The wisdom from above as seen in the life of Christ – Part 1 - Pure

"But the wisdom that is from above is first truly pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy."

 

The first attribute of the wisdom that is from above is purity. Our motives for what we do are of primary importance. Bad motives turn even the best of deeds into worthless things (1 Cor. 13:3). It is motive that provides spirit to every action. Christ was totally free from self-seeking, because He came to do the Father's will not his own, and His actions flowed out of love to others (John 6:38).

The Pharisees could not understand Christ because they were not pure in their motives, it was with them as Paul wrote Titus, "To the pure all things are pure. But to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled" (Titus 1:15). They could not understand how Christ could eat with sinners, because their motives for doing everything were essentially either financial gain or popularity (Luke 16:13-15, John 5:44), thus assuming Christ to be like themselves they could see no reason for His eating with sinners but a bad one. When the world questions the motives of true believers for the self-sacrifice they do they really condemn themselves. Christ's motive was merely to call the sinners to repentance, and because wisdom is justified by her children in many cases it worked.

 

Even Christ's brothers did not at first understand His motives, and thought that He was seeking popularity (John 7:3-5). Only later did James and Jude come to a realization of who Christ was and what He actually was doing in His earthly ministry. Far from seeking popularity or power, He actually fled when He knew the people would try to crown Him king (John 6:15).

 

The ministry of Christ was actuated by an earnest desire to please His Father and a deep compassion for people. If He had been motivated by selfish motives He would never would have worked some of His healing miracles, because they often caused Him serious inconvenience through provoking opposition and jealousy, and also by causing throngs of people to surround Him everywhere He went. Many times in the Gospels we read that Jesus worked miracles because He was moved with compassion. Faith works by love, the greater our love for God and others the more the faith of God will be able to flow. It was not with the lifeless rod of authority, but only by real contact that Elisha was able to raise the child of the Shunammite from the dead. In the same way unless the plight of people moves our hearts deeply, we cannot expect our prayers to move God's heart and bring down a miracle.

 

Some of the hardest things Christ ever spoke to a man, were spoken to the rich young ruler, a young man who was very respectable and was trying hard to keep God's commands. These words though were spoken out of love (Mark 10:21). Jesus never tried to conciliate people at the expense of their true good.

 

One of the ways in which we Christians often fall far short of God's wisdom is in purity. Especially in Western churches where we tend to be very goal orientated, people tend to be viewed in a utilitarian manner. God looks at things differently though. If we compare Ephesians 4:8-13 with Psalm 68:18, where verse 8 is taken from in a modified form, we see that God's purpose in receiving gifts from people (and giving ministerial gifts to people) is to establish relationship. If God only desired to have work done He could do it Himself or have angels do it. He uses men and women so that in their working for Him they can develop a relationship with Him. If churches become to focused on the work side, and forget the relationship part, people feel used, and people who feel used do as little as is necessary and that grudgingly. However when people feel loved they will be willing to do amazing things very willingly and sometimes without even being asked to do them. Much effort is often wasted because we try to encourage people who feel used to get more involved (and consequently they feel more used), and the reason we do this is often because we are building our own kingdoms instead of really seeking what is best for God and others. When we have pure motives like Christ, we will also be able to accomplish great things like Him. Paul could write to the Corinthians, "I seek not yours, but you." May God grant we can say the same. Amen.