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what were the specific 'wars and fightings' james was seeing in those early christian communities?

Adds the setting and its conversation across both testaments.

James 4:1-3

“Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members? You lust, and don’t have. You murder, and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

The Letter of James is written to Jewish Christians scattered across various regions, likely in the mid-first century CE. It's a practical and ethical exhortation, urging them to live out their faith through actions, emphasizing themes like perseverance, wisdom, justice, and the dangers of wealth and uncontrolled speech.

What inner desires or external conflicts in our own lives reflect the 'wars and fightings' James describes?

Then — the setting

James is not likely referring to literal large-scale wars between communities, but rather severe internal strife, disputes, factions, and contentious behaviors within the Christian communities themselves. These 'wars and fightings' stemmed from selfishness, envy, jealousy, and a desire for personal gain or status, often manifesting as verbal attacks, competitive ambition, and quarrels over resources or influence. The economic and social pressures of the time, coupled with the nascent identity of Christian groups, could have exacerbated these tensions, as individuals wrestled with their spiritual commitments versus worldly desires.

Across the Testaments

This passage is in the New Testament. While the Old Testament doesn't use the exact phrase 'wars and fightings among you' in the same internal, community-focused way, it frequently addresses the destructive power of covetousness, envy, and idolatry which lead to societal breakdown and injustice (e.g., the Ten Commandments, prophetic condemnations of Israel's internal corruption). The New Testament, particularly James and Paul, internalizes this conflict further, showing how these same sinful desires manifest within the believing community, not just the broader nation, and that true peace must begin with transformed hearts.

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

Galatians 5:16-17
Paul also speaks of an internal conflict between desires of the flesh and the Spirit.
1 Peter 2:11
Peter similarly warns believers about 'fleshly lusts, which war against the soul'.
Romans 7:21-23
Paul describes an inner struggle where he finds a law at work: when he wants to do good, evil is present.

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