As James begins to draw his epistle to a close, he takes a moment to admonish those that were rich. “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you” (James 5:1). The Scriptures never condemn riches or being rich. They do, however, readily condemn wrong attitudes toward wealth that ultimately affect both how wealth is acquired and used. James is consistent with the rest of the testimony of Scripture.
He first rebukes these rich men for hoarding wealth for wealth’s sake, i.e. under-employed wealth. He tells them their “riches are corrupted” and that their “gold and silver is cankered”. Their hoarded wealth has been “heaped…together for the last days” (James 5:2-3). The Scriptures teach plainly that wealth is a means to an end and not an end in itself. For the believer wealth is a test of spiritual responsibility. In his parable about the unjust steward, Christ concluded with this maxim. “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches” (Luke 16:10-11).
James makes two more points about these rich men that merit our consideration. The first has to do with how they came about their wealth. They made their fortunes through unjust business dealings by taking advantage of others. “Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth” (James 5:4). To grow my wealth by exploiting others and taking advantage of them is against the fundamental teaching of Scripture. Paul writing to the Christians in Rome commanded “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8,10).
Of the second point, James rebukes these ones for their self-indulgent use of their wealth. “Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter” (James 5:5). To be blessed with an abundance of this world’s goods is never a license to indulge the appetites of the flesh in any fashion. Perhaps, Christ taught this lesson best in his teaching about the rich man and his barns. “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, this will I do. I will pull down my barns, and build greater and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:16-19). He lived for himself; he lived for today with no thought of the future. “But God said unto him, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 16:20-21).
From the Chaplain 