“A Walk with the Wise Exploring Wealth”
If you were allotted one word to complete the phrase, "Wealth is..." what word would you use? Perhaps, "Wealth is wonderful?" A Marxist would declare, "Wealth is wicked" and seek to redistribute it. For our purposes, the question is, how would James complete the phrase? James is a writer of inspired Scripture. His sermon does not represent the complete picture of what the Bible says about wealth. Howard Dayton, founder and director of Crown Financial Ministry, records that there are 2,350 verses about money and finances. He and his friend Jim Seneff studied them all and the result is the Crown Financial Course. I am going through it right now and recommend it as a thorough overview of what the Bible says about wealth. But James presents an important perspective in that big picture. And his presentation is not mild salsa. It's definitely like red-hot Tabasco sauce. He speaks frankly and shoots from the hip.
James says, “Wealth is Dangerous.” It is not evil but neither is it safe. And when James says that wealth is not safe, he does not simply mean that it is easily lost. It's not what might happen to our money that makes it dangerous, it's what might happen to us because of money that makes it dangerous. In a fallen world, corrupted by God curse on account of our sin, so many things may be potentially good and dangerous at the same time. Cars enhance our personal freedom and productivity. But the vulnerability to an accident in one makes them highly dangerous. Good things hold the sinister potential for being dangerous. James’ strong medicine serves as a potent warning. When he speaks so boldly about the dangers of money, he's only doing what Paul told Timothy as a good pastor to do.
1 Timothy 6:17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
He is only seeking to spare people the fate of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) who lied to try to increase their wealth. James no doubt witnessed the healthy fear of God that their sudden deaths produced in the Jerusalem church. As a wise counselor, James understands that people who are suffering (last week's theme) will face the temptation to look for relief by gaining wealth and the control that seems to come with it. Throughout his sermon he issues solemn warnings about the dangers of wealth. Some are:
1. It may dull the pursuit of godly wisdom
James 1:9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich [boast] in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.
This is a strange statement. It is James' first reference to the rich and the poor. Both apparently have something to boast about but the rich are supposed to boast in humiliation. Two major interpretations exist. One suggests that James is using sarcasm when describing the rich. When the rich person quickly passes away like the grass, the only thing he will have to "boast" about is that he has been humiliated. He will have nothing left. I admit that the writers of Scripture occasionally use sarcasm to make a point. But it seems a stretch that one of them would encourage a condemned sinner to boast. The other interpretation relies on the preceding paragraph. James has just encouraged us to live by faith. Faith is commitment to and confidence in God. He teaches us to respond to life's trials according to God's wisdom rather than human power and control. He has told us to pursue joy in trial. He understands that we will not be able to figure out how to do that on our own. We will not become mature and complete (v. 4) without God's wisdom. So,
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
The poor in that society were not considered wise. Many lacked understanding. They had little in this world to boast about. So when they came to enjoy God's wisdom through faith, they were exalted. God gave them something better than any rich person had. They became like Solomon whose greatest asset was his wisdom. It was as if they had heard the Lord say to them as he had to King Solomon,
2 Chronicles 1:11 God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked long life, but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you...."
The poor in James' day who came to faith really had something to boast about because they knew only God could bless them in this way. The rich were a different story. Society elevated the rich. They assumed the rich had wisdom because they had the access to the best education. They had shrewdly learned how to control economic resources and turn a profit. They had worldly wisdom. For a rich person to come to faith in Christ and reject worldly wisdom was a kind of humiliation. But it was worth boasting about because it was the only way to find true life. It was like a camel stooping down to crawl through the eye of a needle. Jesus said that that was easier than a rich person getting into heaven (Mark 10:25). Only God can do such things. So both the rich and poor should boast at the work of God in their lives.
Jeremiah 9:23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
The one who has riches and the public exaltation that comes with it in this world will find nothing attractive in the life of faith. Why pursue another direction when this one seems so satisfying? A ruler came to Jesus curious about the path to eternal life. His heart was intent on earning such a life. So Jesus exposed his presumptions.
Luke 18:22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!
Beware riches. They often leave sinners with a false sense of God's blessing. They frequently decorate the road to hell and disguise the final destination. There is a better way to live. James highlights the dangers of wealth from a different angle in Chapter 2. Wealth is dangerous because:
2. It may tempt the church to prejudice
James 2: 1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
The church gathers as an “other-worldly” society. If she allows this world’s values to dictate how she loves some people and rejects others, then she has denied her Lord of glory. Beware riches. They cause the church to forget that all people are spiritually bankrupt and in desperate need of the riches of Christ no matter what they look like or how their money allows them to dress. They tempt us to the wrong kind of prejudice. James reminds the church that one reason she should not show partiality to the rich is that the rich do not return the favor. Note the questions in 2:6:
James 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
Here is a third danger of wealth:
3. It may fuel a drive for power rather than love
The rich do not resolve conflict through love but through the power of the law. In James' day, the rich used public discrimination against Christians to gain verdicts against them. Justice suffered. The rich had the resources to access and manipulate the legal system for their own purposes. The same is true in our day. Money gives people the power to multiply lawsuits in pursuit of more money. The challenge of seeking peace and resolving conflict in a godly way is too difficult and humbling. The sting of James' indictment is that when the church makes judgments based on peoples’ clothes and jewelry, she is acting just as perversely as the rich who tie them up in lawsuits. Beware riches. They tempt people to seek power through worldly control instead of living by love. Even when wealth is obtained honestly, wealth is dangerous. In chapter 4, James warns that wealth:
4. [It] may promote a spirit of self-sufficiency
James 4: 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
Wealth seems to validate whatever process we used to gain it. Whatever works is right. When some strategy succeeds many times (even a good strategy like hard work), we think we've figured out how to control the future. We act as if we are the masters of our own fate. But we do not know even what will happen tomorrow. We are really no stronger than fog rising off a pond. We are not even able to live unless the Lord wills it. We were created to depend on the Lord not ourselves. Wealth works against that reality. Finally, James warns us that wealth:
5. [It] may blind to eternal realities
It is worth reading the opening verses of chapter 5 just to capture the sharp tone of James words. He directly addresses the rich.
James 5: 1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you [at the judgment]. 2 Your riches have rotted [though you do not yet see it yet] and your garments are moth-eaten [though you do not yet realize it]. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded [but you cannot tell], and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire [when the judgment comes]. You have laid up treasure in the last days [instead of preparing for eternity]. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
This final image is particularly disturbing. The rich are compared to cattle that have been grazing and growing fat. They have been trampling the fences of justice and feeding in forbidden fields. They have become rich by defrauding workers. Now that they come to their peak weight (their riches have reached their highest temporary value), they are ready for the slaughter house and Jesus Christ will come in judgment to finish the job. Jesus preceded James in such a warning.
Lk 16:19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
The overwhelming majority of people sitting or standing in this room are rich according to Jesus' standard. We are well-fed and well-clothed. It is we who need the warning to avoid letting wealth blind us to eternal realities. It is we who may grow so spiritually fat that fat grows over our eyes and leaves us living as if there were nothing beyond this life and its prosperity. We can laugh so loud as to drown out the sirens of impending judgment. We can love money to the degree that we stumble into Satan's trap and perish.
1 Timothy 6:9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
I fear that the smug attitude of superiority and self-sufficiency that wealth encourages will keep many from treasuring Christ. It will keep many from the joy of the gospel. I will keep many from eternal riches. But if you can still hear the warnings then it is not too late. If you see something of your folly and something of Christ's value, you must turn and follow Him. In his words,
Matthew 13: 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.