Exposing the Political Spirit - Part 2
Operating from the Spirit of Wisdom
Lyn Packer
This is part 2 of this series to read part 1 click here
If the political spirit is a false governmental spirit that seeks to corrupt power bases then what is God’s answer to it? I believe a large part of God’s answer to the political spirit is operating from the spirit of wisdom.
Operating in the spirit of wisdom is one of the key Kingdom solutions and remedies to the work of the political spirit. We don’t need more dictators, power-hungry people vying for our allegiance or masses of new laws that bind us tighter and tighter to ungodly power bases. What the world needs are godly people who will serve society with love and wisdom - servant-leaders and citizens who operate in the wisdom of God and who release solutions and answers to the things we face in our world.
Where the political spirit seeks through devious means to gain power over people, and ultimately to control or dictate the boundaries within which people function, the Trinity (God the father, Jesus and Holy Spirit) want to give life to people, in all its fullness, to give them freedom, peace, and safety within which to function as individuals and societies.
Wisdom is revealed in Scripture as one of the primary attributes of the Trinity. We see this in Isaiah, where wisdom is listed as one of the attributes, and an essential essence, of who Holy Spirit is, and of Christ, who is wisdom personified. “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit of the knowledge and the fear of the LORD.” (Isa 11:3). In the New Testament this is written of Christ, “God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself.” (1 Cor 1:30)
What does wisdom look like, and what did it look like in Jesus? We gain an understanding of that in James 3:17, “The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere.”
The dictionary defines wisdom as this…
the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships i.e. insight
good sense
the ability to use your knowledge and experience to make good decisions and judgements, (and for Christians that means making godly, just and righteous decisions, based on accessing God’s superior wisdom as well.)
Synonyms for the word “wisdom” may also help us better understand its meaning; they include: understanding, knowledge, good sense, insight, perception, astuteness, acumen, prudence, sagacity, good judgment, and more.
Wisdom involves all those things listed above, and comes to us in these ways…
Through knowing what God is like.
By accessing the mind of Christ.
As a spiritual gift (1Cor 12:8).
Through discernment.
Through natural and spiritual insight.
By learning from, and using, our knowledge and experience to weigh things up.
By asking God for it.
By sovereignly given (unasked for) divine downloads of revelation from God.
How the spirit of wisdom operates
The spirit of wisdom is an attribute of the Lord Himself – He is wisdom personified, as we saw earlier. The spirit of wisdom and revelation work together to transform our thinking from that which is worldly to that which is godly. In Eph 1:17 we hear Paul say, “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.”
The spirit of wisdom works to transform our mind and thinking from being conformed to this world, so that we can understand God’s will and ways and can walk as wise men and women in our world (Rom 12:1-3).
How does the spirit of wisdom operate and outwork itself in our lives, compared to the political spirit?
I referred earlier to James 3:17 and it’s worth repeating again here, because it shows us so much of how the spirit of wisdom operates. “The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere.”
Wisdom makes us care how we walk, and makes us careful. It seeks to make the best use of time, is not foolish, and it seeks the will of the Lord (Eph 5:15-17).
Wisdom listens to advice and accepts instruction, it brings us to the place of having a teachable heart (Prov 19:20).
The spirit of wisdom does not grandstand or seek to puff itself up, it does not seek to rule our lives, taking our power from us, nor does it seek to take the place of God, or point us away from God. It is not self-serving, stubborn, or prideful; it is humble. It seeks to serve and do the best for all.
It does not seek to bind us to unnecessary and excessive law, it values mankind’s free will, and seeks to bring us to an understanding of how to operate from truth, grace, and liberty, and to steward well the freedoms and gifts that God has given us.
The spirit of wisdom works from truth, therefore it will encourage and foster truth, clarity of thinking, and innovation in our lives.
It encourages us to access the heart and mind of the Lord for real solutions, not to offer platitudes and false hopes in order to gain power.
Wisdom works from honour, not dishonour. It is servant-hearted not dictator hearted.
It is not concerned with seeking popularity and visibility, but it does seek to influence – for good and with truth.
It does not work from a base of prejudice and polarisation, or seek to pit one against another. It works to bring people together into harmony with God and each other. It is a peace-making spirit. A peace-making spirit, or person, seeks solutions that will establish the rule of true peace and harmony. It is different from a peacekeeping spirit, which works by intimidation or manipulation, and wants to make us agree in order to keep peace, not rock the boat, etc.
