Materialistic Idolatry
Spiritual leaders should warn people
never to allow materialism
to deprive them of eternal life.
Here's Gene:
To understand this Principle, we need to
really go back to the recipients of this letter.
You remember right from the very beginning,
in James chapter 1, verse 1, he said:
James, a servant of God
and of the Lord Jesus Christ:
To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings.
So he's writing to a Jewish audience.
And as we shared right at the very beginning,
many of these Jewish people
became believers because they were in Jerusalem
when the Holy Spirit came
on the day of Pentecost.
Celebrating that 50-day celebration.
They came from all over the Roman world.
And we know that because
of the languages that are listed
right there in the book of Acts.
And of course, when persecution hit,
they were driven out of Jerusalem
and were scattered back to their homes.
And so James, who is of course,
the half-brother of Jesus,
became the primary pastor or elder
there in Jerusalem and he's writing this letter
to these Jews that have been scattered--dispersed.
Now they had been dispersed to begin with,
but now they're dispersed back
after they became believers.
But you really need to understand
that the Jewish community
was quite tied together emotionally and culturally.
So if you understand that,
you will understand some of what
James is writing here because it appears
he's actually addressing Jews
who were not believers.
But they were a part of the
Jewish community that he was writing to.
And so notice what he says--
he gives a very serious warning:
Come now, you rich people, weep and wail
over the miseries that are coming on you.
Now as you read on here,
you're going to see that it almost appears
that he's not just targeting Jewish believers,
he's targeting the whole Jewish community.
Because that was a very tight culture.
And these Jewish believers were
living among the unbelieving Jews.
And keep that in mind as we read
what he says here. Because he says
some really straightforward things.
They were hoarding wealth. Notice:
Your wealth has rotted
and your clothes are moth-eaten.
I mean, it sounds like he's writing to people
who are just committing materialistic idolatry.
They're not even worshiping God at all.
That's what it sounds like.
They were exploiting their
own employees. He says:
Look! The pay that you withheld
from the workers who mowed
your fields cries out, and the outcry
of the harvesters has reached
the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
Think about that.
That's sinful.
And that's evil.
They were living in luxury
while the poor were suffering.
James said specifically:
You have lived luxuriously on the earth
and have indulged yourselves.
You have fattened your hearts
in a day of slaughter.
And there I just think he's just
literally talking about gluttony.
When he says, "you have fattened your hearts."
You're eating, you're living it up,
and the people around you are starving.
They were destroying people,
probably by using the legal system.
And notice he says:
You have condemned,
you have murdered the righteous,
who does not resist you.
And there, it may mean that they
literally were orchestrating situations
where people were taken into custody
and were sentenced to death.
I mean, this is evil.
So when you look at that,
it almost sounds like the
prophets of the Old Testament--
when they wrote to Israel.
For example, the prophet Isaiah:
Woe to those enacting crooked statutes
and writing oppressive laws
to keep the poor from getting a fair trial
and to deprive the needy
among my people of justice,
so that widows can be their spoil
and they can plunder the fatherless.
Woe.
Can you get any lower than that?
That was the evil that existed in the
Old Testament among the Jewish tribes.
The tribes that had been scattered
and that James is addressing.
So it sounds like he's addressing
more than believers.
It sounds like he's addressing Jews
that have totally rejected the Messiah.
Still a part of the Jewish communities.
Or it's possible that these are
among the people that James said:
Their faith is dead.
Faith without works is dead.
And so consequently, that could be part
of the people that he's actually addressing.
Listen to the prophet Micah:
Woe to those who
dream up wickedness and prepare
evil plans on their beds!
At morning light they accomplish it
because the power is in their hands.
They covet fields and seize them;
they also take houses.
They deprive a man of his home,
a person of his inheritance.
So here you have this incredible indictment.
And so it sounds as if at this point in his letter,
though he's been addressing believers--
Jewish believers. And they've got
a lot of problems that he's dealt with.
He now broadens his words to those
that are in the Jewish community
that have made materialism their god.
And he says some very, very strong things.
In essence, they were
worshiping money instead of God.
So here's a Reflection and Response question:
How do we personally, as believers,
respond to what we've read here from James?
Who is speaking by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit:
Though James may have been
addressing unsaved materialists,
what lessons can believers learn
from this indictment?
And again, I'd just like the apostle Paul to
answer this question. Because he does
a great job answering questions like this.
And again, the issue is not money per se.
It's their motives and their hearts.
And as believers, Paul is writing
to Timothy for us--
believers in the first century--for us today.
You notice what he says.
The issue is the love of money, not money.
In 1st Timothy 6:6 to 10:
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
For we brought nothing into the world,
and we can take nothing out.
If we have food and clothing,
we will be content with these.
But those who want to be rich
fall into temptation, a trap,
and many foolish and harmful desires,
which plunge people into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money
[not money, the love of money]
is a root of all kinds of evil,
and by craving it, some have wandered away
from the faith and pierced themselves
with many [many] griefs.
So in conclusion, I think here is
what James is saying.
I think here's what Paul is saying.
And I think here's what Jesus
is saying about these issues:
If any of you have money, praise God.
Meet your needs and enjoy what you have.
But be generous and do good.
Seek first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness!