On Sunday, I preached on James 3:13-18, contrasting true, godly wisdom with wisdom that is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. I had a section that came from my personal devotional reading that I cut for time.

False wisdom, or worldly wisdom, often has a veneer of genuineness to it because it gets results. But it doesn’t consider heavenly realities or God’s perspective. This can be true in the church or outside.

In the church, we fall into this trap when we excuse pastors, celebrity Christians, etc., for self-aggrandizing behavior, abuse, or arrogance. We say, “Oh, we know, he’s harsh to the church staff, and he manipulates people, and yes, he’s been bullying the board, but look at all the good he’s doing! He’s bringing people in; he’s got stage presence. His big book deal is huge and will increase the church’s reputation. Oh, and he’s getting invites to the speaker circuit. He’s putting butts in the seats, dollars in the plate. We can’t argue with that kind of success.”

Outside the church, we get deceived by false wisdom when we follow someone simply because they are “getting things done,” which usually means they’re doing the things we want done. So who cares if it’s out of envy or selfish ambition? Who cares if it’s causing disorder? Who cares if it’s being done by evil means? That’s just the way to get things done in the real world.

I was reading last week in Hosea 12 at the same time I was studying James 3. I read this and it struck me,

"The merchant uses dishonest scales
          and loves to defraud.
Ephraim boasts,
        "I am very rich; I have become wealthy.
With all my wealth, they will not find in me 
        any iniquity or sin" (Hosea 12:7-8)

Ephraim was successful. Oh sure, there were dishonest scales and fraud, fine print in contracts that no one can read, predatory rates, etc., but that’s just doing business in the real world. It’s savvy. It’s shrewd. It’s “wise”. I mean, look at the results, they’re wealthy! Who can accuse them of wrongdoing? It was all technically legal, firmly in the gray areas of [worldly] ethics. They were just taking advantage of loopholes anyone else could utilize if they employed the right legal firm.

Many Christians today would side with Ephraim. They haven’t sinned. Nothing to repent of. I mean, you’ve got to break a few eggs to make an omelet. Just look at how they’ve been blessed with wealth.