From the fall of the angels to the first murder recorded in the Scriptures, a fratricide murder (sibling murder). From the time 11 brothers conspired the destruction and demise of their brother. From when a setting King tried to kill the leader he appointed over his army, etc., many more stories were written between creation and now about such evil incidents that shared the exact causes of such evil. The reasons and motivation for such worldly evil acts and heavenly coup d'état are summed up in the words of James when he said:
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.~James 3:16
As this relates to those who are of the Way, of the Faith, or those who identify as Christians, those who are of the body of Christ (the Church), these pervasive, corrosive, destructive behaviors are allowed to exist, not just on a gnat level but on a camel level (Matthew 23:24). Conflict, hostility, antagonism, quarrels, struggles, clashes, falling-outs, competition, disagreement, opposition, fightings, debauchery, and yes, killings in all forms are all the byproducts of jealousy and envy. With that being said, on a gnat level, brothers and sisters are envious/jealous of each other's corporeal and spiritual gifts and abilities. Because of this, they covertly conspire against each other. Instead of gifts working together in the spirit of love and unity, they become competing factors. It is often becoming so bad that believers become overtly with their actions, no longer able to conceal them because of the intensity of envy and jealousy within their hearts.
On the camel level, acts of jealousy and envy have had a more global effect, with the byproducts coming in the form of hatred, genocide, thievery, lies, deception, oppression, injustices, and butchery (confusion and every evil work) under the brand of the Church, using the Cross as its trademark, and forging the signature of Jesus on it. Suggesting that the oppressed forgive the oppressor even though the oppressor seeks no forgiveness and opposes repentance while still praising the same God.
And so, the internal workings and advancement of the Church and the external reputation of the Church have been negatively affected and, through centuries, its identity highjacked by these insidious behaviors, conducts, or actions. We can believe and worship the same God, but we are on different levels. We can believe and worship the same God, but I am superior, and you are inferior. We can believe and worship the same God, but I am privileged and deserving, and you are the oppressed and undeserving, at least not as deserving as me. Justice and equality for all of us, injustice and inequality for them. This may be the way of the world (yet should not be), but it is not the way of Jesus and should not be of the people of the local or universal Church, not the way of those of the Way'
And believers continue saying, "There is so much good that goes on in the Church, or that the Church has done a lot of good things, why focus on the bad." While this is unequivocally a true statement, yet for too long, it has been used to whitewash over, ignore, justify, further perpetuate, or be silent about the evil byproducts of envy and strife done in the name of the Chruch in the name of Christ. Such actions are not of Christ and should not be the actions of true believers. Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-20 "You will know them by their fruits.".
Most believers use this verse to mean bad (rotten) fruit or fruit growing on the wrong type of tree; I view it more in the 21st-century way. Today, we have GMO or fruit grown through artificially inducing none as "Parthenocarpy." So we become fooled because the grape we buy looks like a grape, feels like a grape, and most of all, tastes like a grape. But when we bite into the grape, we discover that it lacks the very thing that qualifies it as a fruit_a seed; therefore, it doesn't possess the ability to produce fruit after its kind (Matthew 13:23 ). Thus, its ability to produce is in the power and the hands of man, not God's.
We also will find out that after years of ingestion, we have not received the high level of nutritional value we would have received if we'd eaten the grape created by God. Being a fruit inspector goes beyond appearance, feelings, and emotional and mental taste buds. We are food by fruit that has no seed(s); in like manner, we are fooled by leaders who look the part, make us feel good, and satisfy our taste buds but have not God's Spirit of love and unity. So they produce believers who are well dressed, well spoken, well versed, full of envy, jealousy, and strife but no seed.
Paul concludes all this up in Ephesians 4
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