The Spiritual Dangers of Wealth

In 1914, during the Colorado Coalfield War, coal miners worked long, dangerous days for a wealthy company that controlled their housing, the store, even the doctors. The men were promised fair pay, but the company routinely cheated them through “company store” prices and mysterious deductions, so that after weeks of brutal work, some miners ended up owing money instead of receiving a wage. When a group of them finally protested, they were fired, blacklisted, and thrown out of their company-owned homes with their families.

Something similar happened all over the Jim Crow south, as Black sharecroppers were forced to buy food and supplies on credit at the landlord’s store, only to discover at settling time that the prices and interest had eaten up their whole crop, leaving them deeper in debt instead of with the wages they had earned.

That sort of thing has happened in every part of the world in every time period: rich people taking advantage of the poor. And James 5 begins with a warning directed at rich people.

The first six verses of James 5 are strange because I don’t think James is referring to believers here. He’s probably talking about wealthy unbelievers.

I think this for two reasons. First, the tone is very different. This is less a call to repentance and more a prophetic pronouncement of judgment. Second, I think the last verse here is referring to Jesus. It was the wealthy and powerful ruling class of Jerusalem that pushed for the crucifixion.

But even if James is thinking of those people, there’s still a challenge and an encouragement here for believers.

[1] Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.

“Weep and howl” is courtroom language. Imagine a defendant hearing a terrible verdict they did not expect. They believed they would be found innocent, but instead, they hear the word “guilty”. Immediately, they are overcome with shock and misery. They weep and howl.

That’s the idea. God’s terrible judgment is coming for them, and they won’t be expecting it. The assumption, then is that the rich don’t always realize they are taking advantage of the poor or that there is anything wrong with that they are doing. But they’re in for a surprise.

[2] Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.

Once again, James borrows from the sermon on the mount. “Do not lay up treasures for yourself on earth, where moth and rust destroy.”

James says this has already happened, even though the judgment for it is coming in the future. He’s saying you don’t realize it, but everything you’ve worked for is already worthless.

[3] Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.

Gold and silver currently hold the highest value they’ve ever had against the dollar. Gold is more than $5,000 an ounce. I remember when gold was $200 an ounce. That probably says more about the dollar than it does about gold.

People have used gold and silver as currency throughout history because they don’t rust. It’s something that holds its value even when other forms of currency fail. James then, is talking about spiritual corrosion. Their love of money is eating them alive. He explains the evidence in the next three verses.

[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.

The first piece of evidence is their mistreatment of the poor laborers who worked for them. They refused to pay a fair wage. And again, this is something that has been happening throughout history.

[5] You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

The second piece of evidence is the money they spent on their own comfort at the expense of the previous injustice. And the imagery is startling. You’ve fattened yourself up like an animal preparing for the slaughterhouse.

Animals prepared for slaughter are typically fed very well in their final days and when the time comes, the animal has no clue it’s about to happen. They lived their best life right before their death.

And finally:

[6] You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Both the object of the first sentence and the subject of the second sentence are singular. Which means, James is most likely referring specifically to one person – Jesus, the righteous One. And the people James is condemning then, would specifically be the wealthy Jewish men who had Jesus crucified.

But why does James insert this judgment in a letter to Christians? What did this mean for the Christians at that time, and what does it mean for us today?

First, I do think it is a general warning against wealth gained by injustice. Cheating workers, abusing systems, and leveraging power to harm the vulnerable is not OK with God.

The world is greedy. Business culture often values shareholders more than employees. Some of you are being overworked and underpaid to benefit others and you have no control over it. A lot of times the issues is that companies refuse to hire more people and overwork the ones they have. I’ve heard some of your stories. I know this is happening.

But if you do find yourself in a position of influence or if you have the ability to set wages for other people, fairness matters more than the bottom line. Take care of your people. Everyone in your business matters, from the least to the greatest.

The economics of the kingdom of Jesus should be far more important to the Christian business owner than the economics of the world.

Second, James is showing us the spiritual danger associated with a self-indulgent lifestyle. Hoarding money and spending it all on yourself is spiritually dangerous.

Ecclesiastes 5 says that wealth is hoarded to the harm of its owner. Jesus says that our treasures reveal our heart. Rich with the world is not the same thing as rich with God.
In 1 Timothy, Paul says that people who desire to be rich fall into ruin and destruction.

I’m emphasizing the spiritual danger because that is the message of Scripture. Nowhere does it say that being rich is inherently sinful or that having wealth will automatically exclude someone from the kingdom of God.

But there is a real, spiritual danger. Wealth on earth can blind us to our need for Christ. It can easily take the place of God in our hearts and lives.

And this spiritual danger is not something you will hear preached about in a lot of churches. Instead, what you will hear is a message that sells.

The primary theological mistake that was being made in the ancient world was the assumption that wealth was a sign of blessing from God. It was common in every culture at the time. The Greeks, the Romans, and even the Jews believed this was true.

If you were rich, then it must be because you were doing something right. If you were poor, then it must be because you were doing something wrong.

Money was seen as a reward from the gods. Even the Jewish people believed this, despite all the warnings about it in the Old Testament.

Jesus and the Apostles directly challenged this bad theology. Wealth was not necessarily a sign of blessing from God. It might even be a curse. And a person’s underlying belief that they were wealthy because they deserved it might be the very thing preventing them from understanding the Gospel!

Fast forward to 21st century America, and we have the same bad theology in a lot of churches. Preachers will tell you that wealth is a sign of blessing from God. If he’s not blessing you with money, then you don’t have enough faith. That’s the message you’re going to hear… and you won’t hear a lot of sermons from James 5.

That teaching causes all sorts of spiritual problems in the church. It leads to pride in wealthy Christians and shame in poor Christians. It creates doubt when suffering hits. And worst of all, it obscures the Gospel.

God has not promised us health and wealth in this life. He’s promised us suffering in this life, and He’s called us to daily dependence and contentment. But that kind of message doesn’t grow a church quickly or make the preacher wealthy, and so you won’t hear it in many places. But it needs to be said.

Finally, these verses are actually a comfort to believers who have suffered injustice. James wants them to know that God hears their cries. He sees their suffering and He will judge the oppressive people and systems responsible for it.

At that time, the same men who crucified Jesus were actively pursuing and persecuting Christians. James wants them to know God sees it.

If you are in a situation where you are being overworked or underpaid, or in some other way being taken advantage of – God sees and He hears.

James 5 is God’s way of saying, “I heard every cry. I saw every injustice. It will not be forgotten.”

In fact, the Righteous One – the Man who will judge the world – once hung on a cross as a victim of corrupt, wealthy power, and He rose so that injustice will not have the last word.

And even to the rich, if you have benefited from others in a way that is unfair, James 5 is also God’s mercy to you today. Before you take your last breath, the Judge offers you His own Son.

Turn from trusting in riches that will rot, and trust in the risen Christ whose righteousness does not decay. Then, in union with Him, begin to live as a foretaste of that coming kingdom: pay what you owe, keep your word, open your hand, stand with the oppressed instead of standing on them.

The cross tells us two things at the same time: our love of money is serious enough that Jesus had to die for it, but God’s love is big enough that Jesus was willing to die to make us whole.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.