James 4:1

"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?"What is the source" -"from what source, brought about or given by whom, born of whom" (Arndt p. 680). What. great question! "James is not content to concentrate on the strife; he compels his readers to think about the cause " (Kent p. 141).

Point To Note:

How often we fail to even ask such. question. We tend to become so focused on the strife, or some side issue, such as, "I've been under. lot of pressure lately, things are stressful at work, the children have really been. handful, my mate has been unsupportive, or, they just make me so mad". Draper notes, "If our homes are not running smoothly, it is easier for the husband to blame the wife or the wife too blame the husband, but the source of conflict is within us. It is our spirit, our attitude. It is….selfishness within us that wants to be pleased and pampered. We must face the truth" (p. 112)."quarrels" -"Where do the conflicts, where do the wrangles come from" (Mof); "What is the cause of the fighting and quarreling that goes on among you" (TCNT). "Strife, conflict, quarrel" (Arndt p. 685). Notice, James is not talking about war between nations (even though the principle is often the same), or strife in the non-Christian community, rather, he is talking about strife and infighting among Christians!"conflicts" -contention, strife, disputes (2 Corinthians 7:5; 2 Timothy 2:23; Titus 3:9)."among you" -which makes it clear that James isn't talking about conflicts among non-Christians, but the conflicts that were taking place among professed Christians. "James is thus depicting situations in which occasions of disagreement result in continuing hostility, even after the battle is over. Armed camps develop, and true peace is not achieved" (Kent p. 141). "James refers to long drawn-out resentment, and. spirit of bitterness and anger toward others……across America today there is as much conflict within the church as there is outside it. That is why Christianity limps along and why there are such sad caricatures of Christians.. godless world looks in and sees nothing different than what they see outside" (Draper p. 111)."Is not the source" -"The community conflicts come not from. passion for truth or godly wisdom" (Davids p. 156). "your pleasures" -"desire for pleasures" (Thayer p. 276); "evil pleasure, lust" (Arndt p. 344); "sensual pleasures" (Vincent p. 755). "The Greek word translated 'evil desires' is the world from which we get 'hedonism', which means an unbridled search for pleasure. This philosophy is based on what pleases me" (Draper p. 111). "James uses the word to describe the sinful desire for satisfaction, which is self-seeking and causes those who yield to it to wrangle with one another in order to get their own way" (Kent p. 141). (Luke 8:14; Titus 3:3; James 4:3; 2 Peter 2:13). "that wage war in your members?" -"It is not to be found in the desires which are always at war within you" (TCNT). The word "members" in the above verse doesn't refer to the members of the congregation, but rather, the members of our body. "Every conflict we have begins with us: in our bodies, in our minds, in our emotions….Why does such. spirit create dissension? Because we can please ourselves only at another's expense. Every part of life is. battleground. There is. war taking place for our minds right now. There is. battle raging for our emotions every day. There is. battle raging for our strengths and our energies, for our dreams and our visions. Our bodies are battlefields. Pleasure-seeking destroys our love for spiritual things. We may still keep on doing them, but we do them out of duty and not love….When we love Jesus, the easiest and most joyful thing in the world is to serve him and obey him. But when the goal of our lives is obtaining selfish pleasures, our obedience becomes simply. disagreeable duty" (Draper pp. 111-112) (See Colossians 3:5; Romans 6:13; Romans 6:19; 1 Peter 2:11; 1 Corinthians 3:3).