STOP FIGHTING (1): ATTACK FROM WITHIN

(James 4:1-3)
August 4, 2019

Read James 4:1-3 – Psa 133:1 says, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!” Beautiful pix, isn’t it? I’m grateful that this is
largely our experience at our church. But it demands constant vigilance!

Jas knows incalculable damage is done in fighting churches. And while fights
purport to be about God, they are almost always about us. Jas just instructed:
Jas 3: 17: “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,
open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” But when
he looks around, that’s not what he sees. Remember there are no chapter
divisions in the original letter. So 3:18 flows into 4:1: “And a harvest of
righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. 1) [So] What causes
quarrels and what causes fights among you?” Literally, “Whence quarrels
and whence fights among you?” “I’m calling you out, Folks. Much as you
may think you are defending God’s honor, this fighting is not of God.”

Quarrels (πολεμος) is usually translated “war.” “Fights” (μαχη) = individual

skirmishes. Jas readers are at war with each other. We’d expect it of the world
with its back to God. People fight in business, politics, religion, education,
marriage and sports. But we must be different. Jn 13:35: “By this all people
will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
“People will know of me by the difference they see in thee!” says Jas. And as
Jas looked at his readers he says, “You are blowing it. Your fighting is
unsightly and ungodly.” A fighting church is a contradiction in terms.

So, how do we become brothers and sisters who dwell together in unity? That
is the subject of vv. 1-12. The first 6 deal with the problem; the last 6 with the
solution. So we’ll see I. Attack From Inside: II. Attack From Outside:
III. Attend to Yourself: IV. Attend to Others. Today, the attack from
within. “Whence wars and skirmishes among you?” They start inside.

I. Selfish Desire

In answer to his own question, whence wars among you, Jas replies, “Is it not
this, that your passions are at war within you.” Passions is ἡδονή from which
we get hedonism – love of pleasure. The dictionary definition is “experience
of pleasure for any reason.” It can refer to sensuality as when Peter says of
ungodly skeptics in II Pet 2:10: “They count it pleasure to revel in the
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daytime.” They don’t even wait for darkness for cover. Pleasure is their
pursuit day and night. But in this context, the word has a slightly more focused
meaning. These are those who seek the pleasure of being right, of coming out
on top, of getting their own way, of imposing their preferences.

2) “You desire and do not have, so you murder.” Literally!? That got heavy
fast. Were Jas readers actually killing each other? That would be the church
fight to end all church fights. But he’s not talking about physical murder.
Murder is used metaphorically here, but that hardly softens Jas’ comment. I
Jn 3:15: “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer.” You don’t have to
stick the knife in physically; verbally and emotionally will work just as well.
Bottom line, it’s a serious thing to hate because you’re not getting your way.

“You desire.” You lust after, crave something. We’ve met desire before in
1:14 where it is the seed of temptation. We discovered that desire in and of
itself is not wrong. Desire is God’s gift to enable Godly ambition and
enjoyment. Desire is neutral. Poor Lazarus sitting outside the rich man’s
house in Lu 16 desired to be fed. Jesus earnestly desired to eat Passover with
His disciples. It’s the object of desire and the refusal to be satisfied when
desire is not met that turns it evil -- desire abused is the problem. How often
are church fights about someone desiring their own way and can’t get it?

It leads to war. King David had a daughter who was raped by her half-brother,
Amnon. Her full brother, Absalom, took revenge and killed Amnon. Worse,
he became the mortal enemy of his own father, seeking from that time to take
his throne away. He desired – but his desire was for the wrong things –
revenge and power. Desire for revenge led to killing his brother. Lust for
power led to war with his father and desire for his death. Only it was Absalom
who ended up hanging from a tree by his hair until he died. That’s illustration
enough. But, as Paul Harvey would say, “Now for the rest of the story.”

