It's Not a Money Problem...

This week’s passage in James (5:1-6) if you were to read it without context and without careful examination might lead you to believe that James is condemning those who are wealthy… 

But you must as always read the passage carefully and place it into context of what else he has said and how he has said it…

James in the first six verses of chapter five is declaring the fact that judgment is coming and lists off four “crimes” of the wealthy which were hoarded wealth (2-3); unpaid wages (4); self-indulgence (5); murder of innocent people (6).

This is big, but in reading this we need to recognize a few things…

There is very good reason to believe that the individuals that James is referring to are not believers. If you remember the book of James is written to the believer but here James does not refer to the rich as “brothers” as he does in other places in his letter, nor does he call on them to repent and change their ways. Rather they are instructed to “weep and wail” because of the judgment they will undergo.

Now we know well and good that there are wealthy people who love the Lord. This passage is however not speaking of them, though it should be a warning to them as it should be to all of us.

As we further examine what “rich men” are described as throughout the rest of scripture and overwhelmingly you find that the same judgment holds in both the Old and New Testament… Why?

Because it becomes a matter of trust… The rich man all too often trusts in his wealth to resolve his problems rather than trusting in the Lord to provide.

It becomes a matter of priority… The rich man’s priority all too often is to his fortune and to the increase of it…

Finally, and ultimately it becomes a matter of the heart… The rich men that James is describing have lost their hearts to their riches. They love their wealth more than they love God... This is why Jesus said it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven (Luke 18). They are trusting in the wealth to save them, prioritizing their fortunes over God and will face eternal judgment in the end...

So that leaves the question only you can answer but that your fruit will show of where is your heart?

Hope to see you Sunday!