Wisdom is not a matter for mere technical inquiry. One has to stand an
examination on wisdom; but it is that of life, unwritten and
written—that of deeds, not of words. “Let him show by his good life his
works in meekness of wisdom.” This test of the wise man is put in a
peculiarly Jacobean style. The very position of the word “show” is
emphatic; it is the first word in the sentence. If one may use the
vernacular, we are all “from Missouri” and “have to be shown” when it
comes to each other’s wisdom. The test is the acid test of deeds, not
words. We may quibble over words and talk like a wise man, but time will
prove our words by our deeds.
One may speak like a wise man and in reality be the biggest sort of a
fool, yea, a scoundrel. People have learned to discount mere talk when
it stands alone. Just being a preacher is not enough. One must practice
what he preaches. The Roman Catholic doctrine relieves the priest from
the obligation to live the morality which he preaches, but surely that
is a travesty on the ethics of Christianity. It is false ethics and
false religion. People have a right to hold the preacher to the standard
of the gospel, just as he has the right to urge upon them the highest
ideals of conduct. There is a wonderful leveling process going on all
the time. Lincoln said with rare wisdom that a man may fool all the
people part of the time and some of the people all the time, but not all
the people all the time.
The greatest asset that the preacher has, after all, is his life, a long
life of piety and consecration. There is no answering that argument—“by
his good life his works.” This is the only proof that counts in the long
run. The King James Version has here “good conversation,” which was at
one time good English (_conversatio_, _conversari_), originally one’s
conduct or bearing (turning oneself about, the precise idea in the Greek
word). But long ago the English confined the word to talk, perhaps
because some people did little else but talk. But quaint English must
give way to the modern preciseness of speech.
It is the beautiful manner of life that speaks the language of business
today, the flower of a white life that adorns the profession of the
service of Christ. But even so, it must be behavior that is sincere,
that finds expression in acts, not mere external mannerisms, posing,
attitudinizing, stage effect. Nothing is more repulsive than
professional pietists who attract attention to themselves rather than to
Christ the Lord. It is a case pre-eminently where actions speak louder
than words and where words alone do more harm than good. Bengel puts it
tersely: _re potius quam verbis_. In simple truth, the more a man says
in claim of superior wisdom, the less he is credited with the possession
of any wisdom.
But it is not merely a case of deeds versus words but also of
“gentleness and modesty versus arrogance and passion” (Mayor), “in
meekness of wisdom,” “with the modesty of wisdom” (Moffatt). Meekness
was not ranked high among the Greeks. Aristotle (Eth. Nic. IV. v)
considered it a second-rate virtue, “the mean between passionateness and
impassionateness” (Plummer). Epictetus (bk. II, chap, i, § 36) says:
“But think that thou art nobody and that thou knowest nothing.”
The Christian conception rests upon the idea in the Psalms that meekness
is a favorite trait of the devout. “The meek will he guide in justice;
and the meek will he teach his way” (25:9). “Jehovah upholdeth the meek”
(147:6). In Sirach (3:18) we read: “The greater you are, the more you
humble yourself.” But there is no word comparable to that of Jesus, who
said of himself, “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:29), in his
plea for men to come to him as teacher. It is an essential prerequisite
in the teacher, else he is unapproachable and is aloof and cold. Jesus
pronounced a Beatitude on the meek (Matt. 5:5), but he did more—he
exemplified meekness in his life.
By meekness James does not mean effeminacy or weakness (any more than
did Jesus). He does mean the absence of pretentiousness and wilfulness.
Peter (1 Peter 3:15) uses the expression “with meekness and fear” for
the spirit with which one is to defend the faith, the “reason concerning
the hope that is in you.” There can be firmness and courage without
bumptiousness and bigotry. There are frequent exhortations in the New
Testament along this line (cf. Gal. 6:1; 2 Tim. 2:24; 1 Cor. 4:21). The
wise man wears the crown of modesty. This spiritual paradox seems absurd
to the merely worldly-wise.