A young girl from a very wealthy family decided to write a story
about poor people for her assignment in school. Her story began
like this: "Once upon a time there was a poor family. The father
was poor, the mother was poor, the children were poor, the butler
was poor, the chauffeur was poor, the maid was poor, and the
gardener was poor. Everybody was poor." The little girls concept
of poverty was obviously colored by her own environment. This is
true for all of us, however, even though it may not be as conspicuous
as it was in her case.
Poverty and prosperity are relative terms, and who is rich and
who is poor is often very hard to define. People with very little
income in our society can own almost everything that people with
large incomes own. They usually pay more for it in the long run,
but they can have it if they wish. I remember the surprise I got one
day when I took a bag of groceries up some dilapidated steps and
pounded on a poor excuse for a door. It almost came off when I did.
I was on an errand of mercy to give these poor people a gift of
necessities from the church. When I stepped into the house I saw the
children dirty and ragged watching a large color television. This
was back in the 70's when most of the church members who were
giving the food did not yet own a colored set.
In our society you don't have to wait until you can afford it. You
can have luxuries today if you are willing to sacrifice necessities. We
can't knock it, for such freedom of choice is a freedom most of the
world does not have. Most would have little if they had to wait until
they could afford it. Richard Armor gives us a humorous insight
into this reality.
The bride white of hair, is stooped over her cane,
Her faltering footsteps need guiding,
While down the church aisle, with a wan, toothless smile,
The groom in a wheelchair comes riding,
And who is this elderly couple, you ask?
You'll find when you've closely explored it,
That here is that rare, most conservative pair,
Who waited till they could afford it.
Such people are more than rare, for they are extinct in our
society, for we live where even the poor are rich with luxuries that
millions never possess in other parts of the world. This means that
most Christians today need to listen to James when he gives advice
to the rich, as well as his advice to the poor. American Christians
are both relatively poor, and relatively rich, and so they can be
defeated by the trials that come with either poverty or prosperity.
in our previous message we focused our attention on the trial of
poverty and lowliness, and we discovered that we can conquer the
tendency toward depression and feeling like a worthless nobody
through an honest realization of our Christian dignity. We have a
right to be proud as children of God, and we have in Christ that
which makes us the richest people on earth. We can say with the
poet,
Lord of the poor, when earth you trod,
The lot you chose was hard and poor;
You taught us hardness to endure,
And so to gain through hurt and pain
The wealth that lasts for evermore.
A proper sense of our Christian dignity will make us rich, and
victorious over the trials that come from lacking the best this world
has to offer.
Now we want to focus our attention on verse 10-11 where the
opposite trial is dealt with, and that is the trial of prosperity. The
treatment of this problem calls for an understanding of Christian
humility. Christian dignity and humility must be combined in that
Christian who hopes to beat both battles-the battle of fearful
depression, and the battle of false pride.
James in verse 10 says the rich Christian is to rejoice in that he is
made low, or to rejoice in his humiliation. This is in contrast to the
poor Christian rejoicing in his exaltation. What does it mean that
the rich Christian has been made low in Christ, when the poor have
been lifted? Certainly the rich are exalted also when they became
children of God. James is not denying this. He is giving advice on
how to gain victory over trials, and the trial of the rich will be the
tendency to put their trust in, and find their prestige in their
material possessions.
James is telling rich Christians they are to gain the victory over
this danger by recognizing that in Christ they have been made equal
with the brother of low degree. They have actually lost something
by coming to Christ. They have lost the right to be respected for
their wealth alone. Christian humility demands that they see
themselves as God sees them, and He sees them on a level of equality
with all His children. As rich Christians they have no right to lord it
over their brethren in Christ who have much less. If they shun
them, or treat them as unworthy of equality, they show that they are
still measuring life's values by the world's standard. They are
failing to conquer in the trial of prosperity, and they will end up
with less reward than their brothers of low degree who do succeed
in conquering in their trial.
The poor Christian is in danger of thinking too little of himself,
and the rich Christian is in danger of thinking too highly of himself.
