Politicians can be pragmatic. And pastors can be politicians. Paul says that all people can have 'the appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion (Col 2.23). Yet all of these kinds of wisdom are not the wisdom that is 'from above'. Like Bunyan's character, Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, we can act like we are purveyors of wisdom, yet be strangers to God-given truth that re-orders our lives in the midst of a horribly disordered world. The Letter of James asks us what kind of wisdom are we seeking? Is it the horizontal kind or the heavenly? Only wisdom 'from above' can bring order to the madness of our disordered world. In James 3.13-18 we will search together for this 'heavenly wisdom'.

Outline

1. The Competing Claims of Wisdom (v 13)
2. Wisdom from Below (vv 14-16)
3. Wisdom from Above (vv 17-18)