Wisdom Is Unwavering, without Hypocrisy
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February 23, 2014 |
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 "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace" (James 3:17-18).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
With prejudice and partiality, people are sometimes sure about what is not true. For our hearts or minds to incline towards one side is to waver. Wavering leads to hypocrasy. We can bear truth when we are unwavering and without hypocrasy. Then, we can see everything with impartiality and discern what is true exactly. By doing so, we can gain wisdom that can penetrate through everything with the beautiful jewel-like eyes of the heart.
What should we do to receive wisdom that is unwavering and without hypocrisy?
1. To be unwavering and without hypocrisy, we have to have love and mercy
'Unwavering' means to view everything with steadfast integrity without partiality. If we are not partial, we will have steadfastness towards everyone. That is, our attitude towards others will not change according to outward appearances, financial situation, educational background, or other such conditions. Before being able to look at everything from within justice and with such integrity, we first have to cultivate love and mercy in us.
Even if we know a lot about the Word of God, we cannot put it into practice properly without love and mercy. For example, God tells us 'to love our enemies', but it won't be easy for us to love those who do harm to us or those whom we cannot understand at all. It is because we tend to incline towards our personal tastes, characters, our self-centered righteousness and our frameworks. We will incline towards something to the extent that we lack love and mercy. If what others are saying is not in agreement with personal ideas, it is easy to judge and condemn it.
Though it is the same person, he appears fat when seen through the convex lens of a magnifying glass, but he looks slim when he is seen through a concave lens. If we say he is fat or slim based on the image seen through the lenses, what would happen? You might just say you are honestly stating what you are seeing, but it is different from reality. Thus, it is a lie. This kind of remark might even offend that person, too. If you look at others with prejudice, then the fruit of falsehood will be borne.
Those who are full of truth, love, and mercy do not criticize others in any situation. They just try to accept them with a merciful heart. Mercy bears the good fruit of giving life to people while 'wavering' will bear the evil fruits that distort the truth with judgment and condemnation and that cause loss of life.
It was the case with Pharisees and scribes at the time of Jesus. They interpreted the Law within their own frameworks, and if something was being done that was not right according to their frameworks, they condemned everybody doing it as a sinner.
When Jesus healed a sick person on the Sabbath, they interpreted the act to be in violation of the Sabbath. The actual meaning of 'keeping the Sabbath' is not just to prohibit all kinds of work, but to take spiritual rest. To heal sick people, preach the gospel, and to revive the souls is something of goodness that ought to be done on the Sabbath, but the Pharisees and scribes judged such actions by Jesus as being in violation of the Sabbath.
2. Some bear fruit of falsehood due to their wavering partiality
Many people do not realize that this kind of fruit is borne of hypocrisy and wavering partiality in our daily lives. For example, suppose two little brothers had a fight. If you ask the elder brother, "Why did you fight?", then he might say, "My brother hit me first!" But if you ask the younger brother, then he might say, "He tried to take away my toy and I hit him!"
If you scold the younger one by listening only to the elder brother, the younger one would feel he has been victimized. If the parents tend to love the elder one more, or if the younger one is usually the trouble-maker, they might even more easily believe only the older one. But if the parents are wise, they will view the situation with justice and integrity.
Also, some distort the facts for their own benefit or by injection of personal thoughts. Because of the wavering in them, they speak in falsehoods without even realizing it. For example, suppose you hear that somebody you love has been accused of doing something wrong. You are likely to disagree immediately saying, "That's impossible." Or, you may want to cover the person's fault saying that he must have had a good reason. However, if that person is somebody you don't especially like, then you might just hear and accept it. Furthermore, you may think, "He made mistakes like that before, and now it seems he has done it again." You may even justify your ill-feelings against him saying, "That's why I was never able to like him anyway." Because of the 'wavering' caused by your partiality or bias, instead of trying to discern the truth, you just tend to pass judgment on the person.
Let me give you another example. Suppose somebody you know passes you by quickly and ignores you. He could have been busy, or he might have been preoccupied with some other thoughts. He may have had a pressing problem and it was necessary to avoid everyone for the moment.
If we have partiality under such conditions we are likely to pass judgment on him. We may think his action is rude or interpret it in another way within our own experiences and emotions thinking, "He must be upset with me because I didn't respond positively to him before when he asked me to do him a favor." In such cases we cannot hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, our eyes will be closed and we cannot find the truth.
3. To be truthful with God's wisdom in everything
First, we have to remember that it is 'wavering' if we incline towards the weak (Exodus 23:3). We must not stand for the rich and powerful according to our own benefit, but at the same time we must not show favoritism towards the poor and the weak just because they are the poor and the weak.
People usually think it is more fitting to stand for the weak when there is a dispute between the powerful and the weak. We have to discern and judge everything with the standard of the Word of God. We must have unwavering, precise judgment between right and wrong, but only with the eyes of love and mercy.
In order not to have biased wavering or falsehood, secondly, we must not make hasty judgments based on what other people are telling us. If we have prejudice, bias or partiality, we cannot discern the truth properly even if we see or hear an event directly. If we jump to conclusions based on our assumptions or just the information other people are giving us, we are likely to make a mistake. We have to be careful in making our judgments about what we see and hear, so that we can have more of an upright heart and fairness.
Lastly, in order not to have any wavering or falsehood we have to cast away hard-feelings and selfish-motives. Most people have more lenient standards for those who are close to them or those who treat them well. For example, if somebody who is not very close to us breaks the rules, we say, "He is arrogant. He doesn't follow the rules and he acts with impropriety." But if our family members or close friends break the rules, we think they must have had a reason. Most people have more lenient standards for those who are close to them or those who treat them well.
When we say something or think about something, if we can feel any kind of ill-feelings or selfish and self-centered motives, we have to be careful and check ourselves once again. Especially if it is related to our loved ones or close friends, we must be able to act and speak in greater justice and fairness. Those who are in leadership positions in companies or organizations should be all the more careful. They may think their decision was fair while others might think quite the opposite.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 7:5, "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." People see brothers' speck even though they have a great sin like the log because they lack spiritual love. When we cast off sin and evil and become sanctified, we can discern exactly the hearts of men and the situations. Thus, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will see and feel and think of everything in goodness and discern everything in justice and honesty.
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