One fails without a sense of dignity, and the other fails without a
sense of humility. The Apostle Paul had everything going for him as
a leader among the Pharisees. He had position, power and
possessions, but he gave it all up, and he counted it as refuse in order
that he might have Christ. Jesus Christ was the pearl of great price
for which he sold all that he had that he might possess it. The
greatest thing that ever happened to Paul was when he got knocked
off his high horse of pharisaical pride, and was brought low to the
level of Christian humility.
From that point on Paul was all things to all men. He could stand
with dignity before Apostles or kings. He could serve the lowly like a
common slave. He even wrote a letter for a slave to Philemon. Paul
was a rich man who discovered greater riches in Christ, and escaped
the world's value system. Like James, he was concerned that rich
Christians not get defeated by trust in their riches. He wrote to
Timothy in I Tim. 6:17-19, "Command those who are rich in this
present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth,
which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly
provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to
do good, to be rich in good deeds, land to be generous and willing to
share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm
foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life
that is truly life."
James is saying that very same thing. He too wants rich
Christians to escape the temptation of wealth, and gain God's best.
They can only do so by constantly and consciously rejoicing in their
Christian humility. That is, by being grateful that their eyes have
been opened to the folly of measuring a persons value by the
possessions he has acquired. Christian humility is not saying that
you are nothing, or that you are of little value. It is simply
recognizing that your dignity and worth as a person is not based on
material possessions or social position. Your dignity is based on
what Jesus did for you, and for all who receive Him. Your humility
is an awareness that you are on the same level with all of God's
children. When a Christian thinks he is something special because
of what he has, he is living on the level of worldly pride. When he
has the same pride as the poor Christian based on being a part of
the family of God, then he has the Christian humility he needs to be
victorious over the trial of riches.
When the rich Christian has been brought low so that he
recognizes his equality with the poor Christian, that is when he can
rejoice says James. He is saying you can be happy when you no
longer have to base your dignity on those things which cannot last.
This explains how a person can rejoice in losing something, and in
being brought low. He has lost what is passing away, and by being
brought low he has gained a sense of his dignity that will last
forever. He has lost a passing security to gain an eternal security. A
Christian who finds his security in God alone can face any trial and
be victorious. He can be a poor Joseph who became rich, or a rich
Job who became poor, and either way, like Paul, be content in
whatever state he is. Worldly wealth is of withering worth, but in
Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. You are
truly rich when Christ is the foundation of your wealth.
The rich will have a hard time doing what James advises. Many
will live defeated lives because they cannot stop basing their dignity
on earthly standards. Most everything James says about the rich in
this letter is negative. He knows how hard it is for them to escape
the pride of class and position. James, as a leader of the church of
Jerusalem, no doubt knew people personally who fit these words of
Cullen the poet-
She thinks that even up in heaven
Her class lies late and snores,
While poor servant cherubs rise at seven
To do celestial chores.
God wants all believers to have a sense of dignity and security,
but if they find it in power, possessions, or position, rather than in
Christ, they have no greater security than the world has which
passes away. Christian humility is simply a recognition that all the
passing values of this world are no basis for pride or dignity. It is a
recognition that the true basis for these things is available to all
people equally. A rich Christian can rejoice that he has lost his
reason for pride in his riches, and found the same everlasting
foundation in Christ that the poor brother has found.
The whole point James is driving at here in his counsel to
Christians is that there physical circumstances must always be
balanced with the proper spiritual virtues, or they will be defeated
by life's trials. If you are poor, you must experience spiritual
prosperity, and if you are rich, you must experience spiritual
humility. If you do not balance out life with the proper spiritual
virtues, your physical circumstances will determine your character,
and you will be no different than the non- Christian, and that means
you have a defeated Christian life. Satan has succeeded in
neutralizing your witness.
A wise Christian is one who never lets poverty or prosperity
hinder his service for Christ. If you are too poor to serve Christ
with joy, or too rich to have the time to serve Christ in humility, you
have been blinded to the true values of life. You are a double
minded man, and James says you will receive nothing from the Lord
in that state. Do not let Satan rob you of God's best, but get all the
riches He wants to give you by practicing Christian humility.