We know how David seduced Bathsheba and then murdered her husband,
Uriah. But did you know David had an advisor, Ahithophel, who was the
grandfather of Bathsheba (II Sam 11:3 cf 23:34). So when Absalom took
David on, guess what? II Sam 15:12: “And while Absalom was offering the
sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his
city Giloh.” Ahithophel joined Absalom – not hard to guess why. Desire for
revenge against the guy who messed up his granddaughter’s life. At first
Ahithophel’s counsel was followed, but eventually Absalom ignored him. So
II Sam 17:23: “When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he
saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city. He set his house in
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order and hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his
father.” Illicit, unfulfilled desire leading to murder – in this case his own.

So, we must beware. Churches have been ravaged by illicit desire –for power,
prestige, revenge, recognition, prominence, or simply to have our own way.
We’d never say it that way. We’re just defending God’s interests. But let’s all
remember, God can defend his own interests. Short of an issue of morality or
a major theological aberration, we must not be fighting. Accept a few hymns
with the praise choruses for the sake of peace. Learn to appreciate the words
more than the tune. Worship how you do best and let others do the same
whether it’s hands up or hands down. Express your thoughts on carpet color
and then accept the decision of the committee. We must not be figuratively
killing each other just because we don’t always get our way, right? Let’s love
the diversity -- embrace our differences. Phil 2:3 Do nothing from selfish
ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than
yourselves. 4) Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to
the interests of others.” No one ever said that would be easy – just worth it.

II. Selfish Covetousness

2b) “You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” Covet. It could
be a synonym for “desire”, but here, it is desire intensified -- more than lusting
after something, it is lusting after it because someone else has it. That
inflames desire. Covetousness is desire in overdrive. It so focuses the mind on
what we don’t have that we see nothing else – including God.

So, Paul instructs in Col 3:5: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:
sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is
idolatry.” Imagine putting covetousness in the same list as sexual immorality!
What was Paul thinking? He tells us. He was thinking it all amounts to
idolatry. If you are having a sexual relationship outside marriage, you’ve put
someone ahead of God in your affections. You’ve chosen to replace His will
with yours. But covetousness is no better. You’ve put something ahead of God
in your life. You might as well be offering incense to a physical idol.

An Indian family lived across the street from us in YL. Patty went out of her
way to represent Christ to them. On one occasion, she was invited to dinner
when I was out of town. Typical Indian food. Sitting on the floor. But as they
began, a daughter took a tray upstairs – to the room where they kept their
gods. We would often hear them chanting and offering incense to various
physical idols in that room. Seems strange and nonsense to us, right? When
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the meal was over the idol’s tray was returned with no food consumed. Stupid!
But no more so than coveting! Both are idols, and both are deadly.

John Kennedy won the 1960 pres election by a razor-thin margin over Richard
Nixon. On the day of Kennedy’s inauguration, Ted Sorenson, Kennedy’s
speech writer, ran into Nixon who complimented him on the speech and said
there were some things in there he would like to have said. Sorenson replied,
“You mean the part about ‘Ask not what your country can do for you’?”
Nixon replied, “No. I mean the part beginning, ‘I do solemnly swear.’” He
coveted that position – all the more bc his opponent had it. It proved deadly.

But the same happens in churches. Covetousness, Jas says, leads to fights and
quarrels because someone can’t get what they covet. People covet the showy
gifts – being up front, heading a committee, being a leader. We’re not satisfied
to pray and help, we want to be in charge. Coveting position. Coveting the
acclaim that someone else gets. They get their way; why can’t I get mine? It’s
all idolatry – because I want it for me, not for God – not really. So quarreling
ensues. We want the music our way; the decor our way; the organization our
way; the staffing our way. We’re Burger King addicts; we want it our way.
When what we should all be seeking is God’s way!

J. Oswald Sanders, great missionary and Bible teacher for OMF once wrote
how he wanted a particular position in a Xn organization. Having friends of
influence, he decided to lobby for the position to see if someone could pull
some strings. But walking down the main street of Auckland, NZ he passed
His Majesty’s Theater, and a verse of Scripture came to mind: Jer 45:5: “Do
you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not!” He said, “The words
came just as though it was God speaking. There were crowds all around me,
and no one else heard the voice, but I heard it all right!” Sanders later said.
“I believe that was a real turning point in my service to the Lord.” As a
result, he did not seek the position, but it later opened to him on its own in
God’s good timing. So we must all examine our hearts. Do we covet for our
own sake, or for God’s? If for Him, surely we can trust Him to bring it about!

