A Life of Luxury and Self-Indulgence

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. . . You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence in the day of slaughter.

James 5:1-6

            These seem like harsh words directed at the successful of this world.  Look carefully at what seems like insensitive exhortations against the rich:  hoarded resources, oppression, injustice, luxury and self-indulgence, fattened.

           

The writer is condemning those who gain wealth in sinful ways and those who use their wealth in sinful ways.  The serious question is does our social position in the world keep the poor of the world down?

            Let us cautiously examine these verses for clarity in our own circumstances:

            Hoarded resources—This is the storing of wealth on earth.  What takes priority:  laying up treasures in heaven or creating an earthly inheritance?  Do you use your wealth for the glory of God?

            Oppression and injustice—Does the hoarding of wealth keep others from gaining a foothold in our economic system?  Do we buy into the political and economic systems of our country where the rich get richer and the poor have no hope or resources to advance?  Do the choices we make keep others economically and politically captive?  Have we become oppressors and administrators of injustice?  Do our choices keep others from benefiting from opportunity?

            Luxury and self-indulgence—This fifth verse can be translated, “You have lived in high style on earth.”  Luxury is waste and waste is sinful.  Jesus said, “Watch out!  Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  (Luke 12:15)

            Warren W. Wiersbe in Be Mature writes:

            “There is a great difference between enjoying what God has given us (1 Timothy 6:17) and living extravagantly on what we have withheld from others.  Even if what we have has been earned lawfully and in the will of God, we must not waste it on selfish living.  There are too many needs to be met.”

Consider what changes you ought to make in your life in regard to your personal resources?  And the relationship between those resources and people in need around you?

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion,

and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria,

you notable men of the foremost nation,

to whom the people of Israel come!

Amos 6:1