James 5

(Originally written March 6, 2009)

Key Verse: “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. …You have hoarded wealth in the last days.” (James 5: 1, 3b)

All the student leaders in Narrowgate were asked to write testimonies on one word they received from the James study, and I hadn’t decided on a passage until after Missionary Joan Park and I studied James 5 this afternoon; and I immediately knew what I wanted to write about.

James opens the end of his letter, the fifth chapter, with this warning: “weep and wail, because misery is coming.” It was not warning them about being rich, nor does he mean that Christians are not allowed to be anything but poor and destitute; instead, he is rebuking them for being selfish and proud in their riches and luxurious lifestyle. Essentially, their wealth was wasted; it had rotted, and moth had eaten their clothes. Their gold and silver had corroded, and that corrosion testified to their wastefulness. They had killed innocent men, indulging themselves and not even paying their hired workers (v. 2-6).

Instead of squandering their wealth, they should have glorified God with it. Their values were messed up—instead of placing their faith in God, they put their trust in material things, all of which will pass away.

I don’t usually thing of myself as rich, but in truth, I am. I am still young and (by God’s grace, hopefully) have a long life ahead of me. I was raised in a Christian home and am surrounded by Christian friends and fellowship, for which I am very thankful. I am very grounded in my faith, and with help am still growing. There are many opportunities ahead of me in which I can serve the Lord. I may not have a lot of money, the best car or the finest clothes, but I am very rich, and very blessed.

James’s warning, then, stretches to me, as well. I need to be careful not to use my wealth for my own gain, but to help others and live for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 9:24 says this: “Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” Even though I may not be the winner of the race, I need to run with my all—and I can only do that if I run in God’s direction and not my own. We all come across struggles, but still run the race so that God will be revealed in us.

I’ve experienced several personal struggles lately. Times are tough with money problems at home, and my schoolwork is harder to keep up with (I find myself puzzling over some of my programming projects with no end in sight, more often than not). The biggest struggle, though, has been about the spring conference.

At first, I’ll be honest—I felt very pressured to go simply because it sounded like it was “the Christian thing to do.” I got the impression that a lot of people were saying “to be a good Christian, you have to spend money and go to such and such event,” and (of course) bucked away, totally turned off to the idea. I admit it was a cynical view, but especially in the rough economic times, anything that could save me money in the end couldn’t be all bad. And then there were the schedule conflicts—I’d been planning this or that for a long time, longer than I’d even known about the conference; and—again—there was the money issue. I am terribly reluctant to borrow the attendance fee, especially with everyone short-handed.

They seemed like reasonable objections at the time, but the more I think and pray about it, the more they seem flimsy and weak. If there is anything that this James study has really imparted to me, it’s the power and importance of prayer, and acting on the word of God instead of simply hearing it and walking away. As I continue to pray, my irritation has changed from what I felt was righteous indignation to what I know now is God’s conviction. Every possible excuse that I could come up with can be explained away by my own fear and hesitation, and answered with prayer and faith:

My money problems can be solved with faith in God’s providence; my wanting to stay is simply selfish reluctance, and that nagging voice in my head yells at me, that I need to follow my key verse and allow “God’s kingdom to come, and His will to be done” in my life. I truly feel God prompting me to become a leader of the faith, and what sort of example am I setting for others if I can’t put aside my own desires and follow God’s will. If I can’t even do that much, how can I expect others to do anything but follow my own poor example?

What seemed like practicality at the time has been revealed as foolishness, and in all honesty I feel ashamed; but the Lord is faithful to forgive me and grant me another chance. I really hope to go to the conference now, and even look forward to it, and I know that through prayer God will make a way for me to go. I ask you all to pray for me as I continue to struggle with my own pride… but also to rejoice with me and praise the Lord, at least, for this one revelation!

One Word: Set your priorities and spend your own wealth by God’s Word.