WORD From The Woods
James 2:1-8
“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”
James 5:1-5
“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.”
In these passages, James addresses the issues of partiality and greed based on wealth and position. I think this is a real problem that we face today, especially in the logging business. I think that most churches do a pretty good job of welcoming people from all walks of life, regardless of their income or level of success. I think it's easy to leave this heart of impartiality at "church" though. James' readers were apparently very caught up in a person's wealth and outward appearance, and I think we have a temptation to do the very same thing in our daily lives. The industry we work in involves a tremendous amount of overhead. The cost of new equipment is getting higher all the time. A new log truck with new gear and all the chrome and extras is over $300k, and a new yarder is well over a million! The fact is, it takes a LOT of money to be in this business and keep our equipment updated. Everything we do is driven by money. We see another logger with an older pickup, a beat up old log truck, or we see an old faded out shovel on a lowboy and we judge their success. It seems like everything is based on wealth, getting bigger, and becoming more successful. A lot of the "successful" mega church preachers on TV and radio even teach that our relationship with the Lord is about health and wealth. Every aspect of our culture is focused on wealth and success. James calls us to a different way of thinking, to a totally different heart! There is nothing wrong with being wealthy or successful. If we follow biblical principles and are good stewards of the financial resources God gives us, then many times we will be financially successful. I believe that, if we're going to be in business of any kind as Christians, we should strive to do well and run a successful business because we represent Christ in everything we do. We should strive to well because we have a heart for Christ, not because we have a heart for money. James calls us to have a heart like God's in the way we look at people in every area of our lives. It really comes down to the basic question of whether we do what we do for our own selfish desires or if we do it for the Lord. Is it all about serving ourselves or is it about serving the Creator of the universe? If we seriously asked this question before we made every decision, it would radically change the way we live our lives.
God bless and have a great week! -Terry-
James 2:1-8
“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”
James 5:1-5
“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.”
In these passages, James addresses the issues of partiality and greed based on wealth and position. I think this is a real problem that we face today, especially in the logging business. I think that most churches do a pretty good job of welcoming people from all walks of life, regardless of their income or level of success. I think it's easy to leave this heart of impartiality at "church" though. James' readers were apparently very caught up in a person's wealth and outward appearance, and I think we have a temptation to do the very same thing in our daily lives. The industry we work in involves a tremendous amount of overhead. The cost of new equipment is getting higher all the time. A new log truck with new gear and all the chrome and extras is over $300k, and a new yarder is well over a million! The fact is, it takes a LOT of money to be in this business and keep our equipment updated. Everything we do is driven by money. We see another logger with an older pickup, a beat up old log truck, or we see an old faded out shovel on a lowboy and we judge their success. It seems like everything is based on wealth, getting bigger, and becoming more successful. A lot of the "successful" mega church preachers on TV and radio even teach that our relationship with the Lord is about health and wealth. Every aspect of our culture is focused on wealth and success. James calls us to a different way of thinking, to a totally different heart! There is nothing wrong with being wealthy or successful. If we follow biblical principles and are good stewards of the financial resources God gives us, then many times we will be financially successful. I believe that, if we're going to be in business of any kind as Christians, we should strive to do well and run a successful business because we represent Christ in everything we do. We should strive to well because we have a heart for Christ, not because we have a heart for money. James calls us to have a heart like God's in the way we look at people in every area of our lives. It really comes down to the basic question of whether we do what we do for our own selfish desires or if we do it for the Lord. Is it all about serving ourselves or is it about serving the Creator of the universe? If we seriously asked this question before we made every decision, it would radically change the way we live our lives.
God bless and have a great week! -Terry-