Phase 4: Social Wisdom

Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast.

We exist to awaken this generation to new life in Christ.

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Well, welcome to Awakening Church and Happy Father's Day.

My name's Ryan, and we're absolutely thrilled to have you join us today.

And I actually want to give a little special shout out.

Um, as today not only is my dad's Father's Day, but it's actually his birthday as well.

So happy birthday, Dad.

Uh love you're so grateful for you and happy Father's Day.

Um, incredibly proud to be your son and grateful for your wisdom and impact in my life.

Uh well, this morning we're concluding a series called Social Restoration.

And we've been in this for the last uh few weeks, three weeks, in fact, talking about uh how do we experience social restoration?

Isn't it such a timely question for us as we're in the midst of this global pandemic that's upended our reality?

And we're engaged in racial injustice in our nation, and we just see such social anxiety and unrest.

It's like, how do we experience social restoration?

And then I think there's a better question, or maybe a bigger question for us as followers of Jesus.

You see, the church was never intended to be a social club where we gather and we hang out with our buddies and friends.

That's fantastic, but it's never intended to be just this social club.

Instead, we're called to have a social calling to be the light of the world.

And we have to ask this question: how do we bring about social restoration?

Well, we've been looking at the book of James and James chapter two and three over the last few weeks.

And James, the pastor of the early church in Jerusalem, was helping shepherd these people through their own COVID, world-changing reality where they experienced intense persecution and opposition.

They were scattered from their homes, their normal was up-ended, and he's uh bringing God's word to them in truth to help them discover how to once again bring about social restoration, how to navigate these times as followers of Jesus.

What does it look like?

And so, week one, we looked at this.

Uh phase one is social distinction.

That for social restoration to occur, it begins when followers of Jesus embrace there is no social distinction.

There is no place for racism or prejudice or hatred to be among the followers of Jesus, that that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but all are one in Christ.

There is to be no social distinction.

And then week two, we said phase two with social action, that social restoration I'll try that again.

Social restoration demands, it demands that followers of Jesus uh put their faith into action.

It can't just be a head knowledge, a private faith.

We have to walk the walk, not just simply talk the talk.

And then last week, phase three, we talked about social language.

It's powerful, incredibly important in this time.

That social restoration requires followers of Jesus to do the heart work.

Why?

Because out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

We have to do the heartwork to bring about redemptive social language, to bring about the redeeming work that Christ wants to do in our culture through the power of our words that bring either life or death.

This morning, as we conclude, I think this is the question, I know this is the question I'm wrestling with.

I think this is the question you're wrestling with that we've been wrestling with in the last few weeks.

It's how do we navigate these culturally complex, emotionally charged, socially intense times?

Like, how do we navigate this?

Like, when do I post?

When don't I post?

What do I say?

What don't I say?

How should I feel?

How shouldn't I feel?

I mean, we live in incredibly complex times culturally, emotionally charged.

Everyone, I think part of the like the reality of shelter in place and quarantine is it's got our emotions fried, and so everyone's at a 10 already all the time.

And then it's socially intense with all that we're navigating with racial injustice and the division in our nation.

How do we navigate that?

And then I think as followers of Jesus, we have to go one step further and ask, how do we navigate it to bring about social restoration?

Remember, I just said earlier, we're not called to be a social club, but to bring about a social calling.

How do we help navigate these times or how do we navigate in such a way to bring about social restoration?

And James is going to talk about wisdom.

And boy, do we need wisdom here.

In fact, he's gonna go all the way back to the first theme that he set out when we were first introduced to the book of James.

He says, you know, consider all joy when you face trials of many kinds.

Why?

Because you know the testing of your faith will produce endurance, and endurance must finish its work to make you mature and complete, not lacking anything.

And we're in that enduring season.

We're like, well, how do I do this?

How do I navigate it?

And then he says, if any of you lacks wisdom, man, I'm there.

Do you lack wisdom today?

Do you need wisdom from God?

He says, if any of us lacks wisdom, we should ask God who gives generously to all.

And then he's gonna follow back now on this theme as we navigate these culturally complex, socially intense, emotionally charged times of how do we navigate it with wisdom?

We pick it up in James chapter 3, verse 13, and here's what he says: Who is wise and understanding among you?

James 3:13

Now, this question uh is implying that there's a few in their uh tribe, if you will, and in their church that think they're wise, but they're not really all that wise.

