Rich People Could Be In Trouble

"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you."

Wow.

A LOT going on in this passage written by Jesus Christ's brother, "James" (really, Jacob - but that's for another time). I recently read this passage and then a brief commentary by a deservedly respected Bible scholar.
The scholar said that we should read the "rich" in the first sentence as 'un-saved people.' Hmmmm. What the text says is "rich," as in wealthy, resourced, and economically advantaged. Is the scholar assuming that if you are rich, you cannot be 'saved?' While there is much teaching about the dangers of earthly wealth and prosperity throughout Jesus' and the Apostles' teaching; there seems to be clear evidence that wealthy people were Christians in the early church. Does the scholar imply that those people referred to in the Bible were not really saved? That seems unlikely. How about this? Does the scholar mean that "saved" wealthy people are given a free pass to economically abuse their workers and enjoy self-indulgent luxury? Also, not likely! What the scholar probably meant, but imprecisely stated, is that James' comments were directed to those unsaved people who have invested heavily in this world and have amassed resources - usually by fraud, oppression, and abuse of the dis-advantaged.

However, it also seems to me that the scholar may be missing something, as well. What about those "Christian" business owners who, through 'sharp practices,' gain advantage, profit, and worldly success?
Let's be clear: no Christian is perfect, holy, ethical, moral, or wholly good ... in themselves. This is a big point of the gospel of salvation by Christ: all our 'standing' before God is based on 'alien' (no, not space creatures: rather, 'something from outside') righteousness. That is, Jesus takes our badness and gives us his goodness - we are righteous before God based on the goodness of Jesus that he gives us. Our own 'goodness' is no good. The point is that if you think that Christians are better than anyone else, in themselves, you are mistaken and will be horribly disappointed.
To my point in this post: "Christian businessmen" are certainly capable of rationalizing their own economic sins just as easily as any other Christian rationalizes their sins of hate, laziness, lust, pride, gluttony, and so forth.

So, is it possible for a "Christian" business owner to economically abuse their employees? Oh, yes - and I've seen it happen. In the first place, there are some Christian businessmen who can, have, and do economically abuse their employees, customers, and vendors. Why? Because we are still sinners - still badly broken and messed up, motivated by fear and hate, clinging on to our worldly nature rather than fully embracing the Kingdom of God. Yes, there are a few Christians who economically sin against others.
Secondly, I use quotes around the word because it needs to be said that not everyone who claims to be a Christian really is. If someone says they are a Christian, a true follower of Jesus, then I give them that presumption. But presumptions can be rebutted. Jesus warned us about false-speakers saying that "You will recognize them by their fruits" (Matt 7:16). Consider the possibility that someone claiming to be a follower of Jesus is either self-deluded or trying to delude you. One of Jesus' most chilling teaching was that as he will be judging humanity, there will be those who (Matt 7:21) claim Jesus as their Lord, but did not do the will of God - and they will not enter God's Kingdom (cf. Matt 25:31ff).

This brings us back to the scholar's imprecise interpretation: the "rich" is only only about unsaved wealthy people. Stated like that and as we have seen, the answer is no. Now, the question is, what is James saying to the wealthy Christian? Specifically, to the Christian who became wealthy through economic sin?
OK, here is the power of the Gospel of our salvation: that sinner is forgiven of their sins!
But.
It is also a principle that their sins in this world will deny them riches, honor, and even placement in God's Kingdom. To be sinfully rich in this world will result in relative poverty in the next. Will they be saved? Yes. Will there be regrets? Oh, yes.

What then? True-believer-in-Jesus-businessperson - if you've stolen, withheld, misrepresented, defrauded, or abused others; then it is time to repent. Now. Repent, reconcile, and restore. You don't want to hear the thunderous screams of those you exploited while Jesus is looking at you on That Day.

Repent; or you will be in trouble.

Perfection and Suffering

I was reading an old-school devotional book the other day, “Streams In The Desert.” It is arranged by days of the year, includes a small text of scripture, and a devotional thought. For the 2^nd of December, the text was a clause from Hebrews 2:10: “perfect through suffering.” The word, “perfect,” in Bible, doesn’t have the same force as the English use of the word. In Bible, the word merely means, “complete” or “aligned with the goal.”

But the text got me thinking about the nature of suffering as a passive spiritual discipline. Engaging in an active discipline of suffering CAN be appropriate: fasting, sacrificing, et al. The value of passive suffering is, of course, ignored in American Christianity. But Christendom has, for millennia, seen the usefulness of suffering to build character and form a healthy and thriving spiritual life. Why?

Suffering has several causes. 1) The natural consequences of our own foolish or sinful actions; 2) Attack of the demonic (e.g.: Job); 3) the corrupt and fallen nature of the world we live in.

In the first case, natural consequences, the world system is working just fine: we ought to feel pain and discomfort for wrong choices and actions. Suffering, like guilt, is a natural feedback mechanism of common grace that help to ‘perfect’ our character (1Peter 2:20).

