easy way by simply observing the fruit that is growing on the branches. Where I come from, if a tree has apples growing on it, there is a good chance that it is an apple tree. And if it has plums growing on it there is a better than odds on chance that it is a plum tree. The same thing goes for every other kind of fruit tree. You can look at the fruit hanging on the branches and very quickly make an educated guess about what kind of tree you are dealing with.

TRANSITION:

            In the last 6 verses of James chapter 3 the writer uses this same logic to talk about the fruit that we produce in our lives. What is hanging on our branches is a clear indication of what is going on inside our heart and mind. By carefully observing the fruit of a person’s life you can draw some accurate conclusions about what the person is really like—not what they say they are like, or even what other people think they are like, but what they are really made of.

MAIN BODY:

Verse 13: Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behaviour his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.

• “Who among you is wise and understanding?” It pains me to say it, but I know that I am not going to be a first-round draft pick in this contest. Literally James asks, “Who among you is a wise man?” He uses the Greek noun, sophos, which is often the technical word for teacher, the expectation being that a teacher should be wise. And by this he has in mind the Jewish concept of wisdom, not that of the Greeks. The Jews defined wisdom as that special endowment of heart and mind that results in righteous and godly conduct. In other words, it is a moral and spiritual virtue, not merely a skilful manipulation of knowledge.
• And the word James uses here for “understanding” is the Greek word, ἐπιστήμων, from which we get the English word “epistemology,” referring to that branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge. Epistemology deals with the foundational theory of knowledge, asking such questions as "What is knowledge?", "How is knowledge acquired?", "What do people know?", "How do we know what we know?" etc.
• So, James is saying, “Who among you is really wise and godly and knows everything about knowing?” No hands go up. I think he does this to make them back down and get off their high horses. He has already started out this lecture up in verse one with a warning to those who would aspire to the role of teacher. He says that they will be judged by the words they utter and the truth-claims that they make. He says that teachers will receive a stricter judgment for their errors. 
• “Let him show by his good behaviour his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.” The KJV here uses the word “conversation.” However, over the years that English word has gone through a significant evolution. The word has come to mean a verbal dialogue between two or more people. However, it used to mean behaviour, or what we now call, “lifestyle.” We find this same Greek word used, for example, in 1 Peter 2:12. In the King James it reads: “Having your conversation [behaviour, lifestyle] honest [seemly] among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation [i.e. the day of Christ’s return].”
• “…in the gentleness of wisdom.” Think about it, the Achilles’ Heel for teachers is pride, even for Christian teachers. It is their most common besetting sin. Teachers love to be right, or at least they love to have people believe they are always right. And sometimes they get kind of snarky if people challenge them. They feel threatened. They feel they are being attacked so they immediately go on the defence and begin preparing a counterattack. That kind of arrogant behaviour is the polar opposite of what James is calling for here.

Verse 14: But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant [KJV “glory not”] and so lie against the truth.   

• “…bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart” Jealousy and out-of-control ambition are both ego issues, are they not? In both cases, it is all about me, me, me. And bitter jealousy and selfish ambition always lead to boasting and bragging, and that is why James says here, “…do not be arrogant” (literally, “puffed up”).
• Apparently, what was going on in some of the assemblies was an ego contest among some of the Bible teachers. Motivated by pride and arrogance they were fighting among themselves. There was a race to see who could be first, the most popular, the most honoured, the most sought-after, the most believed in. James is not saying that they were departing from orthodox doctrine, but rather, that their selfishness and pride were turning the truth of the Gospel into a lie. Sadly, this kind of selfishness can even creep in among Christians. The desire for preeminence is hard-wired into the sinful human nature of all of us.
• In the little book of Third John we learn about a fellow named Diotrephes. The Apostle John says this about him: “I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them [to have the preeminence among them], does not accept what we say. ¹⁰ For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.” This man had grown so bold and puffed up that he was willing to defy the Apostle and to challenge his authority. He apparently wanted to claim the power and authority for himself, and to be in charge of everything. His ego had obviously overcome his good sense. 