They're touting a lot of things with their mouths.

Remember last week and talking about many of you should be teachers, but they're not actually living wisely.

He says, if you really think you're wise, listen to this.

Let them show it by their good deeds.

Don't just claim to be wise, don't just post it on social media, show it by your life, by deeds done in humility.

Circle that word humility that comes down from wisdom.

This is the word, actually, when Jesus would be talking about in the Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the meek.

Same word here.

Meekness is not weakness as we think about it.

You maybe some of your translations says gentleness.

He says, Wisdom is shown by the deeds done in meekness.

Jesus talked about himself being meek.

He was not weak.

It's strength under control.

It's the quality of not being overly impressed by your sense of one's self-importance.

That you're not so focused on yourself, but you you are intentionally restrained in certain areas, making a decision to hold back or withhold to bring about life, to navigate wisely.

He says, Let them show it by their good deeds that comes from out of humility that comes from wisdom.

And so here's what James is saying.

If we're gonna navigate these culturally complex times, we have to walk in wisdom.

It's a command, walk in wisdom.

Okay, well, what is wisdom?

Thank you very much.

I'm just gonna give you the definition that I gave at the beginning of our relational intelligence series.

I know that feels like a lifetime ago.

That was just back in January.

Uh, but here's what wisdom is: it is the skill of living life well in God's universe.

It's a skill, it's something to be practiced.

So it requires coaching and constant application.

Wisdom and being smart are different.

There's plenty of smart people who do lots of dumb things or say lots of dumb things.

Wisdom is a skill that you learn and develop in how to navigate life well in what?

God's universe, recognizing it's his universe and so it operates according to his design.

One writer said this wisdom is God's fixed order for life, an order opposed to chaos and death.

So, if we're gonna navigate these times, we have to walk in wisdom.

How do we begin?

What does that really look like?

He's gonna spend the rest of the time unpacking what exactly does walking in wisdom look like?

And here's what he's gonna do: he's gonna tell us what it doesn't look like, what it does, and really what it produces, what wisdom ultimately produces, because this is what we long for in our lives, in our families, and in our city and nation.

Here's what wisdom is not.

He's gonna say, watch out for counterfeit wisdom.

Watch out, be on guard, be aware for something that is counterfeit.

It's posing, it's not the real deal.

It's a fraud.

It's made to look like wisdom, but it's nothing like it.

Notice what he says.

But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

Such quote wisdom does not come down from heaven, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

Walking in wisdom means first that we have to watch out and be aware of counterfeit, pseudo-fraudulent wisdom.

Well, what does that look like?

He tells us, he says, first, counterfeit wisdom is fueled by negative emotion.

Counterfeit wisdom is fueled by powerful negative emotion.

Did you notice that?

Bitter envy, selfish ambition.

Let's define those for us.

Bitterness is proceeding from or exhibiting hostility or animosity.

There's something in you that that has this hostility or animosity to another person.

One writer says it regards its opponents as enemies to be annihilated rather than friends to be persuaded.

That there's just, I want to take you out, whatever the cost.

Envy, or actually, it's where we get our words zealous, passionate, fanatic.

It's an intense negative feeling over another's achievements or success.

One writer said this the truth it holds is held with an unbalanced violence, then rather with reason conviction, and then this idea of selfish ambition, a strong drive for personal success with little or no moral inhibition.

It's eager to display itself more than to display the truth, more interested in its own victory than open to what the truth has to say.

Counterfeit wisdom is fueled by these negative emotions.

These are powerful.

These are things that are easy to see in other people and condemn, and it's easy to justify in ourselves.

It's easy to look at it because these motives, when when I feel bitter towards you, I have a reason I'm bitter towards you.

When I have this jealousy, I have something in you that I'm condemning or wanting.

And so I'm I'm I'm opposing you, and these emotions begin to lead me down a path and where I begin to play games and try to make truth fit my own perception.

It says counterfeit wisdom is first fueled by negative emotions, and then it sounds good, but its sources bad.

Did you notice he says?

But such wisdom, it sounds wise.

We see this in our world all the time.

In fact, look at relational intelligence, the series with such wisdom that sounds good, but its sources bad.

We had all sorts of things like just follow your heart.

It's just physical, all those sort of things.

They sound good, but have you stopped to take time and look at the philosophical end of what you're saying?

