From James 5:1-6,

1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 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. 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. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. What is the problem with the rich in James’ day? Among other things, they were made rich due to fraud. They stepped on others, taking what was justly due to their laborers, and instead fattened themselves with excess that wasn’t theirs. This isn’t a condemnation of profit, but a condemnation of rich people who, in that day, were made rich mainly by taking what didn’t belong to them because they were in a position of power. They “fattened [their] hearts in a day of slaughter… in luxury and in self-indulgence.” I don’t know what was going on in those days, but at the very least it seems like the rich were in the midst of a very lopsided social-economic setting where they benefitted primarily from hurting others. This was not a win-win business situation; it was the trading of God’s glory for the love of riches which resulted in hating your neighbor for the sake of your own selfish comfort. This just seems very different to me than “You’re condemned because you’re rich!” Riches aren’t the problem; unjust gain at the expense of people is. These people are the unrighteous rich. And there’s no way you should desire to be rich in this way. Last night, we were reading Jeremiah and I was impressed by Jeremiah 17:11, Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch, so is he who gets riches but not by justice; in the midst of his days they will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool. Again, is this a condemnation of riches, or a condemnation of getting riches by unjust means? A few verses before we read the following, 7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. God provides for their needs. The one who trusts in the Lord is blessed (i.e., happy) because he knows that the Lord will take care of him, instead of worrying about the heat nor the drought. All in all, I am seeing a condemnation of the unrighteous rich when it used to be that I took such condemnations as condemnation against riches in general, as if I shouldn’t seek in any way to be rich because then I would be under the warnings of such verses. That’s nonsense. And it leads me to 2 Corinthians 8-9, which I’ll have to go through in the coming few days. Like that I’m blogging again? Any feedback would motivate me to continue. :o)