I am not sure that there are more bitter fights than fights between Christians. We have all heard or even witnessed the horror stories of battles between believers. Unfortunately, these battles reveal that those Christians are not walking in the Spirit but after the flesh. The next eight attributes of walking in the flesh found in Galatians 5:20-21 deal with the attitudes that lead to these divisions: enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy.

 

When Christians and churches are marked by slander, gossip, anger, and fights, you can be sure the Spirit is ignored in their lives. Enmity (or hatred) and strife rise out of jealousy and an inability to control one’s spirit (fits of anger). Christians are called to peace, but thinking only of oneself leads to rivalries, sedition, division, and envy. As Christians sit at a table together and speak ill of others, as they respond in anger to circumstances and set themselves against fellow believers, they reveal where they stand: in the flesh.

 

James 4 clarifies why this is the case. In verses 1-4, James reveals that our selfish heart is the source of all conflict. First, our passions are at war within us. Our uncontrolled desires result in battle. Passions for power, popularity, and authority have divided friends, families, and churches since the Fall of Genesis 3. These passions lead to unfulfilled desires. We ask things to do what they cannot do (provide satisfaction for us) or do not get what we want and respond with anger due to our unfulfilled desires. Rather than accept that these things cannot do for us what we want or that God, in His infinite wisdom, has deemed that we do not get, we begin to fight for what we want.

 

Rather than fight with those around us or be angry that God (or others) is not fulfilling our desires, we should seek the heavenly wisdom from God (James 3:13-18). Conflict comes because I don’t get what I want. My flesh is unsatisfied, so I rage. I fail to recognize that God often does not give me what I want because of my selfish desires. I believe life should operate how I want it to operate because I want it to be about me. In two sentences in James 4:1-3, James uses “you” and “your” six times. He undeniably points to the reality that conflict comes from my selfish, arrogant heart.

 

So often, Christians conflict with one another because one or the other did not do what I wanted them to or what I thought they should do. If their actions are sinful, I should humbly and lovingly confront them. However, more often than not, the actions are not sinful; they are just not what I think should happen. In this case, I am the reason for the conflict. I am the one in sin. I am walking in the flesh. We all must look in the mirror and examine ourselves. Don’t gossip about others. Don’t slander others. Speak and act with humility and love. When I don’t, I am not walking with God.