Two Kinds of Wisdom (Part 2) 

As I stated in my previous blog, there are two kinds of wisdom. It is imperative that each of us be clear about this fact. There is the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world, and we cannot afford to confuse one with the other.

The following passage of Scripture compares the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God very clearly.

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 (James 3:13-17).

James details the specific character traits of each type of wisdom. The wisdom of the world is described here as a wisdom that does not descend from above. It is sensual, or self-gratifying, and demonic. The wisdom of God is pure and produces only good fruit. Let’s look at each type of wisdom, its character traits, and some examples of it in operation.

Wisdom of the World

1. Bitterness – The meaning of the word is to be sharp, harsh, or angry. Remember my family member who was kind, generous, and gracious to me but at times harsh and angry toward his family? That type of behavior is not the wisdom of God. Whenever we yield to bitterness, harshness, and outbursts of anger, tolerating this as acceptable behavior, we have—perhaps unconsciously and unintentionally—exchanged the wisdom of God for the wisdom of the world.
2. Envy – This means to desire what others have. It can include the desire to be someone else or have their possessions or position in life. It is the result of not trusting God to provide for you and promote you. One of the benefits of the wisdom of God is that God will promote us, honor us, and provide riches for us (Prov. 3-4). Because He promised this to us, we can trust Him to bring that to pass in our lives. One of the family members I shared about earlier had adopted unscrupulous, and in some cases, illegal, business practices to meet his needs. He was modeling the wisdom of this world rather than the wisdom of God.
3. Self-seeking – The concept here is yielding to selfish ambition, even in the name of following God-given goals or dreams. We are self-seeking when we put ourselves forward at the expense of others or without thinking about others. This is what my dad modeled for us in his pursuit of another woman. He did not consider how those actions would impact my mom or his five young children. This Greek word for “self-seeking” was used often before New Testament times to describe an individual’s pursuit of political office by unfair means. There was no method too low that this person would avoid if it helped him accomplish his goal to defeat his opponent and gain public office. This is definitely the wisdom of the world, and one of the traits we see in operation most often today. But the end doesn’t justify the means with the wisdom of God! James goes on to describe self- seeking as boasting to exalt or promote yourself to someone else’s hurt or injury and lying against the truth (calling good evil and evil good) in order to accomplish your desired end. Stooping to the lowest moral standard in order to fulfill your goal is the wisdom of the world in its highest expression.
4. Earthly – This simply means pertaining to the natural realm. It may be common sense, but earthly wisdom does not always line up with the Word of God. That is why we need to have knowledge of the Word to help us distinguish the wisdom of the world from the wisdom of God. For example, one common, traditional saying I was brought up with was, “God helps those who help themselves.” That sounds good on the surface, but when you read the Word, you find that God has mercy on those who don’t deserve it (Matthew 5:45). Galatians 6:2 tells us we are to bear one another’s burdens to fulfill the law of Christ, which is selfless love. Scripture also tells us that he who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord and the Lord will repay him (Proverbs 19:17). These verses debunk that traditional thought process of God’s willingness to help only those with the wherewithal and resources to improve their own situations, proving that is not the wisdom of God. There are many such “good old boy” sayings we were brought up with that we must check out with the Word of God before accepting them as the truth.
5. Sensual – This word comes from the Greek word that is translated “soul” in Scripture and means that which is governed by the soul, emotions, passion, and reason. One of the men who showed kindness toward and interest in me as a teenager was my best friend’s dad. He took me to their family cabin a couple of times and included me in some of their family functions. I appreciated the attention and favor he gave me, but he also shared “wise” counsel with me and his son that wasn’t godly. One of the points of counsel he shared was that “sex is the most powerful thing in the world.” At the time, I didn’t know the Word very well, but that statement struck me as questionable coming from a married adult man. I thought if you were married, those needs would be met in your wife and wouldn’t control you as much as when you were single. Later I found out that he had made sexual advances toward my mom. And he was already married! I also discovered from the Word that God is all-powerful and that when we are born again, we received the fruit of the Spirit, which includes self-control (Matt. 6:13 and 26:64; Gal. 5:22-23). The wisdom of the world tried to convince me that sex was the most powerful thing in the world, but the wisdom of God says God is all-powerful and we can control (have power over) our passions! It is important to note here that though people can be kind and favorable toward you, that doesn’t automatically mean they speak from the wisdom of God.
6. Demonic – This means to resemble or proceed from an evil spirit; to be demon-like. My wife and I once ministered to a lady who was hearing voices. Those voices told her to curse people, hurt people, and do things that were obviously evil and wrong. We told her these voices were not from the Lord because God would never tell someone to curse or hurt others. She said she knew the voices were from the Lord because they spoke to her about a hurricane that would hit her hometown in south Texas, and it happened just like the voices said. We asked her to consider that the devil (who caused that hurricane) knew where he would cause it to make landfall. We told her she was being deceived by familiar spirits. She could have been set free that day but decided to continue listening to the voices.

