Wisdom from Above // Flying Under the Radar, Part 4

We're all programmed to win – at school and at sport and at life.  But – well, what if winning is not what life's all about?  What if God has a plan that is so much deeper and richer than just "winning"? You know something in this "dog eat dog" world that we live in it seems that there's plenty of dog to go around. It's as though winning is everything; plan, do, succeed and reap the recognition and the reward. There's a lot to be said for that lot, I mean money and possessions and fame and recognition, that's what life's all about. If only I could buy a bigger house or a better car or a new outfit then I know I'll be happy, I know I will because then people will look at me and say, 'boy, he's made it' or 'she's made it', right? Yeah right (sarcastically). But sadly it's a treadmill that so many people seem to be on, clawing their way to the top, getting their own way, standing up for their rights. There's a whole bunch of different ways we can say it but the bottom line is we just want to be seen as winners, we're recognition junkies. I mean, okay everybody likes to win and we all like to see out sports men and women win too, our tennis players or our swimmers or our football team. We live in a society that has a 'win at all cost' mentality because the winner takes all. Then God comes along with this crazy plan that, well it's basically completely the opposite of that. Have a listen to how James puts it in the New Testament, James chapter 3: "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbour bitter envy or selfish ambition in your hearts, don't boast about it or deny the truth because wisdom like that doesn't come from heaven, it's earthly, it's unspiritual, it's from the devil." "For where you have envy and selfish ambition there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure then peace loving and considerate and submissive and full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere." "Peace makers who sow peace raise a harvest of righteousness. What causes the fights and the quarrels amongst you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but you can't get it so you kill and you covet but you cannot have what you want; you quarrel, you fight, you don't have because you don't ask God. When you ask you don't receive because you ask with wrong motives or you may spend what you get on your own pleasures." You see, that first kind of so called wisdom he's describing is the selfish kind of wisdom, the world's wisdom, we've all been on the receiving end of that. Ever been stabbed in the back? Ever been walked over and treated like a door mat? It really hurts doesn't it? You can truly say that it does come from the devil, this wisdom of the world, win at all costs. So much is done out of selfish ambition and greed. You can see it in the Stock Market, a company declares a healthy profit and a dividend to shareholders and yet the share price drops because the market was expecting so much more, they wanted double digit growth. It's an economic model based on greed. You see it in the work place; boardrooms are dominated by profit motives. Safety's sometimes compromised or the bosses vote themselves these huge bonuses and pay rises and the workers get nothing. And sometimes you see it on the shop floors, the shoes on the other foot, the workers are lazy, they don't put in the effort or a full days work. You see, where there is envy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and every evil practice. We can all relate to that, some people succeed at the cost of the well being of others, it's a win-lose proposition, a win-lose mentality but then, then James talks about a different kind of wisdom: .. The wisdom that comes from heaven" he said, "is first of all pure and peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peace makers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. They're interesting adjectives he uses here with this kind of wisdom; peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy. Now that's the sort of wisdom we all want to be on the receiving end of right? But giving out that sort of wisdom, handing out that sort of wisdom to others, that turns the tables. Peace, consideration, submission, mercy. You know something; when we hand out that sort of wisdom it costs us big time. When someone deserves our retribution for what they've done and yet we show them consideration and mercy in order to have peace that costs us, we have to lay down our right of revenge and that's hard. It means not getting our own way, it means not winning, it means not getting the recognition, not having the satisfaction of revenge. It means sowing before we reap, that's a faith thing. In other words, when we have a quarrel, when we have a desire to win and instead we forgive and we make peace, we lay down our rights, it's sowing a seed. We won't get the benefit then, you see what it says: Peace makers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. You don't reap a harvest the moment you sow a seed, it comes later at due time in the season of harvest. It's so contrary to the world's ways, so counter intuitive. This flying under the radar, giving up our right to public adulation and victory and success and the lime light and all the things that the world says we're entitled to, it feels almost like God's saying become a loser. To live it God's way, plant a seed and believe in faith that God will give you a harvest in due season. Now Jesus explained this paradox another way, He said: I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed but if it dies it produces many seeds. If you love your life you'll lose it but if you hate this life, in this world you'll keep it for eternal life. Jesus is talking about dying to our selfish desires, dying to the right to have recognition and just quietly getting on and following Him. No matter where it takes us, no matter what the cost, no matter how hard it is, no matter that someone's hurt us and we just want to beat them back and Jesus says, "Be a peace maker, be loving, be considerate, be submissive, be full of mercy and good fruit. Sow peace now!" It's such a sweet delight, in my experience, that dying to myself, to our own selfish ambitions and deceit and all that stuff. You see that's the problem, James goes on to write in chapter 4: What is the cause of fights and quarrels? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something; you don't get it so you kill and covet but you still can't have what you want. You quarrel and you fight. See, it's about getting your own way and when we don't get our own way we get really ugly. It's so difficult, it's so difficult to fly under the radar and give all that up and yet there is such a sweet delight in that. There's such a wonder as we live our lives day after day just quietly following after Jesus, laying down our rights, sacrificing when He calls us to sacrifice. It's not about winning, it's about honouring God with a goodness inside that will stand and remain no matter what the cost.