Perversion of Resources Exposed
READ JAME 5:1-6
“The spiritually wise person has always known that frivolous consumption corrupts the soul away from trust in, worship of, and service to God and injuries our neighbors as well.”
(Willard, p. 169)
Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. HarperSanFrancisco, 1999.
James goes directly after the wealthy. These are people of means. These are people with disposable health, resources, time and talents. Those with potential – those with unused gifts – fall right in the cross-hairs of James’ rebuke. James calls those who misuse their God-given resources to repentance. There should be mourning in our hearts when our sins of frivolity are brought out into the light. It is why many people struggle with budgeting. It is easier to turn a blind eye. It is most definitely less painful.
Dallas Willard highlights the intuitive knowledge of the believer. Those who walk in close relationship with Jesus know that the careless management of their means corrodes their reborn heart and soul. Jesus is the Lord over all of our resources. He reigns in sovereignty over our belongings and rights. The believer knows that God would have them trust, worship and serve Him with all they have to their name.
“‘Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether one of your brothers or one of the foreigners residing within a town [within the gates] in your land. You are to pay him his wages each day before the sun sets, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he will cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be held guilty.'”
Deuteronomy 24:14-15
Holy Bible Holman Christian Standard Bible, Black/Burgundy, Leathertouch, Personal Size Bible. Holman Bible Pub, 2014.
The Bible is rich with societal justice as seen in the quote from Deuteronomy above. Economics are not out of God’s reach. The worker is prized by God. Those of means should never leverage their influence to hurt the worker. The worker should be valued and paid fairly. A society influenced by Jesus-followers will value the lives of laborers. It is the responsibility of the wealthy to acknowledge the needs of the poor. The wealthy should concern themselves with the trust and dependency their workers have on their industry. The LORD of angel armies is the defendant of the poor when they are severely oppressed by the wealthy.
This should also come as a reprimand to the vain and ambitious. In Proverbs, the wise teacher instructed his students not to lose themselves in the pursuit of riches (Pr. 23:4-5). This applies to the upkeep of industry and the lifestyle it affords. When one’s eyes linger over riches, the riches vanishes – never to return. Like a bird taking flight, so it is with the wealth of this world. It is better to invest our riches in things that last. Turn over your possessions to God for a sure investment. Faithfulness to God in areas of personal finance and public industry will bring happiness that will translate into eternity (Pr. 28:20). This is a happiness attached to the person of Jesus Christ and His good pleasure over the stimulation of worldly enticing.
“‘Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.'”
Matthew 6:19-21
Holy Bible Holman Christian Standard Bible, Black/Burgundy, Leathertouch, Personal Size Bible. Holman Bible Pub, 2014.
Where we invest our treasure – the resources that we treasure – our hearts will also be found. In essence, if we track our investments we will find what we practice placing our faith in. What we really believe is displayed by the destination of our resources. Those who hold onto their gifts as something to be privately indulged and enjoyed are severely warned by Jesus (Lk. 6:24). If we are comforted by our riches now, the comfort of such resources is used up and burned away. Riches enjoyed on earth will not be used to bring God honor and glory in heaven. We are limiting our ability to worship in heaven based on our investment of resources on earth today.
We will be most ultimately fulfilled if we use what resources God has providently distributed to us to bring glory to His name here on earth. When we invest in His church and the work done by the called-out people of Jesus here and now, we are laying up units of worship in heaven which we will be able to lavish on God in eternity. The work we do now directly affects our worship of God in eternity. The things that bring glory to God now will amount to ultimately superior glory in that vast eternal moment that awaits us in the presence of our three-person-unity God.
“God gives us our worldly possessions that we may honor him and do good with them; but if instead of this, we sinfully hoard them up, this is a very heinous crime, and will be witnessed against by the very rust and corruption of the treasure thus heaped together.”
(Henry, p. 751)
Henry, Matthew, et al. The NIV Matthew Henry Commentary in One Volume: Based on the Broad Oak Edition. Zondervan Pub. House, 1992.
