James 3:17 – “’Cause It’s All About You, Jesus”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:

¹⁷But the from above wisdom is first pure, then peaceable, reasonable, agreeable, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, [and] without pretense.

I’ve tried to look closely at the first two qualities of “from above” wisdom – “pure,” and “peaceable.” As I said earlier, the rest of the words do not necessarily translate well into English. They are mostly picture words and it’s hard to sum up those pictures in single English words. My translations “reasonable, agreeable, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, [and] without pretense” are as close as I can get. If you want to get a feel for the fullness of the pictures painted by each word, just look up as many translations as you can and see how they translated each word – they’re probably all correct, all trying to draw out some aspect of the picture, and perhaps in the sum of them all, you’ll get a good feel for their meaning.

But I think it is more simple than that. What is really helpful to me is to step back, look again at the passage, and realize what James is describing is Jesus. Whether or not I (or anyone else for that matter) has done the best job trying to translate these terms, I think there should be no question in anyone’s mind that we are talking about Jesus. We are talking about His character. We’re talking about exactly what He was like. And we are talking about a person who is very pleasant to be around.

James is saying the “from above” wisdom will make us like Jesus, it will make us nice people! He’s saying this is the litmus test of whether our wisdom is “from above” or not. Based on this passage I have to ask myself, “Yes or no? Is the ‘wisdom’ I think I possess creating in me the contentiousness of a Pharisee (vv.14-16) or the gentle kindness of Jesus (v17)? “But, but, but … I’m contending earnestly for the once-delivered faith! I’m standing up for my convictions! I’m valiant for the truth!” Those are the natural responses of those of us who’ve been trained to think it is okay to be hateful and mean as long as we’re somehow “defending the truth.”

Really? Let me ask that question again: Is the “wisdom” I think I possess creating in me the contentiousness of a Pharisee or the gentle kindness of Jesus? The “from above wisdom,” though granted it is first of all pure, will make us “peaceable, reasonable, agreeable, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, [and] without pretense.” To put it bluntly, “wisdom” that makes us otherwise is, according to James, demonic(!). Once again, I am thinking this passage ought to be a bombshell, if only we would read it and really take to heart what James is saying. Especially anyone who would even dare to take up the position of “teacher” (v1) and sincerely believe they possess wisdom (v13) to be shared, ought to read James 3:13-18 in sincere humility, honestly asking the Lord to hold up their life and their heart to these words.

As I’m studying this and thinking about it, I am amazed at how far off base we’ve all gotten. Christianity is about Christ. It’s all about Jesus. And not the Jesus we want Him to be but the actual Jesus of the Bible, this Jesus who is peaceable, reasonable, agreeable … and yet on the other hand a Warrior King. We think “religion” is all about church, all about programs, even all about theologies, and the “right” schools, and all the rest. And we all forget it’s only ever been about Jesus. The wisdom from above is Jesus. If I would be more what God wants me to be, I must be more about Jesus, more like Him, more like Him in how I define “pure,” and more like Him in how I view the people around me and how I talk to them and how I treat them. “More about Jesus would I know, more of His grace to others show; More of His saving fullness see, more of His love, Who died for me.”

Again, I am amazed how easily distracted I am and we all are. It’s so simple.

The wisdom from above is Jesus.

I’m coming back to the heart of worship,

‘Cause it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.

I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it,

When it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.

I’m coming back to the heart of worship,

‘Cause it’s all about You, it’s all about You, Jesus.