Well, wise and humble: A way to live

Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. - James 3: 13 (MSG)

Thanks to a colleague for posting that this morning. It got me to thinking, which on Monday is a difficult chore at best.

What is living well, living wisely, living humbly. What does it look like in a 2013 culture in a 2013 America?

To figure that out, I think you have to probably look at what it looked like in a 65 AD culture in a 65 AD Palestine.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the early megachurch in Ephesus, this theme (from the Voice Bible), " Wisdom is a rare commodity."

"Paul urges believers, then and now, to walk wisely. It involves living well every day. Time itself seems to be co-opted by dark forces. But when believers understand God’s will, avoid drunkenness, and allow God to fill them with His Spirit, they are able to walk wisely and live well. The Spirit-filled life is not just for a special few; it is the normal Christian life, and it affects everything, including how we live in community and how we treat others at home. And the Spirit makes it possible to submit humbly to one another out of respect for the Anointed."

This is a theme throughout the Bible that is rarely talked about in today's culture, I'm afraid.

Proverbs tells us, “So, my dear friends, listen carefully; those who embrace these my ways are most blessed. Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don’t squander your precious life."

The writer of Psalm 90 calls out to God for help in living wisely: "Oh! Teach us to live well Teach us to live wisely and well! Come back, God—how long do we have to wait?— and treat your servants with kindness for a change. Surprise us with love at daybreak; then we’ll skip and dance all the day long."

So, my conclusion is that to live well, one must live wisely. And to live wisely, one must live humbly.

They go together like, well, faith, hope, and love do. Three actives forming a movement.

The movement was called "The Way" early in its infancy. At Antioch, they began calling it Christianity for the Christians (little Christs) were first named there.

Does it still look that way? Are we still living wisely, well, humbly? That's for others to debate.

But we must, must learn to hold nothing sacred but the mission, getting rid of all the stuff that keeps us from wisely living well, or that movement will at least be hindered at most stopped.

And it will be on us, not the Holy Spirit.