James uses metallic language when discussing the treasures of this life. Hoarded metal, stockpiled and stacked, is sure to turn towards corruption and disintegration. All created things have a tendency towards decomposition. Things are gradually broken down until they no longer resemble what they were. With our resources as with our own bodies, when they are invested in the good God is working out in the world, they will be made everlasting in a greater way than we can comprehend. God has ordained that we would live free to invest our treasures where His Holy Spirit would lead us. As Matthew Henry noted, life and livelihood are God’s benevolent gifts to fallen people that they might bring Him honor and by doing good. We must choose to do good.
Our awareness of the Holy Spirit’s leading comes first by choosing to respond to the Good News of Jesus in faith. He is sure to give us a new birth marked by the down-payment of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will continue to guide us in the upright ways of God as we interact with God’s message as it is found in the Scripture. The instruction found in the Bible – especially the words of Jesus – will be strikingly applicable to our day-to-day lives. Jesus teaches us how to invest our material possessions. This is what it looks like to seek the kingdom of God.
“The Kingdom of God is His kingship, His rule, His authority. When this is once realized, we can go through the New Testament and find passage after passage where this meaning is evident, where the Kingdom is not a realm or a people but God’s reign.. What is received? The Church? Heaven? What is received is God’s rule. In order to enter the future realm of the Kingdom, one must submit himself in perfect trust to God’s rule here and now… What is the object of our quest? The Church? Heaven? No; we are to seek God’s righteousness – His sway, His rule, His reign in our lives.”
(Ladd, p. 21)
Ladd, George Eldon. The Gospel of the Kingdom: Scriptural Studies in the Kingdom of God. Eerdmans, 2001.
The kingship of God is what governs the life of the believer. Dying daily to the cross of Jesus means accepting citizenship under His kingship. Seek His sway in all matter and your resources will begin to be angled in the right direction. You cannot seek His rule and continue to invest in the areas of life that you used to invest. The lakehouse will go. The bass boat will go. The deer stand will go. The travel ball will go. The entertainment will go. When God becomes the focus of your affections He will soon become the destination of your possessions. Your investment will draw you to fall deeper in love with the things that God is doing in the world.
George Eldon Ladd was very intentional in noting that the kingdom of God is not limited to a location at any certain point of time. God can be sought and His lordship accepted at any place and at any time. We must be faithful to receive His gracious gift. God’s righteousness is only as powerful in our lives as we will pursue it and allow it to conform our will to His own. We must turn our affections toward God’s good news in Jesus Christ. Only then will we begin living under His reign. Choose to take on the citizenship of the kingdom in faith today, as it comes to us through the words of Jesus in the Bible.
“Is it no harm for people to make gods of their bellies, and to give all to these, instead of abounding in acts of charity and piety? Pride, and idleness, and fullness of bread, mean the same thing as living in pleasure, and being self-indulgent, and fattening oneself in a day of slaughter.”
(Henry, p. 751)
Henry, Matthew, et al. The NIV Matthew Henry Commentary in One Volume: Based on the Broad Oak Edition. Zondervan Pub. House, 1992.
Living on the fruits of pleasure is evil. Pride is born out of entitlement to the graces of plenty. Idleness is born out of a reliance on the graces of plenty. Self-indulgence is born out of assurance on the graces of plenty. In all these cases of evil, the origin of God’s good grace is misplaced. When we believe we have merited plenty, we fall headlong into evil. We fall into the pit of ourselves.
Matthew Henry compares this person to one feasting before scenes of holocaust. Images of Amon Goeth parading on his balcony in Schindler’s List come to mind. Those who are content to imbibe the water of life and live in the lap of luxury while turning a blind eye to the oppressed are a vile lot indeed. We cannot long afford to feast while others fail. To those with plenty, much authority, power, and influence has been given by God for His glory. May believers be swift to realize this and respond accordingly. When all around is slaughter and carnage, may Jesus-followers concern themselves – like attending angels – in binding up of the wounded.
“James said in effect that the present comforts of the rich will turn to hardships, their sumptions and self-indulgent luxuries to painful loss, their pleasures to misery.”
(Valentine, p. 88)
Valentine, Foy. Layman’s Bible Book Commentary-Hebrews, James 1 & 2 Peter. Broadman Press, 1981.