A spirit of wisdom does not work in secret, but in the open. It does not seek to establish secret power bases and factions.
Wisdom teaches us to restrain our mouth and have a cool and calm spirit (Prov 17:27-28). It does not speak falsely of others, tear them down, gossip, and spread rumours, falsely accuse, or have a heart to destroy another’s reputation. These are works of the flesh that the political spirit seeks to take advantage of, and use for its purposes (Gal 5:19-21).
Wisdom does not seek to force itself on others, is not argumentative and does not try to push its opinion on others. Wisdom will withdraw rather than argue, and will, if necessary, leave people to face the consequences of their decisions.
It recognises that diversity brings many experiences and lessons to the table, and it encourages us to listen and learn from others’ perspectives.
Wisdom cares what people actually believe, and takes time to listen to them, because it knows that they have treasures within them and pieces of the puzzle that we may not yet have.
Wisdom does not idolise leaders. It knows that they are human and will make mistakes, and it does not belittle them when they do (1 Cor 3:4; 1 Cor 1:12).
Growing in wisdom
Wisdom is something we hopefully learn and gather as we journey through life. It doesn’t come fully formed in us from birth; it is learnt through life experience, listening to the wisdom of others, through Scripture, and more, as we’ve seen above. We can grow in wisdom; Jesus did. We read in Luke 2:52, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man”, and throughout His lifetime Jesus continued to grow in wisdom. Man, that gives us such hope!
Growing in wisdom doesn’t happen automatically, it takes conscious co-operation with God and learning from the things we go through in life. Sadly some people don’t mature much in their wisdom over the years, even though they may have a good job, diploma, family etc. If they haven’t realised that growing in wisdom takes intentional learning from life, and applying those lessons to our lives, they will grow only a little, and very spasmodically.
It also takes a reverence for God and His wisdom, and a learning from Him. Scripture says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Prov 9:10). This fear is not a ‘being scared of’ or ‘abject terror’; this type of fear is deep reverence and awe. The wisdom of God is literally awesome!
To grow in wisdom we need to understand that God is the fount, the source, of all true wisdom, and that we need His help to grow into maturity of wisdom.
Solomon realised that, and he was famous for his wisdom. In fact the wisdom he operated in was a combination of wisdom as a gift, wisdom learned through life experience, and accessing God’s wisdom. “So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.” (1 Kings 3:9-12)
Like Solomon, we can grow in wisdom, and if we lack it God will gladly give it to us.
James tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5)
Wisdom’s companions in our life
Alongside wisdom God wants to give us companion attributes. These are the attributes of love, as listed in 1 Cor 13, as well as the fruits of the Holy Spirit – the manifestations of the Trinity that show that they are in our lives; these are listed in Gal 5:22, 23.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Wisdom and the fruits of the Holy Spirit operate in tandem in our lives, complimenting and supporting each other. Thankfully we can ask the Lord to work these things in our life. They are invaluable and necessary if we want to walk as wise people in a confused world where foolishness sometimes reigns.
How do you get wisdom and walk in it on a daily basis?
Realise that you need it.
Intentionally choose to learn from your life experiences.
Ask God to give you wisdom.
Believe that He will grant you your request, as He says in Scripture, and release wisdom to you.
Here’s a simple prayer you can pray to ask God for wisdom…
“God I realise that I need wisdom to walk well in this world I live in. I know that I don’t have the resources of knowledge and wisdom that I need; I lack wisdom. But You don’t; You are full of wisdom, insight, understanding and You long to share those with me. I ask that You give me a spirit of wisdom, that You increase my understanding so that I also gain wisdom through learning, through experience, and through study. I want to be wise and, like Jesus, to grow in wisdom and stature so that I might be a light in a dark world, for You have revealed that this is Your will for us as Your children.”
In closing
Being wise does not mean that you will be perfect; as a human you will make mistakes, and do or say dumb things at times. Don’t beat yourself up if you do “stuff up”. Don’t make perfection your goal; you will never attain it. No-one is perfect except God Himself.
Embrace life and learn from it. Don’t play it safe or live from fear-based restriction and call it wisdom. Start the new career, take up the new hobby, go on the mission trip, befriend your neighbour, stand for local council, become part of the school board, join in a charity’s work, start that ministry that’s been in your heart. And when you do, ask for wisdom in the person of Holy Spirit to walk with you and guide you.
Enjoy being salt and light in the midst of a dark world. Release the wisdom of heaven into the situations you find yourself in, and as you do so watch light dispel the darkness!