The Fear of Riches

‘Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. James 5: 1-6

Blogging through the book of James has been my task of late. If you are a consistent reader I am sure that you have figured that out. If you go through the bible or a book of the bible as we are doing you are going to come across some passages that make you uncomfortable. This passage made me uncomfortable, not because of its isolation but because of its consistent theme throughout the New Testament. 1 Timothy 6.9 reads, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction,” Jesus said “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Luke 1:53 “He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” A young man with great possessions was trouble because Jesus said, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Many of you reading this will say well I am not rich so this does not apply to me. “In the United States, in 1999, a family of four was considered “poor” if their income was $16 813/ year. If you put that figure into the Global Rich List, you’ll find that that puts poor Americans among the wealthiest 9% of the entire world.” I don’t consider myself rich either but I am, I wear 3 gold rings of various quality, I have 5 coats, 2 weeks of changes of dress clothes, 10 different types of footwear, I have three cars and I own my own home. I shop wisely, but the reality is I have great possessions, and I am “living on the earth in luxury” I have written and stated many times that I am a prosperity preacher. I certainly make the case for preaching a prosperity message. Simply read the book of proverbs, but if I am going to follow the example of my master I must consider what my master did and 2 Corinthians 8:9 make that very clear “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Please understand that he is talking about spiritual wealth not material wealth. Colossians 2:2 provides us direction in this case, “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ”

Verse 6 of James 5 tells us “the innocent one” Jesus, is not opposing the rich, but he wants to remove the stumbling block of riches to our faith. Most financial break thru meetings are based on a desire for personal wealth. Timothy calls this desire a “temptation” a “trap” that is causes “foolish and harmful desires that lead to ruin and destruction.” This is not something that I want. So what is the solution, James condemns hoarding, Jesus said he who has two coats should give one to the person who does not. He admonishes the wealthy to have fair business practices, “the laborer is worthy of his hire” Is it necessary for banks to charge 40 dollars for a charge card violation? To foreclose on homes that has been faithfully paid on for years? Is it necessary for us the run up our charge cards in such a way that we are beholding to such institutions for years. The interest paid out to such institutions could build schools and roads, dig wells, and support the Gospel throughout the planet.

Park Street Baptist Church of Boston was one of the first churches to send missionaries to Hawaii in 1819. Jim Michener describes the austerity of the early missionaries in his novel Hawaii. He reports a good Christian home could be identified at the time by the wear of its paint. There was a correlation between paint chips on the ground and monies dedicated to missionary endeavors. I am not suggesting that we have to wear clothes that are falling apart and live in homes that need paint jobs. I am reiterating James warning that if we done prioritize our giving based on the needs of the world around us we are going to be held accountable to the wealth that God has entrusted to our care.

Luke 16:11 reads, “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” Jesus is no fan of laziness; we see this in the parable of the ten talents. The poor man’s rebuke is “So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest” The response to give the talent to the faithful wealthy. “So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.”

Then we are given a material and spiritual principle that we should all keep in mind. “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”