James 4:1-3

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? ² Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. ³ Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

A topic that many Christians will not want to address, but a subject that could arguably be as important as any to address is the matter of why Christians fight. Why are there so many church splits? Why is there constantly news of disunity and argumentation breaking out in local churches in communities? James provides an answer as to where these issues arise. In James 4:1-3, James gives to us three reasons why fighting exists among Christians.

First, fighting occurs among Christians because we are yielded to sinful desires, not God’s Spirit. We often blame the devil, and he certainly has some involvement. We often blame the culture, and it does impact our thinking. However, as with sin in James 1:13-18, James lays the blame at the sinful desires in the human heart. The words “ye,” “you,” and “your” occur 12 times in these three verses. The problem is us. The words “wars” and “fightings” come from two different Greek words that speak to prolonged conflict and individual arguments, respectively. A survey of 1 Corinthians will show a church that was divided in just about every way. They were even taking each other to court and suing one another (1 Corinthians 6:1-8). The issue the Corinthians had was that they were carnal (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). They were being governed by worldly, fleshly, and devilish wisdom (James 3:15), the same type of wisdom that consists in jealousy and selfish ambition (James 3:14). As Warren Wiersbe wrote, “The essence of sin is selfishness.” The Holy Spirit leads believers to deny ourselves and live with sacrificial love and peace toward one another. If there is fighting, it is because we are yielded to our selfish, sinful desires instead of the Spirit of God.

Secondly, fighting occurs among Christians because we are driven to fleshly action, not God’s throne. One of the most helpful pieces of advice we could ever receive or act on is to stop and pray. Whenever we are tempted to act hastily, rush into a decision, or respond to the actions of someone else, we should always stop and pray. Here, James describes the process of what was happening in causing the fighting. They lusted after what they could not have. They allowed that lust to drive them to sinfully try to obtain what they were after.  While he does not give the specifics of what they were after, it seems to be some form of self-promotion or recognition (James 3:1, 14). “Kill” (also mentioned in Jame 5:6) could refer to literal murder, but also perhaps takes on the meaning of hate-filled actions and motives towards others (Matthew 5:21-22). The portion that says “and cannot obtain: ye fight and war” speaks to what happens when those sinful desires remained unfulfilled. When people driven by selfish ambition do not get what they want, they lash out in anger and attack. Yet, James says that the real issue was that they never went to God with the matter. With the phrase “yet ye have not, because ye ask not” he is not intending to say that God exists to grant the selfish, sinful desires of our hearts. Rather, he is saying that the sanctifying effect of prayer is such that if we take all of our cares and desires to the Lord, then He will be faithful to either grant the desire, if it is a good one, or change our hearts, if it is a bad one. The first response of a believer should never be to take matters into our own hands. When we see things going in a direction we don’t like or don’t get our way, one of the first temptations we face is to try and bully people into submitting to our will or we try to manipulate and influence behind the scenes. Instead, we should go to the throne of God, submitting to His will, and trusting Him to be God. We should avoid being driven to fleshly (sinful) action rather than God’s throne.

The final reason James gives to us for fighting in this text is that of motivation. Fighting occurs when we are motivated by selfish ambition instead of God’s will. There is an issue that arises with the call to prayer and it is not that God fails in His part. Instead, what happens is that sometimes we go to God in prayer and do not get what we want. What then? James speaks to the reason why this happens. We “ask, and receive not, because” we “ask” wrongly. How do we “ask amiss?” We do so when we ask with the motivation of fulfilling our selfish desires. This is how God changes our hearts through prayer if we will submit to Him. When we ask for things and do not receive them, we must search our hearts and motives in light of His Word and make sure that what we are asking for is in accordance with God’s will and whether or not the thing we are asking for comes from a right motive. Those two tests reveal to us our hearts and have a way of helping us to change our desires to God-honoring things from God-honoring motives. The word “consume” means “spend” or “squander” and it is the same word used in Luke 15:14 to describe how the prodigal son “spent all” of his inheritance on sinful living. God is not in the business of granting prayer requests so that we can go on living selfishly in rebellion to Him. Many people pray for a job or a health concern and have no intention of being obedient to God. Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” God is always more concerned with the spiritual than the physical. We can rest assured that He wants us surrendered to Him, not physically healthy or wealthy and in rebellion. God wants to bring us to the place where we desire His will and not our own.

What is the cure for “wars and fightings” in the Church? It is self-denial. How do we do that? Yield to God’s Word and His Spirit, approach His throne in prayer, and seek His will instead of ours. The key is to find our joy in God and to love Him supremely above all else. Psalm 37:4 tells us, “Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” He loves us too much to give us our selfish desires. He loves us so much that He desires to give us what is best for us…Himself and His will.