James 2:7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
James continues to reveal the problems of wealthy people. He is obviously generalizing for a purpose. We must not get caught up in the generalizing so much that we lose sight of his focus. James is writing to the church here. The situation may be that the church has lost its focus on compassion and living like Jesus. They have begun to show honor to the wealthy. Their eyes have moved to material things. The things of this world can be a strong temptation, especially because of the constant bombardment of advertising. This has become such a big problem in some places, such as the United States, that the consumer debt now stands at $4 trillion dollars. People want things they cannot afford. Wealth or the pursuit of it can be a trap that blinds us to what is most important in this life. James warns in this verse that it can even lead to blaspheme. Money can become our god. We owe everything to this god. We have to work hard 2-3 jobs (or our spouse also works) to pay homage to this god. What is the answer? Each person will have to look within him or herself to decide this because wealth and poverty are relative terms. There will always be someone with more money than us, and there will always be someone with less. We must start by asking if our all is on the altar before God (Romans 12:1-2). Then we must simplify our lives from the clutter that most of us have. Get rid of things you don’t need. This is painful because the things we have cry out for allegiance and even worship. They have a powerful grip on us. But we must release this hold through faith in the true God.
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