If a collection of
Christians have to argue and fight over what they must do, then
they have
stopped living as Christian community.
They have lost their way and become corrupted by Satan's schemes. There are only two alternatives to get out of
such a mess. Fold and move to some other
endeavor or repent and apologize to one another for each one's part in the
rebellion against the Holy Spirit. When
votes have to be accumulated and forceful arguments made to gain what is
needed, then God has left the building and the people are on their own to work
out matters. The Prince of Peace will
not fight His way to a solution; He will wait for us to come to Him in humble
submission and only then will we find the Lord in our midst. If a house divided against itself cannot
stand, why would we think God tolerates division within His Body! We might continue to succeed in what we are
doing if we leave Him out of the work but it will not be the Kingdom of God we
are building. We will have made
ourselves engineers and architects and construction workers in the Kingdom of
Mankind. It could be that we accomplish
very little if we give ourselves to unity and brotherly love but at least we
will still be loyal to our Savior and that is the master plan of God's
Church. His command is to love one
another and that can never be accomplished if our top priority is to "get
our way". It is better to lose all
you have and be a "failure" in your efforts than to break the bond of
peace within the Lord's community. James
declares that the antithesis of Christian living is quarreling as it is an
atheistic behavior pattern that disregards the one way we are to live out our
Christianity; going to God in prayer and seeking His help in every matter. In fact, he labels infighting spiritual
"adultery" and "friendship with the world". If real love marked by submission to one
another in humble confidence in God and His guidance does not reflect our
Christian community, then we ought to just "call a spade a spade" and
admit we no longer want Christ with us when we meet. Nothing comes easy when we live in God; there
is a sort of crucifixion that always transpires but what a marvelous and
wonderful day it is when believers "live together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1 NIV)
You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you
do not ask God...You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the
world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world
becomes an enemy of God.
James 4:2, 4 NIV
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