Christian Perspective on Poverty and Riches

"Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with his scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits." (James 1:9-11, ESV)

In reading and studying the epistle of James, we need to remember that James was pastor of the Jerusalem church. His letter is inspired advice from a pastor's heart to "the twelve tribes scattered abroad." James covers many subjects in his epistle, vital areas of the Christian life that need careful attention. According to tradition, James had the befitting nickname, "Camel Knees," which does not sound so good us us. But really it meant that he knelt so long and frequently in prayer for his church that his knees developed calluses. We can be assured that what James wrote in his epistle, on whatever wisdom subject, was preceded by much prayer. And so was his perspective on poverty and riches about which he writes in these verses. We need to remember that the Jewish mind from Old Testament days and even into the Christian era considered well-gotten wealth a favor from God, and that poverty somehow was a result of God's disfavor. James seeks to clarify that long-held belief. In James' sermon illustration here, liking prosperity to the short-lived flower of the grass-or a wild flower that today is and tomorrow perishes-he was remind us that this world's goods are likewise nebulous-today here and tomorrow gone. In this current condition of economic depression, we are seeing how true this illustration is. Job loss and concurrent income loss are leaving many in want. Those who were once self-supporting find themselves losing houses and a higher standard of living. What is wealth, anyway? It is a condition that can change in a flash of time. James urged that we should have the right attitude about possessions. They should not possess us. In commenting on these verses in James, Dummelow's Commentary on the Whole Bible (Macmillan, 1958, p. 1034) states: "Poverty is an instance of those trials which may become joys. The poor man is to exult in his high estate as a Christina; the rich man is to glory in the loss of those riches which are so dangerous and fleeting." And William M. Pinson, Jr., writing comments on the letter of James in "The Disciple's Study Bible (Nashville, Holman, 1988, p. 1591) notes: "People pursue material goods as ends in themselves, but these things have nothing of the eternally permanent about them. Humility is the only attitude proper for the rich."

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Monday, October 11, 2010