Although the text does not say so, I hypothesize that these intra-church contentions resulted from the brief, famine-driven repentance of those who actually leaned more toward worldly ways. Although baptized members of the church, their desire for pride, wealth, and status surpassed that of non-church-men.
It is small wonder that the church faltered when its newest members had become even more worldly than non-church-men. No longer driven to humility by the famine, they had ceased to see anything in the church of value. However, it will also become clear that, while these newly converted might logically have been the first to succumb to the temptations, they were not the only ones to begin to prefer the trappings of wealth. For all of these status-aspiring church-men, riches and prestige were more easily obtained outside the church, since it officially frowned on such accumulations.