III. Selfish Prayer

One more thing that causes wars and fights – selfish prayer. How good
intentioned this starts. Someone wants thing a certain way; they can’t finagle
it, so they finally decide, “Oh, I know. I’ll pray about it.” That’s always a
good plan, isn’t it? Jas says, “You do not have, because you do not ask.”
Okay, so I’ll ask. So I do. And nothing happens. What’s the problem?
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Jas knows. 3) “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend
it on your passions.” Slight problem. I was asking for my sake, not God’s. I
wanted the pleasure of being right more than I wanted the will of the Father. I
wanted what I desired more than I wanted what He wanted. And God doesn’t
answer those prayers – selfish prayers. Selfishness cancels the whole deal.

God is not obligated to answer all our prayers. Did you know that? Many
things can hinder prayer. Prov 28:9: “If one turns away his ear from hearing
the law, even his prayer is an abomination.” In other words, don’t expect you
can be living in willful disobedience here and asking for help there. Jas 1:6:
“But let him ask in faith.” Lack of faith cancels prayer – not faith that you get
all you ask for, but faith that God will answer rightly. I Pet 3:7: “Likewise,
husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way . . . so that your
prayers may not be hindered.” Trouble at home can hinder prayer. Psa 66:18:
“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

So any sin we cherish – even if only in our heart – bitterness, hatred, lust,
ambition – can hinder prayer. Here, it’s selfishness. Insistence on having it my
way. Desiring something simply to spend it on my own pleasure. Isa 29:13:
“This people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while
their hearts are far from me.” God is looking for a selfless heart. That’s what
will grab His attention. Too many of our prayers are just a means of saying,
“My will be done” – intended to put God in our debt. But He won’t go there.

David knew how to pray. Psa 23:3: He restores my soul, He leads me in paths
or righteousness for my sake?” Was that it? No – “for his name’s sake.” Psa
25:11: “For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.”
Didn’t forgiveness benefit David? Yes – but his primary concern was for
God’s name. Is that the way we pray? Psa 31:3b: “for your name’s sake you
lead me and guide me.” Psa 79:9: “Deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your
name’s sake.” And listen to this one: Psa 115:1: “Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to your name give glory.” We have a lot to learn about prayer, don’t we?

John Ward was a member of the British Parliament. When he died, a prayer
was found among his papers: “O Lord, thou knowest that I have mine estates
in the City of London, and likewise that I have lately purchased an estate in
the county of Essex. I beseech thee to preserve the two counties of Middlesex
and Essex from fire and earthquake; and as I have a mortgage in
Hertfdordshire, I beg of thee likewise to have an eye of compassion on that
county. As for the rest of the counties, thou mayest deal with them as thou
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art pleased.” Appalling? Yes! But I wonder how many of our prayers, if they
saw the light of day would sound very similar. Would they? We must closely
examine ourselves, Beloved. Are we in it for us, or for God?

Conc – “Whence wars and whence skirmishes?” Jas answers his own
question. They come from your attempts to give yourself pleasure – you
desire the wrong things, covet for the wrong reasons, and pray selfishly. The
common denominator? Selfishness. Causes fights every time, doesn’t it?

England has long had a poet laureate position. When Tennyson died a list of
potential candidates to succeed was created. Sir Lewis Morris, a politician and
poet of some repute, was not on the list, though he craved the position. He
complained to Oscar Wilde, “It’s a complete conspiracy of silence against
me. What ought I to do, Oscar?” Wilde replied, “Join the conspiracy.” Good
advice. When you feel left out, overlooked, and not getting your way, what to
do? Recognize selfish ambition for what it is, give it to God and move on.
Stop fighting in its tracks. Let’s pray.