Verse 15: This “wisdom” is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 

• James tells us that there are two kinds of wisdom, from two different sources. The first is Godly wisdom that comes down to us from above. It reflects God’s thinking in every way. It is sourced in Him. He above all is Infinitely Wise. All that flows from Him is intrinsically good, and perfect, and beautiful. Godly wisdom is never selfish or ego driven.
• The other kind of “wisdom” is from down here where we live—from the earth, a product of human thinking. James says it is “natural” in the same sense that Paul uses this word to describe unbelievers in Romans 2:14— “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” “Natural men” produce “natural wisdom.” And since “natural men” are dead in trespasses and sins and are called in Scripture “sons of Satan,” then James says that their so-called “wisdom” is demonic in nature. WOW! That is harsh! But James is just telling it like it is. The wisdom of this world reflects Satan’s thinking and values, not God’s.

Verse 16: For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. 

• Verse 16 begins with the conjunction “for,” indicating that what comes next is proof for what he has just said. “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.” 
• Jealousy and selfish ambition produce disorder, confusion, and fighting. Here James is probably referring to the squabbling that was going on in some of the churches, part of the reason for his writing this letter.
• James says that if the trunk of the tree is evil, made up of “jealousy and selfish ambition,” then the fruit out on the branches will be “disorder and every evil thing.” That is because the fruit is always a direct manifestation of the genus of the tree. A cherry tree will produce cherries, every time. A selfish tree will produce selfish fruit, every time.

Verse 17: But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. 

• Here James describes that other kind of wisdom we were discussing a moment ago—the wisdom of God, that comes down from above. This kind of wisdom preserves unity rather than destroying it. This kind of wisdom brings peace rather than silly selfish posturing to gain the praise of people. It seeks God’s glory rather than our own.
• This wisdom is “first pure.” He means, of first importance. The preeminent attribute of God is His absolute Holiness. His other attributes flow out of His holiness. Likewise, James says that this wisdom from above is pure, above all else. And out of that purity, that holiness, come these other characteristics—it is “peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, and without hypocrisy.”
• Reading these my mind is automatically drawn to Galatians 5:22-23, which describes the nine-fold Fruit of the Spirit: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” You can see that the two lists are remarkably similar because the same God produces them both.

Verse 18: And the seed, whose fruit is righteousness, is sown in peace by those who make peace. 

• James is still hanging in there with this metaphor of seed, tree, and fruit. When a seed is planted in the ground it grows up to be a tree. When the tree is grown it gives off fruit. The fruit have seeds that drop and begin to reproduce and the whole cycle goes on and on.
• When you break this verse down you must start at the end and work backward. James is saying that peacemakers sow seeds of peace, which grow up to be trees that produce righteous fruit.  

CONCLUSION:

            We all have our weaknesses, our Achilles’ Heel. However, leaders and teachers are especially vulnerable to sins related to ego and jealousy. We all like to be admired. We all like to be looked-up-to for our knowledge. Therefore, it is easy to slip over the edge into thinking that we are all-wise, that we have all the answers, and that nobody else is quite as smart as we are. When that attitude sets in, the head begins to swell, the ears begin to become deaf to criticism or other people’s ideas, our eyes become blind to our own mistakes and inadequacies, and from there it is a short trip to the bottom.  Leaders usually trip themselves up because of pride and the idea that they are above criticism or scrutiny, and that the normal rules do not apply to them.

            And do not forget that these verses are in the broader context of James’ discussion of the tongue and how it gets us into trouble. Even if you are not a teacher you need to understand that any of us can get into nasty predicaments with our mouth. King David understood this very well. In Psalm 141:3 he prayed “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.” But he recognized that it is not all God’s responsibility. We make a choice every time we open our mouth. In Psalm 34:13 David advises us, “Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.” And again, in Psalm 39:1, “I said, ‘I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle.” That is not a bad idea.

FEEDBACK:

            What is your takeaway from these verses? What do you see here that is useful? Have you ever come across a religious leader or a pastor who fit the description up in verse 14? Can you think of a situation that illustrates the difference between godly wisdom and human wisdom?