Where does your presuppositions conclude at?

What's the source?

Where does it end?

Wisdom, this is wisdom that looks good, but it often says I'm superior to others.

It wants to look down on others.

It's where you find these clever but cutting words that put others down or put them in their place.

Maybe twist the truth to make your points or tell half truths.

It seeks to humiliate or dominate the other.

Fueled by negative emotions, it sounds good, and that's the tricky part.

It sounds good, but its source, it says it's unspiritual, it's earthly, it's low, it's demonic.

It's actually set on fire by hell itself.

And ultimately, you can identify it by its fruit.

It produces division, disorder, discord.

He said, where there's envy and selfish admission, there you find disorder.

That's where we get our word anarchy or political turmoil in every evil practice.

It produces division relationally, it produces division ethnically, it produces division politically, disorder, discord.

Instead of bringing people together, it is driving them apart.

Friends, nothing good can grow in an atmosphere of hatred or discord or bitterness.

As followers of Jesus, navigating these culturally complex times, we're called to walk in wisdom, and so we have to be aware of the powerful emotions that are able to take control and taint our lenses that we can substitute counterfeit wisdom for.

And I would love, I'd love to say it's out there.

But I would argue that all of us have this in here.

I I would argue that I have it in my own life.

I can't say that that all my motives are pure.

There's moments of selfish ambition where I long for my success over someone else's success.

There's a bitterness in my soul when I see different things and the animosity where I just want to put someone in their place.

In fact, I was driving the other day, or we're going on vacation down south, and I had a guy riding my tail the entire time, and I'm like this close, and then he pulls out in front of me, and then he cuts right back in front of me, and then he flips me the bird.

Counterfeit wisdom says put him in his place.

And there's a level inside of me that feels justified and a bitterness that began to rise just in that simple silly moment, but it goes out into all these other areas, doesn't it?

See, friends, if we're gonna walk wisely, we first have to realize it's not out there, it's in here.

We have to own up.

That's not a problem for other people, it's a problem for me.

And I bet you it's a problem for you.

What exactly does walking in wisdom look like?

He tells us what it's not.

Watch out for counterfeit wisdom.

Then he's gonna tell us what wisdom is, and I love this.

And it's challenging.

And it's the call for us, church, to be the church, to bring restoration, to be followers of Jesus who follow the ways of Jesus.

And here's what he says about wisdom or true wisdom.

So you have counterfeit wisdom.

True wisdom always takes the high road.

True wisdom.

God's wisdom.

As he would say it, heavenly wisdom.

Counterfeit wisdom always takes the low road.

It's earthly, it's it's unspiritual.

Counterfeit wisdom produces the type of responses that hell delights in.

True wisdom always takes the high road.

Notice what he says.

Verse 17.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

Wisdom that comes from heaven.

Wisdom that comes from God.

Do you remember that definition I gave a little while ago about wisdom?

Uh wisdom is God's fixed order for life, an order opposed to chaos and death.

Wisdom that comes from heaven is God's order for life that's opposed to chaos and death.

And what James is saying is what I'm unpacking here is for people of God to be opposed to chaos and death.

This is what that looks like.

And so what I want to do for a few minutes here is unpack those words.

Because we can read that list and it just stays this arm distance away from us, and we don't fully understand.

Okay, what does the high road really look like?

What does that mean?

How do I respond?

He says, first of all, pure.

And he writes this first is this is the thing that everything else hangs on.

The rest of the uh descriptives that he's gonna give, it says it hangs on this internal reality of purity or holiness.

It's without moral defect.

Originally, it means what awakens awe.

That you're drawn into something that awakens awe.

And so when you're in awe of something, you adjust your life to that which you're in awe of.

So for let me give you an example.

I was recently um at the beach with my family this last week on vacation.

It's one of our favorite places.

The beach awakens awe in my life.

I just can't get there and go like, oh wow.

And as you look at the ocean and its power, and you you recognize in being in awe of the ocean, I am going to adjust to the ocean's way of behaving.

I'm not asking the ocean to adjust to me.

And so when I hop in and I surf, I recognize the currents and the tide.

I wasn't actually as good at recognizing all the different sea life.

I actually got stung by a stingray this last week.

Ouch! Why?

Because it's the ocean and that's their home.

And I'm entering that presence, and I need to adjust to the presence of the ocean.

