Social Restoration - Phase 4: Social Wisdom, Part 1

We are living in culturally complex, emotionally charged, socially intense times. What do you say? What do you do? How do you navigate, make decisions, honor God and love people at a time like this?

That's today. Stay with me. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Living on the Edge is an international discipleship ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram.

I'm Dave Drouin and we're in our series called Social Restoration, looking at four specific things serious-minded believers can do to counter cultural pressure and love like Jesus loved. Now, if you've missed any of these messages along the way, they're available on the Chip Ingram app or online at livingontheedge.org. Now, once in a while, Chip invites his son Ryan to teach.

So this is Ryan's series. And in just a second, he's going to bring us part one of his message, Social Wisdom. Chip will be with us after the teaching to bring some additional thoughts. So be sure to stay with us for that. But right now, let's join Ryan Ingram for his message from James chapter three. Well, this morning, we're concluding a series called Social Restoration, talking about how do we experience social restoration?

Isn't it such a timely question for us as 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 and we just see such social anxiety and unrest is 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 a 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, the pastor of the early church in Jerusalem, their normal was upended and he's bringing God's word to them and truth to help them discover how to once again bring about social restoration, how to navigate these times as followers of Jesus. 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. 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 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 going to 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. 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 going to 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 three, verse 13, and here's what he says. Who is wise and understanding among you? Now, this question is implying that there's a few in their tribe, if you will, 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, 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. Maybe some of your translation 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 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 going to navigate these culturally complex times, we have to walk in wisdom. It's command. Walk in wisdom. Okay, well, what is wisdom?

Thank you very much. I'm just going to give you the definition. 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 or 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 and 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 and order opposed to chaos and death. So if we're going to navigate these times, we have to walk in wisdom.

How do we begin? What does that really look like? He's going to spend the rest of the time unpacking what exactly does walking and wisdom look like? And here's what he's going to do. He's going to 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 going to 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 wisdom does not come down from heaven, but is earthly and spiritual 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.

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 word zealous, passionate, fanatic. It's an intense negative feeling over another's achievements or success. 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 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 source is bad. Did you notice it says, but such wisdom, it sounds wise, 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 demonic. It's actually set on fire by hell itself.

And ultimately you can identify it by its fruit. It produces division, disorder, discord. You said where there's envy and selfish mission, there you find disorder.

That's where we get our word anarchy or political turmoil and 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 the atmosphere of hatred or discord or bitterness.

As followers of Jesus navigating these culturally complex times, we are 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'd love to say it's out there, but I would argue that all of us have this in here. I would argue that I have it in my own life. I can't say 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 an animosity where I just want to put someone in their place. In fact, I was driving the other day.

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 them 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 going to 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.

I bet you it's a problem for you. What exactly does walking and wisdom look like? He tells us what it's not. Watch out for counterfeit wisdom. Then he's going to tell us what wisdom is and I love this and it's challenging and it's the call for us 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. Remember that definition I gave a little while ago about wisdom. Wisdom is God's fixed order for life and 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. 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 descriptives that he's going to 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. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and Ryan Ingram's teaching is from his series Social Restoration. Ryan will be back with part two of his message in our next program, but Chip's here now with some thoughts about what you heard today.

Now before he gets to that, I hope you'll take a second to go online or tap share and encourage others to join us for this series too. Social restoration is complicated. Even with the best of intentions, well-meaning people get themselves into trouble. So how do we make a difference and bring light, not heat?

Well, these messages from Ryan Ingram bring a lot of clarity to that question. He looks at our current circumstances with a gospel vision of community and provides biblical solutions. For a limited time, resources for social restoration are discounted and the MP3s are always free. To order your copy or to send it to a friend, visit us online at livingontheedge.org.

For additional information, just give us a call at 888-333-6003. Before I come back with some very specific application about today's message, I just want to remind you that you're listening to this because some very caring and loving individuals have sacrificially given to the ministry so that we can pay for the airtime, so we can create the programs, and so we can minister to you. And you know, in those early times as you listen to the program, we are delighted to just make it available and we are thrilled of the team that God's put together. But I'd like to talk to some of you that have become regular listeners and you've never considered, I wonder how this gets paid for.

Would you consider making a gift today? The Bible is very clear that when we receive spiritual ministry to us, we have a responsibility to help financially fund those who teach and minister to us. And what I want you to know is we use all the resources to go right back into the ministry. We want to help Christians live like Christians. And so if you've been benefiting from the ministry and you've never given or you've given now and then and realized maybe God wants you to be a part of the team, would you consider today partnering with us? You can do it any way God leads you, but would you take that next step and be a part of getting Living on the Edge and what God's doing through it to the lives of many more people?

Thanks Chip. Well if partnering with Living on the Edge is an idea that makes sense to you, we'd love to have you join us. Helping Christians live like Christians will change the world we live in. To send a gift, just go to livingontheedge.org, tap donate on the app, or give us a call at 888-333-6003.

That's 888-333-6003. And let me thank you in advance for whatever the Lord leads you to do. Well, Ryan got us started today unpacking that list that introduces James chapter 3 about God's wisdom.

He's going to finish that up in our next program. But I want to pause because I think this idea of wisdom, most people do not understand at all. I mean we think of wisdom, we think of someone who's smart, that has a high IQ, we think of cognitive ability. And even though you heard it taught, that is not the wisdom that's referred to here. Wisdom here is a skill. It's like a way to think, it's a way to live. Think of wisdom as like, hey, there's a path.

Like here's how to do life, here's how to do money, here's how to do relationships. And it's a path, it's a way, it's a skill, it's an actual practice that says, in other words, this is how you build a house so it won't fall down. And God's wisdom has very specific characteristics. In other words, He's the architect, He's the engineer, and He says, I've created life to operate in a certain way.

So just like an engineer builds a car and says, you know, so often it needs the oil changed and here's how to go through the gears and all these specifics. God says, my wisdom sets up life that produces peace and health and life and healing and unity and connection and where people flourish. And then notice there's counterfeit wisdom. And counterfeit wisdom is just the opposite.

I love the way Ryan put it, this was a great line. Counterfeit wisdom produces the type of responses that hell delights in. Wisdom that comes from below, that is earthly, that is demonic, is rooted in bitterness and hate and chaos and death and division.

And so just today, what I wanted you to pause and think about was, when you evaluate people, when you evaluate yourself, when you evaluate relationships, when you're examining movements or listening to the news or watching video clips, here's what I want you to ponder. The wisdom of God produces unity and peace and love and life and we'll develop that in the next broadcast. The wisdom of the world produces death, chaos, disunity, destruction. Pause for a moment when you ask yourself, what is good, what is right, what do you want to follow, how are you going to evaluate all the things that are coming at you? If it produces chaos, disunity and death, it comes from below. If it produces peace, authenticity and life, it comes from above.

Now use that as your litmus test and ask yourself, what kind of wisdom are you living by? You know, a great way to stay engaged and connected to Chip and Living on the Edge is with the Chip Ingram app. You'll get free access to all of Chip's recent messages, his message notes and much more. Not only that, but it couldn't be easier to call or email directly from the app. We'll be with us again next time when we continue our series, Social Restoration. Until then, this is Dave Druey saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.