Boys are naturally competitive. I have four of them. They are grown now, but when they were younger, they had daily conflicts. One was the battle for the front seat. “It’s my turn;” “No, it’s my turn,” was so routinely debated, you’d think it was congressional legislation. When one didn’t get his way, he would inevitably appeal to the supreme court with the cry: “Daaaad!” I never knew whose turn it was (Who’s got time to keep up with that?), but I finally got wise and the supreme court ruled: Days that ended in odd numbers went to the older child; the ones ending in even numbers to the younger. This (more or less) ended the “It’s my turn” arguments about sitting in the front seat—ah, sweet peace!
“Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” (Jas. 4:1). This is the root of the issue. Eliminate fleshly desires and conflicts go away, but how to get 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” (Jas. 3:17-18).
First, heavenly wisdom is, well, heavenly. Its origins are from God’s eternal nature, not the ever-changing whims of man. It springs from the eternal font of stability, faithfulness, and relationship. It is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8), a clear sea of crystalline glass (Rev. 4:6), stable, trustworthy, and dependable. It is the one true way that leads to life (John 14:6).
By contrast, man’s wisdom does not come from above. It is earthly (epigeios), sensual (psychikos), and demonic (daimoniodes). It has concourse with what is worldly, fleshly, and satanic. Its goal is to divide and conquer by any means, to titillate, gratify, and surfeit those self-seeking desires. It bubbles up from one’s concupiscence, the root of which means to be in active motion, always changing, never the same. It feverishly pursues whatever its momentary whim dictates without thought of consequence. It is unbridled, passionate, and without thought. It is envious, constantly comparing one’s lack with others’ perceived abundance and never being content.
Second, heavenly wisdom is informed by God’s character. It is pure (hagnos). The word shares the root for holy (hagios). Heavenly wisdom is not motivated by the carnal. It is spiritual, sanctified, and devoted. It is also peaceable (eirenike). It builds relationships instead of tearing them down. It is gentle (epieikes), moderate, and patient. It is easy to be entreated (eupeithes), compliant, helpful, and ready to give. It is full of mercy (eleous), kind, gracious. It is full of good fruits (karpos), healthy and nutritious. It is without partiality (adiakritos), does not pre-judge people or situations, but waits to hear the whole matter. It is without hypocrisy (anupokritos), singular in motive and goodwill toward others. These are all attributes of God, so it should not surprise us that heavenly wisdom is godly. This wisdom counts “all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:8), is “content with such things as [it] has” (Heb. 13:4), and looks out for the interest of others (Phil. 2:4).
Third, heavenly wisdom creates peace, which is a lot like sunshine; we appreciate it more after we’ve seen some rainy days. It may be fun to jump in mud puddles, but eventually, you will need to clean yourself up lest you rot. When one pursues heavenly wisdom, one works righteousness, and righteousness results in a peaceful relationship with both God and man. This behavior influences others (Matt. 5:16), and peace grows more peace. The whole point of this section is that heavenly wisdom builds relationships in an orderly and meaningful way as opposed to earthly wisdom that tears them down creating panic, fear, and chaos.
James is building an argument in chapters two and three. Chapter 3:13-18 is part of his argument. This culminates in his condemnation of the sin of pride (chapter 4), which is at the root of every sin. All the evil that is in the world, all conflicts, wars and fights, envious passion, anger, lust, and worldly pleasures, they stem from fleshly desires that bend the heart to wickedness. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man” (Mark 7:21-23). These attitudes are the very opposite of God’s purposes in Christ Jesus.
Our calling as Christians is to participate in God’s eternal purpose, to unite all peoples together in Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:8-12), to pursue the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:2). We can only do that by employing heavenly wisdom “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there” (Jas. 3:16). May God help us to embrace heavenly wisdom.