by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Reading: James 4:1-12<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. You all have heard it before, two brothers have a disagreement and soon one accuses the\nother of being contentious.\n A. At times, it may be true, but I suspect most don’t understand the charge they are\nmaking.\n
B. There have been times when I think it was the accuser who was contentious.<\/p>\n
C. Contention is not disagreement<\/p>\n
1. Paul and Barnabas disagreed, but was either of them contentious?<\/p>\n 2. Paul and Peter disagreed, but would you say either of them were\ncontentious?\n
3. Jesus often clashed with the Jews of his day. Was Jesus contentious?<\/p>\n 4. Contention starts with a disagreement that gets out of control – Proverbs\n17:14\n
D. The meaning of contention<\/p>\n 1. The Greek word eris<\/i> is often translated as strife, quarrels, contention, or\nwrangling. This is more than disagreeable, these are people who pick\nfights – who enjoy fights.\n 2. The Greek word philoneikos<\/i> is only used in two places – Luke 22:24 and I\nCorinthians 11:16. The word refers to a person who is fond of strife or\nloves rivalry. It is a composition of two words that literally means love\nvictory.\n 3. The Hebrew word most often translated contentious is mirah<\/i> which refers\nto someone who is rebellious or obstinate.\nII. James asked the question, “What is the source of the quarrels and conflicts among you?”\nHe then lists some of the causes.\n
A. Conflicting desires within a person<\/p>\n
1. Envy of what other people have<\/p>\n
2. Jealousy and strife are pursuant to the flesh – I Corinthians 3:3<\/p>\n 3. Paul feared to find among the Corinthians things that cause contentions – II\nCorinthians 12:20\n
B. Pride<\/p>\n 1. Proverbs 13:10 – Pride, particularly that which refuses advice, brings\nnothing but strife.\n
2. Conceit is empty – Philippians 2:3<\/p>\n C. A morbid interest in controversial questions, disputes about words, and constant\nfriction between men – I Timothy 6:3-5\n
1. Wrangling over useless words can ruin men – II Timothy 2:14<\/p>\n
2. A fool stirs up strife by his words – Proverbs 18:6<\/p>\n
D. Hatred and Anger<\/p>\n
1. Proverbs 10:12 – Hatred stirs up strife<\/p>\n
2. Proverbs 15:18 – A hot-tempered man stirs up strife<\/p>\n
3. Proverbs 29:22 – An angry man stirs up strife<\/p>\n
E. Sinfulness<\/p>\n
1. The evil continually stirs up war – Ps. 140:2<\/p>\n
2. Pr. 17:19 – A person who loves sin, loves strife<\/p>\nIII. Contention will always be a problem for Christians because the causes of contention will\nremain while the world remains.\n
A. Psalmist expresses the problem well in Psalm 120. <\/p>\n
1. We want peace, but we cannot control those around us.<\/p>\n
2. We want peace, but our own tongue betrays us. <\/p>\n
a. The tongue is difficult to control – James 3:2-10<\/p>\n
B. Rather than fanning the flames, we need to become peacemakers – Matthew 5:9<\/p>\n
1. Sometimes quarrel are solved by random events – Proverbs 18:18<\/p>\n
2. But more often, it requires intervention by those who care.<\/p>\n
3. Contentions keep problems from being solved – Proverbs 18:19<\/p>\n a. They are like a constant drip. They are tolerable at first, but after a\nwhile the constant irritation is too much. – Proverbs 19:13\n b. Because of contention, the law is ignored and justice is not served –\nHabakkuk 1:3-4\n 4. Any fool can argue, but the admirable thing is the prevention of strife –\nProverbs 20:3\n
5. The Lord’s servant must not quarrel – II Timothy 2:24 <\/p>\n
C. Righteousness is sown by those who make peace – James 3:18<\/p>\n
D. We pursue the things that make peace – Romans 14:18<\/p>\n
IV. Will you not join the Lord’s peacemakers?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Reading: James 4:1-12 I. You all have heard it before, two brothers have a disagreement and soon one accuses the other of being contentious. A. At times, it may be true, but I suspect most don’t understand the charge they are making. B. There have been times when I think it was the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[32],"tags":[1561,231],"class_list":["post-62499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-peacemakers","tag-strife"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92235,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-christians-obligated-to-debate-everyone-who-disagrees-with-their-teaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":62499,"position":0},"title":"Are Christians Obligated to Debate Everyone Who Disagrees with Their Teaching?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Becky Ren\u00e9 Whenever a Christian shares biblical material-whether by posting an article, forwarding a devotional, writing something of their own, or commenting on a passage-there will always be someone who disagrees. This is not unusual. It is simply part of living in a world where people differ in background,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43949,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-can-i-do-about-my-bitter-and-angry-wife\/","url_meta":{"origin":62499,"position":1},"title":"What can I do about my bitter and angry wife?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Minister, Is it OK for my wife to be bitter, hate me, and punish me regularly, but then says she forgives as a Christian? Over five years ago, \"out of nowhere,\" my wife had a sex affair because she was \"mad at me,\" when I had done nothing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52190,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-am-about-to-marry-and-i-love-her-dearly-but-she-constantly-nags-and-complains\/","url_meta":{"origin":62499,"position":2},"title":"I am about to marry and I love her dearly, but she constantly nags and complains","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Sir, I'm engaged to marry this wonderful lady in less than two months' time, whom I have dated for about 2 years. I describe her as wonderful because she is modest, she has done a great job guiding her virginity to date, and she is over 30 years of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54481,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/sowers-of-strife\/","url_meta":{"origin":62499,"position":3},"title":"Sowers of Strife","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 16:17-20 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The contentious hearings leading up to the appointment of Justice Kavanaugh has generated a lot of discussion on ethics and morality \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I was reading an article by Paul Prather, published in the Lexington Herald-Leader on October 11, 2018 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His expressed concern was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21702,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-girlfriend-constantly-complains-and-im-getting-drained-what-do-i-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":62499,"position":4},"title":"My girlfriend constantly complains and I’m getting drained. What do I do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello. I have a girlfriend who has a big attitude problem. She's always complaining about life, and she tends to take it out on me a lot. The funny thing is that we both Christians, and I have plenty of patience with her. It's come to the point where\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95675,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/so-you-disagree\/","url_meta":{"origin":62499,"position":5},"title":"So You Disagree?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert F. 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