The Wisdom of Poverty | James 1:9-11

Willetton Christian Church

Australia is a wealthy nation & Australians are rich people by the world’s standards. James is writing to poor refugee Christians - the contrast could hardly be stronger! So is this passage of God’s Word unnecessary for us to give attention? Definitely not! There is great danger for rich Christians in this world which sets its goal of earthly happiness in wealth - not in the riches of grace that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ! Wealth is God’s gift to be used generously for the needy - inside & outside the church. James desires that us, as his readers, have a biblical view of money - whether we have it or don’t have it. A Christian World-&-Life-View! He has a word to the non-Christian also. What might that be, I wonder? James uses parallelism & contrast to get his important message of the wisdom of poverty across to us. He uses the words “high” & “low” to contrast the positions of poor Christians & rich non-Christians - then pointing out God’s perspective that we are to practise.