Humility Part 2: Fighting in the Church James 4:1-3

Humility Part 2: Fighting in the Church
James 4:1-3

“What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  You want something but don’t get it.  You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want.  You quarrel and fight.  You do not have, because you do not ask God.  When you do ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures..”

The second detail of the text here in James 4:1-3 says, “You quarrel and fight.”  Because we “cannot have what we want”  arguments and fighting tale place in the church.  When we stop seeking what the Lord wants, humility is replaced by selfish desires.  Previously there was the sin of coveting which led to anger and murderous thoughts.  Now these thoughts take action and the result is fighting in the church. 

Sadly, I have personally sat in a church during one of these quarrels and fights.  Two groups, a divided church, arguing and taking sides against each other.  One side wanted to get rid of the pastor while the other side wanted to keep him.  They argued for hours without a solution...no one budging from their point of view.  I remember standing up and asking those trying to replace the pastor to support their views using Scripture.  I was angrily told to sit down and be quiet.  No

scriptural reason was ever presented.  Without the foundation of Scripture there can be no unity with God or each other.  Surprisingly what ended the quarrel was the pastor, himself, who humbly resigned even though he had done nothing wrong.  He left because he recognized how dishonoring the whole thing was to the Lord.  He chose humility over the need to prove himself innocent.

You  don’t need deep theology to understand what quarreling and fighting means here in the book of James.  There is no need to look up the original Greek words for quarreling and fights.  This is about arguing, about verbal warfare, in the church.  This is the sin of selfishness and pride, the sin of wanting your own way.  Think about the last time you were in an argument over politics for example.  I’m sure you had a peaceful conversation and the other person willingly accepted your views.  Usually the conversation turns into an argument.  We quarrel because we have a selfish need to be right and to make the other person see things our way.  Do you see the pride?  Do you see the lack of humility?

Let me ask you something: Can you disagree with someone without quarreling?  Can you discuss an issue without the anger, intensity, and yelling?  Can you have a discussion without forcing your opinion onto the other person?  Can you humbly listen and have a civil conversation even if you are right?  

Humility doesn’t ask you to accept something wrong or incorrect, but it does ask you to maintain a godly attitude.  Consider my earlier example of the quarreling church where the pastor humbly resigned to end the fighting.  The pastor had not done anything wrong and yet he chose to be humble.  He was not defeated by those who opposed him.  He was victorious by choosing humility over the selfish desire to prove he was right.  My pastor friend went on to serve in another church until his retirement.  His humility was rewarded and God blessed him. 

The Apostle Paul was also concerned about humility in the church.  Consider his words of encouragement to the Corinthian congregation saying, “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought” (1 Corinthians 1:10).  The only way to have unity in the church is to be united with the Lord in mind and thought.  This is only accomplished through humility.

Ask yourself the tough questions: How is your humility?  How has your humility been demonstrated this past week?