It awakens all.

And see, what holiness is or purity is a response to the God who awakens all.

Proverbs says, the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord or the awe of the Lord.

That we wouldn't look at God and ask God to adjust to us, but we would look with awe at who God is, and we would adjust our lives to who God is.

That's what it means to be holy, pure.

Whoa.

I'm in your territory.

You are God, you are great, you are powerful, you are mighty, you are just, you are righteous.

There is none like you.

And in light of who you are and the magnificence of God Almighty, I can't continue to live this way.

My life then is going to be adjusted in response to you.

All of wisdom begins there.

And everything flows from there when our hearts are awakened in awe to the greatness of God.

He says, first of all, this internal quality of purity or moral excellence.

And then he goes on to give us six different things that are flowing out from that.

He says, then it's peace loving.

This is characterized by or prompting a state of wholeness or well being.

It's right relationships between individuals and between individuals and God.

That is, there is this desire that wisdom is bringing peace between one another.

It's peace-loving, it's it's agents of peace and trying to bring peace with others and God.

Then it's just considerate, and actually, our English word here doesn't help us uh understand because this is such a rich and actually very difficult Greek word to translate.

This word means not insisting on the right to enforce the strict letter of the law or custom.

It's being merciful or lenient.

In fact, as you read, uh, if you go back in the the Hebrew scripture translated into Greek, it's called the Septuagint.

This word, considerate, is used most often of God's response to humanity.

As the king and the righteous king, he doesn't enforce his rights, but he does give us leniency and mercy and grace.

It's the word that you want uh every judge, if you ever did anything wrong, to the way you want them to respond to you.

Though they have the right to maybe execute this judgment on you, they give you grace and mercy.

That's what this word is.

It says, wise people don't execute according to the law, but they they respond with love, leniency.

They give mercy and grace to the other person.

Taking the high road means not insisting on my right, but extending the leniency of grace and love to the other person in the way we would want to be extended to us.

Then he goes on and says, submissive.

This idea is willing and open to adopting another's position, belief or of or course of action with sufficient reason or evidence.

It's it's literally being open to reason, willing to listen.

In fact, you you could just write in your Bible, not being stubborn.

That's what this is.

Don't be stubborn.

See, it says, true wisdom's first of all, pure, then it's peace loving, it's about restoration of relationships, it's considering, it's a grace mercy-giving moment.

That's what wisdom engages in the midst of hurt and pain, and then it sits down and it's willing to listen, willing to learn, willing to go, okay, what's going on?

And seek to understand and hear, and not necessarily just always try to be heard and have your voice said.

Then goes on and says, full of mercy and good fruit.

This is compassion move to action.

Now, in the ancient Greek uh culture, it was pity for the one who is suffering unjustly.

Yet in Christianity, this word began to take on new meaning and new depth because it wasn't just pity for the one who suffered unjustly.

We can all feel pity for the one who suffered unjustly, right?

He went now, it began for Christians was pity for the one whose suffering was brought on by themselves.

Wow.

Do you see how this brings about social restoration when you lay down your rights, when you're willing to listen, when instead of judging the person who, because of all they've done, deserve to be judged, you have pity and you engage.

This idea of mercy isn't complete until it takes action.

It's not just about feeling bad, it's feeling pity or bad for them to doing good.

That is what wisdom does.

It takes the high road.

And it says impartial, not tending to cause factions or divisions within a group, not being judgmental or divisive, free from prejudice.

Saying, I'm I'm not gonna play one side or the other.

I'm gonna engage in this moment with you.

Uh I'm going to sit and listen and hear and learn.

And I'm not gonna, you know, play favorites, but but I'm going to I'm gonna take like Juneteenth, that was Friday, and really learn.

And where other people are gonna take it and either judge it and go, well, why is no, no, no.

Man, we impartiality, we're gonna really learn.

And then at the same time, I'm gonna grieve and hurt for the fallen officers who were killed a few weeks ago.

Because their death was injust as well.

And I'm gonna impartiality stand in the middle and hurt and grieve and love.

And it's harder that way.

In fact, you get more people angry at you that way because you're in the middle of both sides, and where you say, no, no, no, I'm going to simply do my best to love the way Jesus loved without distinction.

And then finally he says, sincere, without hypocrisy.

It never pretends to be what it's not, it never acts apart to gain its own end.

