Call to Commitment

 

James gives warning to the prosperous

         1.    Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 

  2. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 

          3.    Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. 

4.      Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. 

5.      You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

        6.      You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you. 

James certainly was far from being a promoter of prosperity, in fact, he seriously warned the rich of the danger of prosperity. Paul, also, in total agreement with James, knew the pitfalls of wealth and, though the wealthy may have been few among Christians, they certainly existed. He tells Timothy to counsel them: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” (1Ti 6:17-19). There are Christians, who have known how to use their good fortune, have heeded this advice, and have been wonderfully used of God to further His purposes.

 However, in 1 Timothy 6:5-11, Paul gives a clear and concise teaching to Timothy on the Christian position concerning earthly prosperity. He began his doctrine, writing of “useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.” This portion in Timothy merits a few observations. Verse 5 teaches that any search for getting gain from Christianity is done by men of corrupt minds, using devious means that are far from truth.  “From such withdraw yourself.” Christians, certainly men in the ministry, need to shy away from this kind of teaching. “