August 25, 2021January 5, 2024

Complaint Department

by in From The Desk of Pastor Tony
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Complaint Department
Have you ever heard of an “ear worm?” An “ear worm” is a song that you hear once and then you cannot forget it. The tune just bounces around your brain for what seems like years. Sometimes, “ear worms” are fun little tunes. Sometimes they are meaningless songs. When my kids were little, we worked to plant an “ear worm” in their minds. It was from a CD we had by Steve Green called, “Hide ‘em In Your Heart.” They were Scripture verses set to music. The tunes were simple and (hopefully) kind of catchy so you would be singing Scripture without really thinking about it. The one we really wanted to impress on our kids was Philippians 2:14-15 (if you would like to hear it, click here).
 
Here is the passage those verses are taken from: Philippians 2:12–16 (ESV)
12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
 
Paul begins by talking about obedience in our Christian walk. Remembering that God is working in and through us for His good pleasure. Dwell on that thought for just a minute. If you are one of His, God is working in you, in both your thinking and your doing, for HIS good pleasure. There are false teachers in our world that would love to have you believe God is working for your good pleasure, but that is simply not Biblical. God works in us for His own good pleasure. Let that just settle in your heart. God is working in you.
 
And the very next thing Paul says is (v. 14), “Do all things without grumbling or disputing…”  The Greek word translated “grumbling” has the same root as we see in Acts 6:1 (ESV)
1Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.
The answer to the complaining in Acts 6 was to appoint the first deacons. But Paul has a simpler solution in Philippians. Whatever you are doing, don’t grumble. Don’t complain. Just do what God has given you to do.
 
And then Paul explains why we need to work without grumbling or complaining, so that we may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish. It is a blemish, a pimple, on the face of a child of God to be grumbling. Complaining leaves the child of God filled with blame and guilt. The opposite of what we should be.

Then Paul goes even further to explain that being blameless and pure is necessary in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. Do we not agree that this world is “crooked” and “twisted”? How can this messed up world know that there is any hope at all? Because God’s children, by not complaining and grumbling, shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life. What our world needs is the light of Jesus shining through us. And our light is “dimmed” when we have a grumbling, complaining attitude.

And Paul wraps up this little section about complaining by reminding them that he wants them to do him proud. He wants to be able to look with pride as Jesus commends them for laboring for Him with the right attitude.
 
You see, obedience to God is critical, but we can be obedient with a bad attitude. According to Paul in this passage, that makes our light dimmer. It tarnishes our ability to be a light in the midst of this crooked and twisted generation. To be blunt, it is not at all the kind of attitude Jesus commends to us.
 
He did not look forward to the cross. He begged His heavenly Father to provide another way. Even as He hung on the cross, He asked God why he had forsaken Him. And, as Jesus was dying, He said He was thirsty. His body was bloody and bruised. His brow pierced by a crown of thorns. Nails in His hands and feet. And the closest thing to a complaint is, “I thirst.”
 
Social media, internet forums, cable news channels, and many of our conversations are filled with complaining. As those who claim to be children of God, we must be different. We must be without blemish. We must be the lights in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. We must seek to be blameless and innocent. We must do all things without grumbling or complaining.

A Work in Progress,

Pastor Tony