The faith that works recognizes that conflict among us flows from the selfish desires within us...

At the church where I serve, we have been spending our time together looking at a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of James. James was the half brother of Jesus who repeatedly doubted Jesus claim to be God, but became a follower of Jesus who was the pastor at the church in Jerusalem and who was ultimately killed for believing that Jesus was God.

James turned from being a doubter in Jesus to being a pastor of Jesus church and an author of this letter that is recorded for us in the Bible after seeing Jesus after He was raised from the dead. And as we look at this letter that was written by the half brother of Jesus, our hope and our prayer has that we would be able to wrap our heads, hearts, and hands around several timeless truths that occur in a life of faith that works itself out in a way that results in us living lives that look like Jesus.

This week, I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the next section of this letter that the half brother of Jesus wrote to early followers of Jesus, called the book of James, we will see James reveal for us a timeless and timely principle when it comes to the faith that works.  So let’s discover that timeless truth together beginning in James 4:1:

What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?

James begins this section of his letter to early followers of Jesus with a timeless and timely question: “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?” Now this question, if communicated in the language that we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “What is the source of the hostility and animosity that you have toward others? What drives your desire to fight and quarrel with one another? Where does all this hostility come from that is flowing out of you?” 

Now the reason why this question is a timeless and timely question is due to the fact that throughout human history, there has been hostility and animosity among human beings. From Cain and Abel, humanity has been marred and marked by conflict. And the events from this past week reinforce this reality. Whether it is at a Jr. College in Oregon, whether it is in the Middle East, whether it is in the shootings in major cities in our country, humanity is marred and marked by conflict.

And this hostility, animosity, and conflict are not a modern problem. Instead, hostility, animosity and conflict have been a problem throughout history. And here James is asking a question that has resonated throughout history: Where does all this hostility, animosity, and conflict that human beings seem to have with one another come from? James then provides the readers of his letter throughout history the answer to that question in the second half of verse 1. Let’s look at that answer together:

Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?

Here we see James reveal for us the reality that the source of hostility, animosity, and conflict that humanity experiences is not external in nature. Instead, James explains that the source of this hostility, animosity, and conflict is the pleasures that wage war in our members. When James refers to pleasures, he is referring to the selfish desires that we have to experience pleasure in our lives.

And these selfish desires wage war in our members. In other words, our selfish desires to experience pleasure battle within our bodies in such a way that we act outwardly to satisfy those desires to experience pleasure. And when our selfish desires to experience pleasure are blocked, either by our circumstances or by other people, the result is hostility, animosity, and conflict with those who block our ability to experience the pleasures that our selfish desires desire.

And it is here, in this section of this letter, that we see James reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to the faith that works. And that timeless truth is this: The faith that works recognizes that conflict among us flows from the selfish desires within us. Just as it was for followers of Jesus in James day; just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, the faith that works recognizes that conflict among us flows from the selfish desires within us.

And in James 4:1-6 we will see James reveal for us two areas of hostility and conflict that our selfish desires drive us toward.

 

Tomorrow, we will see the first area of hostility and conflict revealed for us ...