The next facets of wisdom are that it is peaceable and gentle. Sometimes, and I can bear witness to this myself, we take possession of the truth as a right to turn the two edged sword into a blunt instrument. We start bashing people over the head with the Bible. We get confused about who does the saving and here is a hint - it's not us.
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 1Corinthians 3: 6-8 (ESV)
As difficult as it may be, our approach always is to be peaceable and gentle with people. Sometimes it is so easy to be like the Sons of Thunder and want God to call lightening down upon those who reject our attempt to impart wisdom. Instead we are to be like Christ and simply walk to the next town. The Word of God is wisdom and we are called to speak the Gospel. Maybe the person we are speaking to is hearing it for the first time and thus we are planting. Maybe they have heard it before and we are watering. It matters not because God gives the increase. When we get to heaven we may finally see the fruit of our efforts when we see who is there that we may have played a part in. This becomes harder when we are met with attitude or even rudeness but it is even more needed then. This is equally true for those in the church. Present the truth in the Word and move on. God did not call us to convince anyone - just to speak His truth.
Next on the list is open to reason and full of mercy. Wisdom that refuses to listen is not wisdom at all. This is not to be confused with compromising the truth. The truth is what the truth is but we must approach others understanding that they come from their own perspective as well. This is especially true of unbelievers, many of which sit in our churches today.
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. - Colossians 4: 5-6 (ESV)
The best use of the time is not to be argumentative. My pastor says that we must convey to people that we care about them or they will not want to hear us. Salt seasoned speech preserves first. Merciful wisdom recognizes that we must be compassionate with people. The Pharisees for example devoured widows estates for profit while making lengthy shows of their prayers and piety. The prophet Micah tells us that one of the three things the Lord requires of us is to love mercy. Not just be merciful but to love the state of being merciful. One look around Christendom today and you can tell that we often do not love mercy. We constantly blame the unsaved for all of the woes of humanity while making a pious and lengthy show of our own bloated sense of religiosity. Fleecing the flocks of their money claiming curses upon them for not giving is the farthest one can get from mercy. Preaching what you then do not practice is equally unmerciful. There is no wisdom in it at all.
Next we are to be full of good fruits and impartial. Wisdom that contains no love, joy, gentleness, patience, peace, goodness, faithfulness, kindness or self control is not a work of the Holy Spirit. It is so easy to slip into our flesh. To approach people with piety instead of compassion. The work is of God. The wisdom is from God. The fruit must be aligned with Him as well. Too many ministries today lack one or more of these areas. Or they remain partial to the things of this world over God. Too many of us choose denomination over truth. We choose ritual or tradition over truth. The true wisdom that comes from God transcends the mere mortal boxes we try and place God into. We celebrate our partiality to a given preacher or style of message. I have run into this constantly when confronting false teaching. People do not want to hear biblical truth when it comes to their favorite false teacher. There is no wisdom in that beloved. If the Word of God is not foremost then it is nothing. If it is not supreme then it is nothing. Our partiality must be toward Jesus.
Lastly, wisdom that comes from God must be sincere. The number one reason why people say they do not go to church is the hypocrisy of those that do. We cannot just preach the knowledge and not apply the wisdom. You cannot preach on the 99 and 1 while telling people if they if they can't get along with someone they need to leave your church; something I witnessed personally. You cannot claim sincerity when it comes to following Christ and then alter His Gospel to fit your carnal visions of relevance and worldly success. We cannot call Him Lord and then proceed to not do as He says. We simply cannot. There is too much at stake.
