James 5:1-6

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.  Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.  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.  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.  You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.  You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Riches can be dangerous because they can easily become our functional god.  Idols always require sacrifices, are never satisfied, and offer false hope.  Idols present themselves as saviors, but they only lead to destruction.  Wealth is not inherently evil, but it is dangerous because it can so easily become a false god in our lives.  These indicators reveal that wealth has become an idol.

EXPECTATION OF PERMANENCE: Riches can provide a false sense of security.  As wealth is accumulated, it must be stored in some form.  When James was writing, there were no banks where wealth could securely stored.  Those who wanted to accumulate wealth did so by purchasing grain, cloth, and precious metals.  None of these things are permanent, they could rot, be eaten by moths, and corrode.  The point is that no means of storing wealth even in today’s modern world of banks and stocks is permanent.  None of it will pass into eternity.  If money is the source of our security, we should mourn and weep because it will all be gone.  Money should never become the object of our hope.  When the Lord returns in the last days all the wealth that has been accumulated will simply go up in smoke and the person who trusted money instead of Christ will burn condemned by God.

EXPLOITATION OF PEOPLE: Money has become an idol in our lives when we are willing to sin to be able to obtain it.  Frequently, people become rich by exploiting other people.  When employees are not pain fair wages or the wages that are promised are not paid, this is exploitation.  Wealth should never be gained at the expense of others.  The resources we have been blessed with should be used to bless other people and to further the cause of Christ.  God calls us to serve one another and help those who are less fortunate, not exploit those who are desperate for our own benefit.

EXTRAVAGENCE IN PURCHASES: Luxury and self-indulgence demonstrate that wealth has become an object of our worship and not an instrument of worship.  Comfort and beauty are so appealing to us and they can easily become idols in our lives.  People rarely consider the purchases they make as extravagance because we tend to compare ourselves with others who live in greater wealth and extravagance.  This kind of comparison may soothe our conscience, but it does not justify us before the Lord.  James warns of the impending judgment that is coming and states that it is as if we have been frivolously fattening our hearts in the day of slaughter.  When we live in extravagance while exploiting others, it is the same as killing an innocent person in the sight of God.  The poor are powerless to resist the rich, but God is a righteous Judge.  

APPLICATION: Don’t look to wealth as our source of security or salvation.  Use our resources to help others and never seek to take advantage of the less fortunate to increase our own wealth.  Be prudent and practice frugality in the way we spend our funds.  Avoid living in luxury and indulgence.  Be prepared to justify the way we use our resources when we stand before the Lord.