I've got money
The NEED to be humble
2) The Reduction of the Rich (1:10–11)
10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
1:10 The spiritual exercise continues for the rich. Knowing that in the judgment the rich of the world will be stripped of their perishable wealth and influence, rich believers should “take pride” (the Greek depends on the previous verse for the verb) in their “low position”;48 that is, they should humble themselves now. The condemnation of those whose pride is in their wealth is a common biblical theme. Such pride is an overwhelming temptation. This danger is captured in the proverb “The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall” (Prov 18:11). A surprising irony is contained here, since what is imagined to be so powerful is so obviously a delusion. The rich do not need to work to survive. Thus in the midst of a world of misfortune and flux, they boast in the semblance of their security and undisturbed comfort. Yet death comes to rich and poor alike, and faith acts now in view of this common destiny. The shadow of death already hangs over the poor. Their lives are full of trouble and woe. But the rich bask in the artificial light of the borrowed time their wealth has brought them. In truth they should be humbling themselves to guard against the temptation of trusting in wealth.
The faith of a rich man must be expressed in a radically different way from that of the poor man. Because the life of the rich is so radically different, they must exercise self-abasement. This self-denial of the rich believer is their way to participate in the total trust required by God. There is, otherwise, no room for the faithless influence of the rich in the church (Isa 53:8; Acts 8:33). The specter of death hangs over the poor as the wretched end of a wretched life—what a wonderful reversal when the hearts of the poor are filled with the joy of the Lord! But the spectacle of the ruination of beauty possessed of the wealthy is the motive for the self-humbling exercise that submits in trust to God. The rich must consider very soberly that the distinguished position they have enjoyed above common folk will disappear in the kingdom of God.
The rich are compared to a wild flower, a familiar Old Testament image of fragility. As the exaltation of the poor believer will appear like life from the dead, the lowering of the rich believer to a place among the least rewarded will be its own kind of spectacle. This metaphor of the falling flower is part of an apocalyptic vision of dying creatures under the judgment of God. James as well as other New Testament writers sharply applied to the rich the quick passing away of people in their bodily lives. Like the transitory beauty of gold (1 Pet 1:7) and the other splendors of this life (Rev 18:14; cf. Jer 10:11; Dan 7:17), the rich will pass out of existence in submission to the God who holds life and death.
1:11 The process of “fad[ing] away” is harsh. The Middle Eastern sun “rises,”52 and its heat scorches the anemone and cyclamen flowers, quickly causing their beauty to fade. They become mere withered grasses to kindle fires. Their appearance is gone forever under the sun. The beauty of the flower is compared to the beauty of a wealthy man’s busy life. All of the hurrying about to maintain success and influence is soon lost. And it is fairly clear here that the rich are made busy by their wealth. James portrayed the hustle of the wealthy. He is much like the industrious rich farmer who is told in his own apocalyptic moment that he is utterly poor toward God and his life is at its end (Luke 12:15–21). Similarly, the affairs55 of the rich in James now amount to nothing. Surely something so favorable and disarming as wealth and beauty (cf. 2:1–4) would have been more enduring. But those who possess them fall quickly under the harsh heat of this perishable life.
The rich man should beware, according to James, because he “will fade away” together with all his undertakings. In the very movement and manner (v. 8) of displaying the beauty of a wealthy life, all will be lost (cf. 4:13–16). This is the order of things (cf. v. 24). Perishability and loss rule over all of life, but obviously the losses of the wealthy are greater. The biblical meaning of this loss is reflected in 1 Cor 3:12–13, which says that a believer can build a life of service upon the perishables of worldly value, and all of it will be consumed in the fire of judgment.
Nothing of earthly possessions contributes in itself to the kingdom of God. Indeed, the allure of wealth is illusory and invites disaster because of the high cost of making and protecting it. Using riches for their own sake exposes the total lack of lasting value in wealth. Thus the life of the rich and their wealth together fade away. The stark contrast with the call to persevere in vv. 2–3 could not have been made more pronounced. James later confronted the rich again with the sins of injustice they had committed in amassing their fortunes (5:1–6). An eternal perishing awaits them.
The overall context for this hard truth about the wealthy and their wealth is the instruction of the Christian community; the rich can be a coequal part of the community of believers. But let their holding and use of the wealth and position be carried under an umbrella of humility. The rich cannot boast in their wealth because confidence in wealth belongs to the enmity of the world system against God’s values. James offered a proper way of relating and worshiping among believers of different economic statuses through a kind of spiritual exercise. Drawing from Paul’s similar thought, let the rich brother exercise the “as if’s” of 1 Cor 7:29–31, “for this world in its present form is passing away.”