Why Do Christians Fight?

Jesus told us in the Scriptures that He did not come into the world to abolish the law; but He came to fulfill the law. His words tell us that the law (ten commandments) are still valid but He fulfilled the old law with 2 new commandments … “Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself”.  In other words, if we truly love God and our neighbor as we do ourselves, then we will be living in accordance with the 10 commandments.  The fulfillment of the law tells us that it is no longer just about us as individuals and our own salvation, but it is about making Christ known by showing the world the same love that Christ showed us.  Christianity is no longer about following rules and regulations; It is about living out our faith; It is about loving and helping our neighbor; It is about welcoming all; It is about Love!  So why do Christians fight?

Fighting and quarreling among Christians is nothing new. Fighting and quarreling dates from the early church in New Testament times. The study of church history is the study of conflict and fighting. The truth is, Christians claim to follow the Prince of Peace, while yet very pugnacious when it comes to matters of faith. For over 2,000 years Christians have argued and fought over the nature of God, who may minister, the role of women in the church, and many other things. In local congregations Christians fight over issues such as how to use the tithing funds, where to place the Christmas tree, what color the carpet should be, doctrines, etc. Good Christians become impassioned over issues in such a way they engage in verbal combat with one another. On denominational levels impassioned leaders also engage in verbal combat over issues.

There can be a lot of discussion asking the question, Why Christians Fight?. I will give 4 theories to the question:

1. Every Christian, without exception, retains his sinful nature.  This nature is totally unbelieving, loveless, and selfish. This nature comes out when Christians become impassioned and thus cause Christians to express themselves in such a non-Christian way.  Christians in this type of situation become their own worst enemy.

2. The strife between the new God-given nature (becoming a new creation through Christ’s atonement) and our human sinful nature is bound to show itself in our own lives and in our relation with others. We grow weary and edgy. Our emotions reinforce our ability to behave badly and become impatient with
others. Our impassioned desires are the problem and put us at odds with each other. Why do we do these things? Because of the selfish and prideful desires of our own hearts, reflections of sin, and spiritual immaturity.

3. Christians come from a large variety of experiences and backgrounds. With these come a variety of assumptions, strong feelings, biases, prejudices, and biases that reflect more of what our background has given us than what the Bible has taught us. Foolishness along with sin and selfishness wins too often.

4. Christians fight when they believe, each and all, need to see and experience God in the same way. The truth is, we do not walk the same paths in life and therefore none of us have had the same experiences of God. Some have found God in an ecstatic moment, others in silent meditation, and others while
following a spiritual discipline.

What are the results of Christians fighting?

1. I Corinthians 13:1-3 “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I gave away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. “  In other words, what ever we speak without love, it is just noise. What ever we understand and no matter how strong our faith is, if our knowledge and faith are not combined with love, our understanding and faith will not gain us a thing.

2. As Christians we become a false witness. To non-believers this is a discouraging thing to observe. Many ask themselves, what is the difference between them and me if they can’t love each other. Ironically the only time the  media takes notice of Christians is when thay are at each other in a heated
controversy.

3. As Christians continually fight they lose the strong binding ties of love that is so desperately needed for the church to survive. When the church becomes spiritual weakened by fighting and quarreling the church loses and Satan wins. Christians are supposed to be fighters, but they are to fight together to win the war against Satan. This is the most tragic result. Satan knows when the church is weakened and plans his attacks accordingly.

What does God expect?

1. God expects the church to be a model for the rest of the world.  Christians are to witness to the behavior God intends for all creation. Christians are called to show the rest of the world we can disagree without fighting and conflict.

2. God expects us to be patient with each other, and with ourselves. Kindness, civility, and love should be the characteristics of our discourse.

3. God expects us to be equipped to help those in need. God has called us not to be comfortable, but to be helpful.

4. God expects us to feast on the Truth of His word, and speak this truth in love to one and all.

5. God expects us to be peacemakers and comforters.

6. Most importantly God expects us to love Him first, and love each other.