What you see is what you get.

There's not a secret agenda with wisdom when it takes the high road.

There's not an ulterior motive.

You don't have to question or guess what is going on and what are they up to really?

See, James is saying, wisdom that comes from heaven starts and originates from inside here, where our hearts are so in awe of who God is, we adjust our lives to God, and then it flows out when we're peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy.

It's saying, you know what?

I'm going to recognize the counterfeit wisdom where it's fueled by these negative emotions that are powerful.

And then I'm going to choose.

I'm going to choose to take the high road.

I mean, the low road hell celebrates in.

I'm going to take the high road.

I mean, you can just start there and just go, okay, in this moment, in this post, in my response to my wife or my kids or my co-workers, what does the high road require of me?

What does it look to take the high road?

And then he's going to say this true wisdom sow seeds of reconciliation.

You want to know what true wisdom does?

It sows seeds of reconciliation, not retaliation.

It sows seeds of reconciliation, not retribution.

It sows seeds of reconciliation, not revenge.

Notice what he says.

Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

In fact, church, here's what I want you to do.

Memorize that verse.

It's very short.

You can do it.

You can do it.

Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Man, we look around at the world and we're seeing the brokenness, the heartache, the pain, the dysfunction, the injustice.

I go, what in the world is gonna change this?

Jesus followers.

Jesus followers who stop playing games, pretending like, ah, this is just a social club for my personal benefit, but realize you've been placed on this planet for a purpose.

You were deemed for a purpose.

You have been given the ministry of reconciliation to bring hope and life and peace.

You are called.

I am called by how we talk, how we walk, how we act, to be peacemakers in every situation.

Peacemakers.

Well, what is reconciliation?

It's the process by which enemies are brought into friendship.

And it's you're like, that can't happen.

That's what God did for us in Christ Jesus.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we're yet sinners.

He was a peacemaker.

Christ died for our behalf.

See, see, it's what God has done for us when we were enemies with him in Christ Jesus.

And as a result, he has then entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation to bring peace and hope to those around us.

Peacemakers who sow seeds of peace reap a harvest of righteousness, reap a harvest of justice, reach a harvest of equitability.

I can't even say that equability.

No, I will not mean equity or I don't worry about it.

If you guys were with me, we would be laughing together.

Now you're just laughing at me on the screen.

That's okay.

When you sow seeds of peace, the harvest that you reap is right relationships between God and others.

Living according to God's design.

See, nothing good grows in an atmosphere in a culture of hostility and anger and vitriol.

But when you sow seeds of peace, righteousness can grow out of it.

Restoration comes.

See, social restoration is cultivated by followers of Jesus sowing peace as true social wisdom.

Now I want you to notice something, and we'll close here.

Social restoration is cultivated.

Do you notice it said peacemakers who sow peace?

We understand when you're reaping and working, you know, with agriculture that you sow a seed and you plant and you water it and you wait on it and you take care of it, and over time it grows.

And what we want in our instant culture is for everything to happen overnight.

Here's what he's saying: there's a process and there's a cultivation.

How do we navigate these culturally complex, emotionally charged, socially intense times to bring about social restoration?

We have to cultivate being peacemakers.

We have to cultivate peace in our relationships with one another.

We have to cultivate peace in the way we engage on social media.

We have to cultivate peace in the way we respond to one another.

And he says it's not overnight.

You remember, I think it was week two or uh in this.

I said, it's consistency, not intensity, that produces long-term change or impact.

It's when Jesus' followers cultivate peace.

And the question am I a person of peace?

I'd love to say like every time I'm a person of peace, but back to that person that flipped me off driving.

My first response was not to be a person of peace.

Let's just be honest.

My first response was to ride their tail and make sure they knew I was right there and how wrong they were.

I just convicted.

Am I a person of peace?

Is my goal reconciliation or retaliation?

Will you?

Will I take the high road to bring about social restoration?

This is what it means for us, church, to follow in the ways of Jesus.

Lord Jesus, thank you for my friends.

Thank you for your word that guides us in these incredibly complex, challenging, overwhelming times.

And God, I ask for each person who has heard these words that you would convict right in the areas where they need to be convicted to know what things in their lives really are counterfeit wisdom, are emotionally charged that aren't of you.

And would you give us the courage to take the high road to sow seeds of peace, and may we see righteousness bloom all around us in the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.