Which Wisdom is Which?

Yea, I know.  Strange title.

Something that we all need to understand is that there really are two kinds of wisdom. The Bible talks about them both in the Book of James, and those who don’t grasp the conscious awareness of knowing the wisdom that they are working with, will usually be operating from the wrong one.

There is an earthly wisdom and a spiritual wisdom.  People who are not believers in Christ are trapped into using only one of these.  Believers, however, can use either if they want to. (The former at their own risk.)  I would encourage you to be cautious here; one of the false assumptions that we normally have is, that just because I am a Christian, I am automatically using spiritual wisdom in all my life.

Nope. It just does not happen that way, and if you are acquainted with very many Christians, you know what I am saying is true. There is way more involved than that.

No Christian (pastor, teacher, layman or whomever else) just automatically uses spiritual wisdom by default. No, it is a choice done on purpose.

Sadly, not everyone knows how to tell which kind of wisdom is which. Many Christians are unaware that sometimes they are missing out on God’s best for them. (That best can be found only when working with spiritual wisdom and that is where we all want to be!)

The difference between knowing which wisdom is which, may wind up costing us much more than what we expect. We could find ourselves in places and situations of life where we would rather not be…….hurtful, painful, life damaging ones.

In James 3:13-18, God tells us about worldly wisdom and spiritual wisdom.  Worldly wisdom you get from just being born, growing up, learning, and using your natural abilities.  On the other hand, spiritual wisdom comes from God alone.

Listen! The worldly wisdom we so easily and comfortably use is really a bad path to follow!  When I run my life from the position of worldly wisdom, I hurt people, become selfish, lie, am jealous, and just generally screw things up. (Read the Bible verses above.)

Usually people that live in worldly wisdom are really good at giving us pains in areas that most of us would prefer to not have pain.

 (Right about now you may be seeing someone’s face in your mind.  But consider this: is someone else seeing your face in their mind also? Ouch…..)

Non-believers cannot help but work from this position. They are slaves to it, and this really helps explain to us why unbelievers live the way they do. You see, they have no other choice.

In the world’s eyes, those who live in worldly wisdom (believer or non-believer) can have a degree of worldly success and, if success in the world is that person’s total goal in life, there can be accomplishments… but, in the end, they really are just emptiness filled with some sort of hollow satisfaction.

On the other hand, spiritual wisdom works differently and comes only from God.

            James 1:5  “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to

                                 you.”

In James 3:13-18, it tells what this wisdom produces:

            Purity

            Peace

            Kindness

Mercy

            Good Acts

            Sincerity

Those working in the wisdom of God get the know-how to run their lives, marriage, business, career, family, and etc. These people have a kind of success that only God provides. If you have ever gotten to know one of these people, you know that they are comfortable to be around….you sort of begin to like them. They sometimes could remind you of Jesus…..

These kind of people are also living in a “no lose” situation!  You see, not only do they live using Godly wisdom, but God can also use their natural wisdom in the proper way when it is placed into His hands.

The key to it all is that Christ has to run our lives. We must allow Christ to live through us and refuse to work in our own wisdom drawn from the world. What else could the Christian life really be?

Living in spiritual wisdom…..

It’s not that hard if we just ask Him for it.

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Deep roots and new growth ........the beginning

Jeremiah 17:8 

He is like a tree growing near a stream and sending out roots to the water……

When it comes to growing vegetation, my thumbs are not very green.  In fact, when I reach for new plants, I imagine that I can hear scared, little voices saying, “No! No!  Save me, save me!”  Sometimes I even think I see a little skull and crossbones ghost its way across my thumbs.

Once I worked at growing a cactus.  This one was somewhat ugly in its appearance, and I figured that no one would really care if it died.  For a long time this ugly, little cactus sat there looking mournful and scared as I provided care for it.  No change was noticed.

Then one day, as I was checking around the plant, I bumped the cactus. I took note that it moved way too easily.  After looking closer, I realized that the roots on the plant had shriveled up and died.  It was just at that moment I thought I caught a glimpse of a faint skull and crossbones appear on one of my thumbs.  I guessed that roots really do matter.

The little cactus could not make it without roots and neither can you or I.

Even Jesus had roots--really deep roots that go way back.  You know, universe, eternity, “Ancient of Days” type going back.

Today’s believer’s roots go back deep, too.  Scripture teaches us that “He chose us in Him before the creation of the world.” Ephesians 1:4

How cool is that!  A believer’s roots go way back to the promise that God made to Adam and Eve about “the seed.”  Our roots extend to all those in the thousands of years of history who were genuine believers……. All those named in the Bible and all the nameless of the ages that have trusted Christ.

It blesses me to perceive that the revival we are seeing in our present generation is also based upon those same deep roots.

