James, in characteristic fashion, chews out the rich. It is tempting to say he chews out the rich for being rich, but a closer reading of the text indicates that he is chewing them out for how they became rich and what they do with their riches. They became rich by abusing their employees and now that they are rich, they don't do any good with their riches. This leads me to believe that it is possible to be both rich and godly. It also leads me to believe that the vast majority of the rich aren't godly. It is simple economics. To accumulate money, you need to sell more than it costs you to produce what you are selling. In a competitive marketplace there is the additional pressure to have lower costs in order to sell more of your product. One of the easiest ways to lower costs is to reduce the cost of labor--that is, pay your employees less. If you don't do this, depending on your specific market, you are likely to not make much money and not become rich in the first place. So, it is far easier to become rich if you behave in a fashion that James objects to. It isn't impossible, but it is much harder.
So, what does one do in a capitalistic society as a Christian? I guess we shouldn't focus on getting rich. If God blesses us with wealth through our ethical behavior, then we should continue our ethical behavior and do good with that blessing.
But the reality is that most Christians who live according to Christian principles will not be wealthy. Most of us will be abused by our employers and suffer from unjust social structures. (This is more true in the non-western world.) For believers in those circumstances, James encourages us to keep our mind on the end game. Earth isn't our home and it isn't where we will be rewarded. Grumbling about the current world, especially against fellow believers, won't actually do any good. There are ways to appropriately fight injustice, but that isn't the same as grumbling.
No comments:
Post a Comment