Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation

-James 1:9-

This verse contains a provoking disparity. How can a "lowly" positioned man glory in his "exaltation"(high rank, dignity)?

   One thing we can immediately see from the context is that James is not talking about earthly riches or rank. He is talking to physically impoverished, ill-treated Christians. He is talking to a people far from home and recognition.

  Yet still, he says "glory" (rejoice)!

This is amazing and has great implications for the Church.

Do you see?

He is telling the Church to rejoice in her fixed inheritance: eternal glory with Christ. And actually, James commands the church to actively rejoice about this always.

I love that James places this command towards the beginning of His letter. This is a beautiful (and as we will see as we go further into the letter), needed reminder.

"God has established you in heavenly places, Church! Do not let the circumstances of life cause you to despair or neglect the realities of heaven!" (paraphrase)

But I'd like to point out a second application. Just as "exaltation" doesn't solely refer to earthly riches or rank, so "lowly" doesn't solely refer to earthly destitution.

It's easy to look through the Bible and think that Jesus has something against rich people. This is simply not true. There are people (though yes, few and far between) who have great riches and become His disciples. There are still more who have steady homes and jobs and who can be considered the "middle-class" of Bible times.

God isn't opposed to a man with earthly wealth; He is opposed to pride. Pride is all about self: preserving self, propagating self, indulging self. And the reason earthly riches and a heart polluted with pride are so often linked in the Bible is not because God hates the abundance of money but rather because pride loves it.  Pride breeds all kinds of excess.

Another translation for this word "lowly" is "humble." We are always to come humbly before the Lord regardless of whether He is asking us, in a specific moment, to physically depart with our riches. But we are always to be spiritually separated from our wealth. Often this means physical separation from our wealth as well, not so much for God's benefit as for ours.

This is a command of love as much as it is a warning against corruption. We should always have so much more joy in being identified with Christ in His lowly state of suffering than in any sort of earthly prominence. The moment this is not the reality of our souls is also the moment we ought to evaluate where it is that our souls have drifted.