The Deception Of Money

To be wealthy is not a sin in and of itself. We never read in the Bible that a person is sinning merely by being rich. Job is a classic example of a very wealthy man. And God took away Job’s wealth, but not because he was sinning. Indeed, the first verse of Job’s story describes him as “blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1).”  There are other lessons in the Book of Job, and it is not my purpose to teach them here, but the book ends with God’s not only restoring Job’s wealth but giving Him twice what he had before. My point is simply that there is no sin merely in being rich. 

James’ most pressing interest is to warn against the danger of allowing money to take on a divine status. He warns against living for riches and oppressing others in the hopes of financial gain. He warns that God sees and knows everything and will judge us for not using money wisely.

Let’s examine these verses more closely, noting two discernible warnings that rise from the text, one of which we will discuss in this post:

Money May Deceive Us 

¹Come 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; 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. (James 5:1-4)

To be deceived is to be duped into believing something untrue. The implicit deception James addresses has to do with the judgment to come. James is saying that those who are rich—and he has in mind wealthy landowners who were mistreating their laborers—are living in such a way as though there was no judgment to come. They are living as though Jesus were never coming back.

The deception is evident in how James addresses these wealthy landowners: “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!”  James’ cry suggests that these rich folks were laughing when they should have been weeping, reminiscent of his earlier teaching: “Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom (James 4:9).”  

It’s as though James were saying, “You guys may be living it up and laughing it up today, but one day, the judgment will come. Don’t be deceived. It will come: weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.” 

James illustrates the transitory nature of material possessions. He says, “Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.”  

He is addressing the sin of hoarding our wealth, hoarding our possessions. The word “corrupted” here conveys the idea of rotting away. James says, “Your riches are rotting away.”  Much like today, the abundance of clothing was a sign of wealth. James says, “Your garments are moth-eaten.”  In essence, he asks, “Why store up so much clothing to feed moths?”  The hoarding of one’s possessions raises questions about responsible stewardship.

Have you ever watched the American television show “Hoarders” or “American Pickers?”  In the latter show, a couple of guys travel all over the country looking for old things to buy and resell. In their journeys, they encounter many interesting characters with barns chock-full of “junk.”  Often, one of the “pickers” will find some small, obscure item amidst the clutter of the surrounding junk and make an offer to purchase it from the owner. Frequently, the owners will have great difficulty parting with what they have: “Nah,” they reluctantly respond, “I can’t let that one go.”  So, the item is placed back down among the vast sea of surrounding clutter.

Many of us watching shows like that shake our heads in disbelief. But what about us? Are we guilty of hoarding? How much clutter fills our dressers, closets, attics, or basements? How many of us rent a storage facility to store more “stuff?”  If so, shouldn’t the fact that we actually pay someone monthly to keep our “stuff” give us pause? We are often paying for something to be locked up and never used!

Once again, James echoes the teachings of his half-brother, Jesus:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

James continues: “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.”

This phrase, “the last days,” is a reference to judgment, judgment day. These wealthy landowners have been deceived by the immediate gratification they receive from their possessions. It is as though their possessions and their lives will go on forever. James addresses that deception with a sobering truth.

While gold and silver do not actually corrode, James is not talking so much about the physical properties of precious metals as he is talking about the failure of these possessions to survive the day of judgment. On that day, much that seemed valuable and essential will be worthless and unimportant.

And, while the popular truism about money is helpful: “You can’t take it with you,” there is one sense in which our riches may be “present” after we die. James teaches that some of us may see those riches again when they “witness against us” on the day of judgment. It’s frightening to imagine our possessions appearing on the witness stand before the Lord as if to say, “I am his god. He did not worship You. He worshiped me.”

**Excerpt from You’re Either Walking The Walk Or Just Running Your Mouth (Preaching Truth: 2020), pages 159-162, available in all formats here.