Asset Management
Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. James 5:4 NASB
Pay – In case you haven’t noticed, James is Jewish. And he is writing to a Jewish audience. Therefore, he makes certain assumptions about what his readers will recognize even if he doesn’t spell them out. His letter must be read in the context of what any Messianic Jew in the first century would be expected to know. With that in mind, read this verse again and tell me about its allusion to a passage in the Tanakh. Did you think of Genesis 4:10 and 18:20? Now notice the oddity of James’ statement, explained through this allusion.
We would expect James to say, “The laborers who mowed your fields cry out against you.” That expectation reflects our cultural bias that people have been defrauded. But James doesn’t say this. He says that the pay (misthos – wages) cry out. It’s not metaphorical. James is really telling us that the withheld wages cry out. Why? Because they are God’s assets! Yes, they are currently under the supervision of the land owner, but they don’t belong to the land owner. He is God’s regent, God’s steward in the distribution of assets placed under his control. Remember what Yeshua said? “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” All authority includes financial influence. When James employs a construction reminiscent of the passages in Genesis, he effectively implies that the land owners who withhold wages are in the same category as the murderer Cain and the immoral men of Sodom. If you were Jewish, you couldn’t miss the point. Just as the bloods cry out (Genesis 4), just as the cities cry out (Genesis 18), so those coins cry out. In the Hebraic world, everything God creates speaks to Him.
Asset management is no less a problem today than it was in the first century CE or the 20th century BCE. The only judge of our stewardship is the real owner. It’s not what we do with our possessions. It’s what we do with His favor toward us. Years ago I learned that God is more than able to withdraw that favor when it is not used appropriately. One day I thought myself rich. The next day I discovered that being a good steward was not measured by the size of my bank account. God had to remind me that all that money was crying out to be used by Him and I stood in the way. So He simply removed the money. I am so glad he didn’t remove me!
In our world, social justice focuses on the human impact of wage disputes. But this diverts us from the biblical point of view. Yes, the livelihood of people is important, but the real question is about managing what God gives. And God does not give without expectation. There is no free lunch, not even in heaven. The cost of discipleship is found in asset management and each of us will be held accountable by the Treasurer of heaven, the Lord of Sabaoth (a Hebrew word that means an army of people). When you report in, what will the ledger look like? Will it contain cries or shouts of joy?
Topical Index: pay, wages, misthos, management, James 5:4
Perhaps nothing illustrates the problems in our world today than the issue of asset management. Governments are driven by it, to the point of the absurd, when they claim that the taxes they do not receive are an “asset.” Now, if Bernie Madoff could have played that card, he’d still be free on the streets of New York.
It is so easy to convince myself that what I think I need is really appropriate, and even though involves indebtedness, I get it and give my little platitude statement to God of thanks. I havc only kidded myself. He surely cannot be happy with me.
Wow…BUSTED!!!
Thank you for the reminder.
That makes two of us, Judi.
“The laborers who mowed your fields cry out against you.”
They could have just used the goats for that. Seems some folks took longer than others to get it. that happens to me sometimes. BUT, it’s always just right on time. Reminds me of SomeOne i know, LOL….
By the way Skip, thanks for sharing about the word Sabaoth. Reminds me of an oath i took once. Gotta be careful about doing that.
Peace out,
me
When I got out of college I was very skeptical of the business world in general
But I ended up getting a job at EDS when Ross Perot was still there running things
And I was very surprised by the integrity and team orientation of the culture there
They sent me to work in Minneapolis, where the people were wonderful, like family and best friends
And then they sent me to Dallas for management training where we ate lunch with Ross
When it came to asset management, Ross was a grand master of the game
Whether the assets were financial, technical, human, or team spiritual
Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. James 5:4 NASB
Skip’s comment on ‘Lord of Sabaoth’ being a Hebrew phrase: Did anyone notice that this is another one of those interesting aspects of the ‘original Greek’. Hmmm. If this comes from ‘YHWH Tzevaot’ then why on earth would the original writer who allegedly wrote in Greek, have written a Hebrew word. Why not just write ‘Lord of Hosts’ in Greek. Interesting. No one can explain this phrase in this text, except that it could have been such a common expression that the Hebrew phrase was used by Greek speakers? I doubt it.