If we accept the comfort of our riches today, we can be sure to experience hardship in the future. When we withhold good from others and enjoy it for ourselves, we should be aware that we stand guilty. James tells us that the LORD of Hosts stands in defense of the poor and oppressed. Dr. Foy Valentine makes the comment that this is the name “Lord of Sabaoth,” and it is “the most majestic of all the names of God in the Bible” (89). Sabaoth is the same word used to refer to armies arrayed for battle. This name speaks directly to the kingship of God over His angel armies. This God stands in defense of the defenseless.
“James used this name of God here” wrote Valentine “as we might use the name, God Almighty, to refer to the omnipotence of God” (89). God is truly all powerful. He has definitely given us freedom in our sphere, but without God we would have no power. God holds the reins of the universe and is guiding all things towards His good, perfect, and pleasing will. As believers, we are extended the opportunity to participate in that good will. As a good father allows His children to work alongside Him, so does our strong God include us in His work. Valentine knew this God intimately. He knew that our God, “having heard the cries of the oppressed, can be trusted to show his power to right wrong”. The Father of Jesus will surely “correct injustice, and bring to judgement the greedy rich who have defrauded the helpless poor” to ensure that His will is done and completed in all ways.
“God is entitled to be acknowledged by our gifts to him, and we are obliged to be conscious stewards of all that God has given us… The rationale behind stewardship is that God is the creator and giver of life and resources. Our use of these ought to reflect our recognition of his ownership, while our giving from these resources ought to reflect our gratitude to the one who gives freely to us. Our giving to God demonstrates our priorities and serves to honor God. Faithful stewardship is a worldview and seems as a measure of spiritual maturity. Stewardship involves not only how we give of our time and our resources; it also involves how we use our time and resources.”
(Hill, p. 312)
Walton, John H., and Andrew E. Hill. Old Testament Today: the Journey from Ancient Context to Contemporary Relevance. Zondervan, 2014.
The usage of our resources is an extension of our worship of God. Our stewardship of the resources God has given to us is worship. Mature believers will come into this understanding. Until that time, we are children who crave milk (1 Pt. 2:2) and not meat (Hb. 5:12). Challenge yourself, believer! Begin to see your gifts as means by which you can honor God, and bring Him glory here and now. Jesus-followers are not storehouses. Jesus-followers are pipelines. Keep goods and resources flowing to the world and fellow believers.
“There is no sure path to self-fulfillment” write John Walton and Andrew Hill “and when experienced at all it is typically fleeting” (398-399). Old Testament Today: the Journey from Ancient Context to Contemporary Relevance, co-authored by Walton and Hill, is of practical service to anyone looking to reconcile Old Testament writings with New Testament fulfillment in Jesus. The Old Testament consistently admonishes that self-fulfillment “cannot be pursued, and it should not be pursued”. We are told the same in the person of Jesus (2 Co. 1:20). Respect for God makes the difference in enjoying life on earth. We can leverage our whole life for the good of others, tethered to the complete work of Jesus in humble and respectful faith.
“The word of the Lord through James is that God Almighty is patient but not asleep. He has not abdicated his throne. He will not forget. God is not dead. Though the ungodly rich live in luxury by grinding the life out of the righteous poor, their own ‘day of slaughter’ and due punishment at the hands of the Lord of hosts is at hand.”
(Valentine, p. 89)
Valentine, Foy. Layman’s Bible Book Commentary-Hebrews, James 1 & 2 Peter. Broadman Press, 1981.
God lives today. God acts today. God reigns today. God rules today. God is king today. God is on the throne today. Does He reign in your heart? Is He King of your life? Are you His loyal subject? Does the King of heaven – the LORD of angel armies – have complete and total access to the resources that He has entrusted to you? True, He could demand it. True, He may have control of it already. But, He asks you to willingly give. He wants your will! God wants willful people to sacrifice their preferences so that He can do a visibly powerful work in and through them.
Give your life. Give your wealth. Give your time. Give your resources. God is the only one worthy to receive such benevolence. He steps to the side to reveal the poor behind Him. He steps aside to reveal the oppressed under His garment. Like the Ghost of Christmas Present in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the two children Ignorance and Want hide in the clothes of Jesus. He desires to provide for the desperate of the earth. Will you be a pipeline of blessing to them? Will you conduct resources to those who need it? God demands it. Jesus commands it. The Holy Spirit calls us to it. Let us follow.
God is as Great as He is Good!
Noah R. Hunt
POIEMA: Created for Truth 