Greetings!
These days - and honestly, for most days in the history of the Church - we are tempted to honor the rich as potential patrons and givers to our programs and ministries. We are also tempted to see the rich as somehow better. We value hard work, and assume not only that the rich are where they are because they deserve it, but that the poor are so because they also deserve their place.
James says the poor are rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, and the rich are in big trouble. (Certainly, he is referencing the same concern for the rich that Jesus had when he offered the beautiful hyperbole of the camel getting through the eye of a needle - told in Matthew, Mark and Luke.) Further, James makes a strong appeal for Christians to avoid divisive distinctions between social classes, and that class lines should not determine the way believers relate to each other.
The insistence is that the Christian faith levels all believers, allowing no pride of place by the rich over the poor. More importantly, followers of Christ should not make wealth their goal, for it brings with it a variety of troubles. Those who are rich, and those who are poor, must give primary attention not to the gaining or keeping of wealth, but growing in the Spirit.
Grace and peace,
Mike
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