Have you seen it? …… There exists a fantastic group of young believers who are really given to following Christ and worshipping Him!

The excitement, zeal, and total abandonment to the Lord are mind blowing.  The technologies used at some places and the simplicity at others are all used by the Holy Spirit to draw people into the real worship of God. I love it and am thrilled to see God’s hand doing wonderful things through His people!

I believe all this is just a beautiful reflection of the deep roots that we believers have.  You see, God has always had His faithful ones whose hearts were abandoned to Him.  He has never been without a generation of people willing to forsake all for Him…willing to defy the dry, dead trappings of religion and daring to embrace what following Christ really means. This present generation of revival is built upon the foundation of the faith, prayers, and sacrifice of all those radical believers in the past. ….all those who abandoned themselves to Christ in the past. I believe that that is part of the idea included in Hebrews 11 and 12.

Shallow roots, on the other hand, are indications of real problems. In a parable (Mark 4:17) about the Kingdom of God, Jesus addressed what happens to the plant when shallow roots are part of the picture.  When the roots are shallow, exciting growth may happen for a short time. But then, it quickly becomes a hollow reflection of something that God intended to be real. The grass withers.

In short, the plant eventually does not make it

.

Deep roots good…shallow roots bad.

When this is applied to our lives within the church, shallow roots will turn relationship into religion and worship into form. The meaningful, real stuff will not survive.

Make no mistake. Satan will make every effort to bring forth all the shallow roots that he can. He will do this through people who are motivated by the excitement, lights & glamour alone……not by their love for Christ.

We can help to avoid the shallowness syndrome by remembering at least these three truths.

1)    Life and ministry are not all about us.

Approaches to life are varied, but they generally fall into two categories.

1) It is all about me, my goals, what I believe, and what I want; my church, my Bible, my group, etc.

Or,

 2) It really is all about Christ and the Kingdom of God. 

When I really understand that God’s plan for His people is more than just what concerns me alone, life becomes based on more important things than just how many followers can I get on my blog or friends on Facebook.  Important things that begin to go beyond what generation IPad I can have or how powerful a cell phone can I afford. Temporary life things actually become faded compared to the eternal things. Those eternal things begin to consume my heart, my life, and my goals in life. They set my path and goals in life.

It is then that I begin to experience the truth that life is not about just about me …… It really is all about Christ and the Kingdom of God.

     

2)  We are not as necessary as we think.

           

Ouch!  This one really bothers me!

            Sometimes I get the false feeling that both my voice and place in ministry are so important that nothing really can be done right without me or my input. I labor with the warped idea that no one else can do things as well as I can.

Of course, I am sure that no one else ever feels this way!

When Jesus was riding the donkey during His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, some around were trying to get His worshippers to be quiet.  Jesus began to explain to them that He could make the rocks cry out if He wanted to!  You see, the Lord is never without worship. All creation does it at His beckoning!

What I need to remember is that, when I get to thinking that I am so important, God could use a rock to worship Him if He wanted to.

It is great how Jesus uses us wonderfully and powerfully on this earth, but I need to be obviously aware I am not indispensible to God and His plan.

Please don’t misunderstand; I am not putting down any great ministry, well known leader, or movement.  The fact is, God has always had these things in place throughout history.  God raises up leaders, then the leaders die (as leaders will do) and God raises up more in succeeding generations. God uses us, blesses us, takes us home, and then uses others. He always has.

            The Gospel and the Kingdom of God—these are what are really important!  Not ourselves, our reputations, our popularity, our PCs or Macbooks, stage lighting and mist, TV ministries, or even our followers.  Much of what is defined as ministry is just the observed efforts of some trying to build their own little kingdom. Hey, how many little ministry kingdoms would be able to function if the electricity just went out?  What would happen to much of what we count as necessary to ministry if, all of a sudden, we had no church buildings to meet in?

            Remember this—our selves and our things are not the important parts of ministry; the Gospel and the Kingdom of God are! God uses us and our things as we humbly submit them to Him. As we do that, it is amazing what God does with us!

3)  Deep roots provide faith and stability.

            In Jeremiah 17, that tree by the river does not worry about becoming dry.  Its roots draw the water that the Lord supplies constantly for growth and to produce fruit.

            Our deep roots are placed in the promises from God’s Word thousands of years old.  Those promises are from what we become strong; they guide our path; they cause us to produce fruit, and they are the basis of our faith. As we commit ourselves to those promises, they keep us remembering want is most important in the realm of the church and eternity. Those promises give us the boldness to follow God wherever He directs us; in the jungle of Africa or the jungle of Atlanta. And while there, we will be constantly about the business of the gospel and building the Kingdom of God.

Roots really do matter…….

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