My Friend James: Fight Club, Part 1

In our last discussion of James, we asked, “Where does wisdom come from?” and found that we can test that wisdom’s source by asking some questions about the makeup of that wisdom.

Today, our friend, James, both asks and answers this question: “Where do fights come from?”. Today, I’ll address where they come from and the damage they do. Next week, we’ll talk about the cure.

James 4:1 [KJV] From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

The Greek word translated “fightings” can mean war and battles, or, as it is used in 2 Timothy 2:23 and Titus 3:9, it can mean quarrels, contention, or strife. The subsequent scriptures in James 4 tell us that our friend is more interested in troubles within the body of Christ, than in the Roman army taking over new territory.

James tells us that fights within the body of Christ come from lusts or desires for pleasure. We get in fights, cause strife, create drama in the body of Christ when we want something purely for ourselves and our own pleasure. Maybe it is a leadership role within the congregation. Or a desire for more authority over the church. Or to get the congregation to agree with some “new” or “more accurate” truth we want them to adopt.

These types of troubles come when we get our self esteem from power, position or praise, rather than from knowing that we are the much loved daughters of God. How does this happen to us – that we forget who we are and focus on what we have/can get instead?

James explains that in verse 4: You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

When we spend too much time immersed in and, thereby, influenced by the world around us that is all about getting and having and looking good, we can lose sight of who we really are and the primary goal of our earthly lives.

I am not going to tell you not to listen to secular music or have hobbies or read fiction or watch TV. A Christian woman can do that and still maintain a deep relationship with God. God isn’t asking for 24/7/365 prayer, Bible study and fellowship with believers. He sends us into the world, after all, to be lights there. We ought to be bringing the truth and love of God to all our secular interactions [work, sports, hobbies, etc.] to be an example of living in the world but not being of the world [John 17:14]. We cannot do that if we remain apart from it. We can’t know what is going on in the world or understand the struggle of those unbelievers we hope to influence if we aren’t out there in the world at all.

James 4:4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

What we have to do is guard our hearts and minds against buying into the schtick the world pushes on us – especially the schtick that having things will make us happy and that having power is the measure of success. The lust for things and power is what is tearing the world down and it can take us down as well.

But don’t be fooled, sweet sisters, if the only people you are around is church brethren, Satan will use this very human lust for power, influence and things to cause division in the body of Christ. Satan will use human nature pull us toward fighting to be the praise leader or pastor, or to being angry that a new believer seems to be getting more spiritual or physical blessing than you. Satan is crafty and aggressive. He will attack with these human lusts no matter where you are in your spiritual walk. He doesn’t stop or hold back. What happens is that we get stronger. We become better fighters. Our armor gets more difficult for him to penetrate.

We have to spend enough time with God, the Bible and fellow believers to be armored up against the lies of Satan and the pull of this world. [For more about the armor we should put on daily, see Ephesians 6:13-18.] That amount of time might be different for each of us. But what is sure is that we need time with the Father and His Word every day.

Sweet sisters, the fight is on, but it should be a battle with Satan and human nature, not a battle with our brethren, neighbors or coworkers. Where do things contentions, fights and battles come from? Lust.

It isn’t wrong to want good things,  or positions of service, of course. But lust, a word that means to set your heart upon, long for or covet, is something our Father was concerned enough about to address in the 10 Commandments. [See Exodus 20:17.] It is something we must guard against if we don’t want strife in our churches.

Next time, we will discuss James’ cure for lust that causes fights in the church.

I hope you will continue to meet with me here and will share your own thoughts on the book of James.

You can write me any time at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org