Why can’t we all just get along?

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? – James 4v1

Why do we fight? Why can’t we all just get along? Despite our best efforts as a world we just can’t seem to get it right. The Congress of Vienna, The League of Nations, and the UN were created to bring about peace. The Kellogg-Briand Act in 1928 even tried to outlaw war. But nothing has worked. All over the world today wars are waging and people are dying.

We have a hard time even getting along in the church. We not only fight over doctrine, which is worth fighting for, but we fight over the most petty of issues. We fight over music, Bible translation, clothing standards, and even as I saw lately, whether women should breast feed in a church service.

To be honest we struggle to get along as families. Husbands and wife and parent and kids fight. In law and outlaws fight. When we sit back we often see just how petty the fight is. Fights break out over who finished the last bag of crisps or who left the kettle empty.

Why is all this true? Why indeed can we all not just ‘get along?’ The word of God is pretty clear – we fight because we want things our way. We fight because we desire the pleasures that war in our members. We fight because we are selfish.

More to follow on the impact of our selfishness.