Money in and of itself is not bad. However, when we love money more than people or God, it can become our worst nightmare. This is what James is talking about in this passage. When he references the rich, it’s easy for us to misunderstand that he is talking about is a specific type of rich person- the type of person who gains through the oppression and misuse of others.  

When we look at the text, we get a picture of the sort of rich people he is talking about. They have hired workers and when the job was done, refused to pay them what they were due because they valued money more than people. He warns them that the fine things they have acquired and the money they have held back for themselves will all rot and pass away and that they have stirred the anger of God.  

Reading James’ warnings to these rich people, we should all take a moment to examine our own hearts. Though not many of us understands the toil and hard work of bringing in a harvest and not receiving the money we are due, we all understand what it feels like to be short-changed. In one way or another, most of us have experienced this.  

But we can also be guilty of short-changing others. When greed and covetousness seep into our hearts, the inevitable result is that we will hurt others. Any time we strive to benefit ourselves over others, we should hear the warnings of James. When money becomes our god, we’ve got a real problem that needs to be fixed! But the love of money can be sneaky and hidden if we don’t look closely.  

Jesus addressed this during His time on earth too. When met by a young rich man on the road, the man asked Jesus what he needed to do to be saved. Knowing what was in the man’s heart, Jesus challenges him to sell all his possessions and follow Him. But the man leaves feeling grieved because of all his fortune. (Matt 19:16-22) 

See, Jesus knew that this man’s wealth had his heart and it was the thing standing between him and fully surrendering to Christ. Jesus didn’t tell everyone to sell everything, just this man. It wasn’t meant as a rule for believers to follow. But for this man, his money had become his god and Jesus saw that it was the wall that stood between them.  

And it was a sneaky wall too! We see in this story that the young man had done all the religious things that the law commanded. He was living a life that looked righteous. But deep in his heart there was greed and a love of money. From the outside looking in, he looked like a great guy. But Jesus saw the brokenness and idolatry hiding underneath and called it out. 

My heart breaks for this man because he traded following Jesus and eternal life for the passing glory of wealth. He walked away from his Messiah. How heartbreaking!  

We too have the same question when it comes to money. Whether the lack of money or the wealth of it, will we allow it to stand between us and our Messiah? Will the search for wealth take our eyes off Jesus? And will we allow it to cause us to treat others unkindly?