In the second case, we are under attack and suffering unjustly (1 Peter 2:21-23). In this case, we are doing the right and good but we are still attacked and suffer from spiritual forces. Here, we can rejoice (James 1:2-4) because we should realize where the suffering is coming from and understand that it is actually a ‘reward’ – a back-handed compliment on our right choices and actions. As James says, this also works to ‘perfect’ us.

In the third case, we suffer unjustly or disproportionately due to the corrupt world. In the workplace; we do our job well. But unknown to us, someone is looking for a promotion. If we were made to look bad, it would improve their chances. We’re victimized and sinned against because of someone else’s greed or even the organizational culture. Rules that were intended to punish evil are twisted to punish good because the world system cannot discern good from evil and looks only at raw behavior. Again: you lose a promotion into a position where you would have performed very well to someone who sacrifices family on the altar of career. You are unwilling to do that, even though you would’ve done the job better. The other guy looks more “committed to the company,” but will eventually poison the organizational culture by destroying families and employees’ lives. I could draw out other examples from family, friendships, and community contexts.

All of this is not because you are ‘righteous’ or ‘persecuted;’ it is “just the way things work” in our world.

But in that last cause of suffering, we are being perfected; our character and spiritual life is being brought closer to an intended goal. This is because we realize that the suffering we experience (due to the world’s system) is largely a part of our poor affections. We see that we are tied to this world and hold on to it – after all, it’s what we know best. The world and what it says is still important to us, even when we know there’s another – better – way. We realize, when we suffer from ‘the way things are’ that we are too much “of” the world rather than merely being in the world.

As we see how messed up the world system really is, we should release our hold on it and become attracted to the alternative Jesus presented: the Kingdom of God. We start letting go of our old world-view and see a new world coming (1Corinthians 7:29-31). This is part of our perfection – giving up our affection for the world system (1John 2:15-17).

This is how suffering perfects us; it brings up the contrast and the decision point regarding our affections: either this world, or the Kingdom of God.

Resisting Temptation

Back in the 4^th grade, we temporarily moved to one of the, er, interesting parts of California: Bakersfield. I started at a new school and had some very typical problems fitting in: I was from out of town, the Big City, everybody else seemed to know each other already, it was a very different kind of place than I’d come from, and then there was the problem of The Bully.

But I digress. I became friends with another boy whose name was Teddy. Teddy and I discovered we had similar interests and outlooks on life. His family was from the Philippines and I remember being amazed at their hospitality, generosity, and friendliness. To this day, I have a particular affection for Filipinos. So Teddy and I became thick as thieves, as they say, and we would look out for each other. Teddy knew who was who and what was what at the school. I was a tall kid so probably provided some cover for Teddy. Anyway, Teddy and I, with a few others, ran in a small pack: call it a mutual defense association.

At this point in my life, I can’t remember the boy’s name. But he was a sixth grader and apparently had as his Personal Calling Statement the purpose, value, and vision to make sure that all the students in our school were intimidated by him. When he saw me – remember, I was tall for my age – I popped up on his radar as an unidentified “bogie.” And his mission was to seek and destroy.

So one day, he confronted me during the recess period and uttered those words that an extremely insecure boy does not want to hear: “After school, I’m goin’ to beat you up!” Again, he wasn’t noted for his subtlety.

So for the rest of the day, Teddy and I planned our strategy to deal with this threat. It went something like this: “Wadda we gonna do?! Wadda we gonna do?! Wadda we gonna do?!” Now, and don’t miss this, there was never any this from Teddy: “Dude, that’s bad. Sure isn’t good to be you now. See ya later!” Teddy was my friend. My problem was his problem. Right there we could stop and this will be a great illustration.

But it was better than that. We realized that there were two exits to the school. One was the front and the other was the, er – yes – the back. So we made this plan. Once school got out, I’d hide – I’m not too proud to admit this – in the boy’s room. Teddy committed to going out and scoping the exits. If BullyBoy was in the front, we’d skedaddle out the back; and if he was in the back, we’d make our escape out the front. Notice, “OUR escape;” My problem was his problem.

It turned out that this plan worked very well. Teddy did an effective reconnoiter and located our threat force near the front exit of the school. We then executed a tactical exit strategy egressing from the rear of the school, suitably camouflaged by buildings, vegetation, and other terrain features. The extraction maneuver was successful and based upon our well-executed plan, we were able to successfully leverage our success when it came time to engage in diplomatic negotiations.

Here’s the point: Teddy helped me escape. He took my problem on as his own. He helped me find a way out in a very practical way.

So I think of God in that way. Temptation is my problem – God didn’t cause my temptation. “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one” (James 1:13). Yet my temptation is a problem that God takes up as his own. God, even more so that Teddy, is my friend and wants to help me in very practical ways. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1Corinthians 10:13). God, not only looks out for another escape route like Teddy did for me, but this verse says that God will “make” or “do” a way of escape. I take that to mean that if way is not already there, “providentially,” then God will just create a way miraculously.

Of course, most of us don’t have the faith to look for that way when we are tempted. That assumes that we are actually looking for a way out of temptation. But that’s another conversation.