4Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 5You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
James is hard on the wealthy; no one can deny this. He wrote in chapter 2 that when we defer to those with wealth, we demean the poor. Wealthy people do have an advantage over others because of the power and prestige it brings. The world system defers to the affluent because it defers to earthly power. James confronts this straightforwardly.
It is the wealthy that provide jobs for others, and that gives them power. Power in itself is not the problem, but abusing the advantage it brings is. Using the economics of his day, James addresses employers: pay your workers! Notice, he doesn’t address issues such as unionization, collective bargaining, socialistic distribution of wealth, or forcing government laws. In his day, labor laws were virtually nonexistent. For the Christian, change does not begin with political action (which, in James’ time, was virtually impossible). It begins with Christians changing themselves. We should not abuse any power or advantage that we have over others. With wealth comes responsibility, and we dare not excuse ourselves when guilty.
God has had a heart for the disadvantaged of this world. From the time of the Jews in their Egyptian slavery (Ex. 2:23) to David and the prophets, we see God universally commanding His people to defend and help the disadvantaged:
Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. (Psalm 82:3)
Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. (Isaiah 1:17)
The problem is that we so easily shelter our self-centered lives so that we do not see those who need help. We are blinded by our luxury, wanton pleasure, and fattened self-centered hearts. The great irony of hoarding wealth is that the more we make, the more that we lose in the end. The value of our wealth for us ends when we die. Yet, the irony goes even further; the fatted animal that grows large ends up dying, with the result that others will then get the value from the wealth left behind. The more wealth we attain for ourselves (and keep from others), the more others will enjoy what we leave behind!
Lord, I am convicted to use more of my resources in service of others.
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