Journal: Journal for Baptist Theology & Ministry
Volume: JBTM 19:2 (Fall 2022)
Article: James’s Call To The Rich To Repent And To The Poor Not To Judge
Author: Joseph Parle

James’s Call To The Rich To Repent And To The Poor Not To Judge

Joseph Pak

Joseph Pak serves as professor of biblical studies at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana.

Introduction

One of the key messages of James is a call for repentance to the rich and perseverance to the poor. James is calling rich false believers who are hearers of the Word only to repent so they may be saved from the eschatological judgment. At the same time, he is calling poor believers not to judge the oppressive rich believers but instead pray for them and turn them from their apostasy. I will first provide the historical and literary context of the letter and then discuss James’s calls to the rich and to the poor in turn.1

JBTM 19:2 (Fall 2022) 260

Historical Context

Injustice and oppression of helpless people whose only economic asset was their labor was widespread in Syro-Palestine in the period immediately preceding the Roman War of AD 66–70.2 “Large landowners who managed estates in absentia manipulated the judicial system, forced smaller land owners to borrow at exorbitant interest rates, foreclosed on land, and added estate to estate.”3 Those who worked the land were slaves, hired laborers, tenants, or small land owners living in poverty, never more than a step from financial ruin. It is hardly unexpected that such oppression resulted in actual financial ruin for some.4 Defrauding of workers was vigorously condemned in Jewish literature.5 In Malachi 3:5, God says that he will be a swift witness against those who oppress the hireling in his wages (See also Lev 19:13; Deut 24:14f.; Jer 22:13; Tobit 4:14). In a striking image, James declares that the withheld wages cry out with the harvesters themselves to the Lord of hosts (5:4).

James sees the pursuit of luxury, wealth, and status as the greed, envy, and thirsty desire for acquisition that results in violence and oppression (4:1–2).6 The wealthy landowners are guilty of living in luxury (5:2–3, 5), storing up treasures and wealth for their own consumption (...