There
are several themes in the Book of James. For instance, James talks about the
most popular theme in the book “Faith without Works Is Dead.” However, there is
another theme in the book that everyone glosses over: The parts where James
seems to be slandering rich people. Why is he doing this, and is there anything
we can take from it? Let’s look at how James addresses these people:
James 2:1-7
“My brothers, show
no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of
glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your
assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay
attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a
good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit
down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become
judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen
those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom,
which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor
man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into
court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were
called?”
The
way he describes the rich in this chapter seems rather scolding and extremely
harsh. The reason he seems to hate the rich people is because of what they've
been doing. They are extremely corrupt, and most of them are abusing their
rights to get the poor people under their control. They promise payment and
never deliver. They force others to work for them with false promises of
payment. They have been corrupted by the power that their money brings. And,
according to James, they aren't going to get away with it.
What
can we pull away from this? Money corrupts many if not all hearts. We need to
be careful with these kinds of things. As the famous Mr. Robertson once said:
“Absolute power corrupts, and power
corrupts absolutely.”
That’s
all for this blog. If you want to say your own opinion on this passage, put it
in the comments below.
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