We need  to  take time to examine the fruit of the wisdom and counsel we are hearing. If it is full of emotional drama, strife, confusion, and bad fruit, it is NOT the wisdom of God.

This was very sad to us, but we could not force her to be free. People have to want to be free. They have to realize that the wisdom of the world produces confusion and every evil work. We need to take time to examine the fruit of the wisdom and counsel we are hearing. If it is full of emotional drama, strife, confusion, and bad fruit, it is NOT the wisdom of God.

Wisdom of God

3. Pure – This word means clean, chaste, modest; and free from defilement. The wisdom of God is not rude, unclean, or dirty, but trash and gutter talk is common with the world. I started sharing jokes at the beginning of my messages many years ago because I saw the fruit of laughter drawing lost and carnal people’s attention to listen to the Word of God. Many later received the Lord and became part of the family of God. Since that time, I have received hundreds of jokes from people all over the world. Some of them I clean up and share. Others are funny but impossible to clean up enough for me to share publicly. I set those aside as impure and assign them to the wisdom of the world.
4. Peaceable – This word refers to that which is pertaining to peace, as opposed to confusion, strife, fighting, and drama. Proverbs 3:17 tells us that all the paths of wisdom are peace, not just some of them. When we walk in the peace of God in our hearts and attempt to walk in peace with men, we can be assured we are in the wisdom of God. When we are experiencing a lack of peace in our hearts and constant strife and contention with men, it is a sign we are walking in the wisdom of the world. After my parents divorced, my mom moved our family from Davenport, Iowa, to Houston, Texas, to be closer to her family. Someone she trusted gave her counsel that as the oldest son, I should be the one to help my mom correct my siblings— including spanking them with a belt. My mom attempted to institute that counsel by having me spank my brother Layne (the second oldest child in our family) when he had done something wrong. It only took one or two attempts to determine this was not the wisdom of God. It created strife, drama, and confusion in the family, as well as anger and animosity between my brother and myself.
5. Gentle – This word means moderate, patient, equitable, and fair. The definition includes the idea of “sweet reasonableness.” When I think of this aspect of the wisdom of God, I think of my pastor, Bob Nichols. He has modeled for me and many others the example of being fair, equitable, and patient. He always displayed sweet reasonableness, even when bringing correction to someone. Remember, it is the wisdom of this world that is harsh, rude, angry, and bitter—not the wisdom of God.
6. Willing to yield – This is actually one Greek word translated into an English phrase. It means “easy to be entreated” or persuaded. It also means someone who easily obeys or is compliant. The Bible tells us the willing and obedient eat the good of the land, not just the obedient (Isa. 1:19). The wisdom of God is willing to submit to authority in our lives. We’ll talk about this later, but we haven’t begun to submit until we are willing to do what someone in authority asks of us that we don’t want to do. The only exception to this is something that is clearly sin or a violation of God’s Word.
7. Full of mercy and good fruits – Mercy means full of kindness, compassion, and goodwill toward others. Good fruits are good works that produce good results in people’s lives. It is mercy, kindness, and goodness in operation that impacts people’s lives in tangible ways. It is Jesus-with-skin-on manifesting His mercy, love, and kindness toward people. The wisdom of God will always produce good fruit! This aspect of God’s wisdom brings people to repentance (Rom. 2:4).
8. Without partiality – This means impartial or without prejudice or bias. The wisdom of God does not make decisions with a predisposed bias or prejudice. It is fair and impartial. You can trust someone who is walking in the wisdom of God to be fair and impartial, to stand on the truth, refusing to be swayed by lobbyists, finances, or personal preference. Unfortunately, this is often lacking in our judicial and political system today. Most of their decisions seem to be prejudiced toward party and social groups or biased for their own financial gain. This is the world’s wisdom prophesied in Isaiah 5:23 that justifies the wicked and takes justice away from the righteous.
9. Without hypocrisy – This means to be truthful and sincere. Its literal meaning refers to someone who does not act like a stage player or theater actor. It also means undisguised, unmasked, and without pretense. The wisdom of God does not pretend to be one thing when it is really something else. You can trust it to be truthful, sincere, and unchanging. There is no “put on” with the wisdom of God. To walk without hypocrisy requires one to be secure in their identity in Christ and to walk in the fear of the Lord when considering others’ opinions. The wisdom of this world, however, changes with the wind. Like a chameleon, it pretends to be something and believe something that doesn’t offend the crowd. But the wisdom of God allows you to be yourself, secure in who you are— no pretense or put on necessary!

The wisdom of God provides us with true, lasting answers to life’s problems that really work, and it causes us to bear good fruit.

The wisdom of this world may provide temporary answers, but it will eventually end up disappointing us. It will always lead us toward dependence upon the world system, others, or ourselves. The wisdom of God provides us with true, lasting answers to life’s problems that really work, and it causes us to bear good fruit. You can be confident in it and its ability to connect us with God and His Word—the true source of wisdom.

Adapted from Greg Mohr’s book, Walking in Wisdom.