Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.
Philippians 2:14-16a
The aim of engaging with Scripture is not the accumulation of information (though it is an essential element), nor the establishment of a foundation of Biblical literacy (though that too, is beneficial), but rather to be transformed by the Word residing within the words; the Spirit hovering beneath the ink, translating. Our aim is an encounter with the Living God who has chosen to reveal Himself through (among other things) the written word. The twin temptations of the believer in this regard are either to ignore this holy medium intended for our growth or to regard it with such intellectual distance that we inoculate ourselves against its transformative power. While Scripture presents an inexhaustible trove of wisdom, history, and context, if we approach it only as such we rob it of its intended purpose--- our sanctification. Orthodoxy without orthopraxy is lifeless. The Bible, though, was not composed in this way. It was always intended to inspire renovation. Paul’s message in Philippians 2:14-16 is one such boots-on-the-ground example of the inescapable practical life application Scripture was intended to provide.
Paul, concerned as he was for unity within the Philippian church began (what we now consider to be) chapter two with the exhortation to do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but rather to look to the interests of others. To support this, he examined the example of Jesus who, though He was God subjugated Himself for the sake of His Father’s will and for our benefit. His is presented as the ultimate example of humility and self-sacrifice, and rightly so. Now Paul turns back to His primary theme: unity within groups of believers. He outlines here one imminently practical behavioral correction to facilitate this unity. “Do everything without grumbling or arguing,” This prohibition both diffuses disputes within the church and is the natural outflow of reflection on the person of Christ, who remained silent as He was betrayed, abandoned, tortured, and led to a criminal’s cross to die.
In approaching this concrete application we will first look at what grumbling is and what grumbling is not.
Grumbling displays dissatisfaction with the sovereign will of God. The believer trusts the Lord. At the very core of our faith this is the underlying assumption. There will absolutely often be a wrestling match between belief and unbelief, between trust and distrust, but at the end of the day we believe that the Lord is sovereign, defined as possessing supreme or ultimate power. If we did not believe so, then our God would be no better than the wavering and limited gods of mythology. Though we wrestle, somewhere within us there is the seed of conviction (the Holy Spirit) that believes, behind it all, the Lord is orchestrating His plan for Earth, the heavens, and human lives. We know that “in all things God works for the good of those who live Him,” These are the truths to which we assent when we surrender control of our lives to a limitless Lord. Grumbling, then, inherently chips away at that surrender. If we complain about the other drivers on the road with us, for example, we are essentially saying that we distrust that the Lord knew what He was doing when He put them on the road with us. While we may not ever acknowledge that our words and behavior (yes, the worst grumbling occurs within our minds) express a distrust of the Lord, they nevertheless imply that whatever expectations we had about the unfolding of events trumps, or at least is the pinnacle of the order of the universe.
Grumbling infects people and cultures. More insidious even than the effects of grumbling and complaining on our own souls and minds is the effect it has upon those around us. We are social creatures, created by a triune God in the echo of that unity. We feed off each other for the good or for the ill. This is why we are uplifted and encouraged by surrounding ourselves with fellow believers and why acrimony and despair grow when we surround ourselves with those who are despairing. Grumbling and complaining quickly become an infection of an otherwise healthy community. Instead of focusing on the positive of the group or the potential for victory, when we complain we are bogged down with backwards-looking assessments of what went wrong and who to blame for it. This kind of thinking is incredibly contagious. The healthy community can quickly turn to a party of backbiters when grumbling, which is really only the symptom of our malcontent, pops up. An otherwise blessed group of believers can become a dejected, miserable and depressed party of weaklings when the focus becomes about what should have happened, what they did or should have done, and what can’t happen.
We can see how quickly this kind of complaining drives a wedge in the Church of Christ. Critiques become plentiful. We see and condemn the sins in others before we even root out our own. Very quickly, a foothold is established for criticizing or condemning God Himself.
Before exploring what the results of our obedience will be in this regard, we should first clarify a few things that griping and complaining are not.
Mourning is not necessarily complaining.
Mourning, as defined as ‘the expression of deep sorrow’, is a means of expressing the realities of our pain and sadness. The Bible in no way seeks to deny or purge the believer of these emotions but instead seeks to bring our passions as well as our thoughts and actions into accord with Christ. As we are matured through discipline and the Holy Spirit, we cease to be ruled by our emotions alone and instead reflect our emotions the way the Lord does. We begin to find joy in the things that bring the Lord joy and weep at the things that the cause the Lord to weep. This is why Jesus can pronounce, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” and represent Himself through a prophet like Jeremiah who wept over the rebellion and judgement of Judah. We must, however, even as we express our grief and mourning remain connected with the Father through the truth revealed in His word or our righteous lamentation can indeed transform into self-righteous accusation and griping.
Exposing injustice is not necessarily complaining.
Deeply ingrained in the tradition of God’s people is the call to expose injustice for it is antithetical to the character of a God of justice. Just as the cries of the Israelites in bondage in Egypt ascended and were heard by the Lord in heaven, so we are called to shine the light of God’s truth into the darkness within this world, within our churches, and within our own hearts. Light always exposes darkness, likewise, truth always illuminates the lies that are used to denigrate and subjugate. We cannot worship the Lord Most High and ignore the abuses committed against those who bear His image, even if (especially if) we are the ones perpetrating them. This motivation is what drove the Lord to rebuke through the prophet Amos, “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor and on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed.” The exposing of injustice must be encouraged and not hampered by false claims of griping. With this said, those of us who meet the call of justice must keep our eyes fixed firmly upon Christ lest our indignation turn to unbridled hopelessness at the sight of the fallen state of the world and our still nascent souls. To do so would be to ignore the power, sovereignty, goodness, and justice of the Lord as He works to bring about His perfect plan in His timing. Moreover, this hopelessness leads us to the temptation of viewing as our enemies, men, rather than thrones, powers, and principalities which our prayers, voices, and efforts work to dismantle.
Questioning is not necessarily complaining.
As the process of sanctification involves an increasing and prolonged surrender of our thoughts, motives, and actions, there will be (or should be) a palpable tension between our human wills and the Holy Spirit, which often lovingly and sometimes painfully prods us towards repentance. As such, questions will arise. We are not yet what we will be and thus we struggle to comprehend the ways and means of the Lord. To deny those questions would be to present a false self to the omniscient Creator, who knows the thoughts and questions of our hearts anyway. With honest hearts, in the context of relationship, we can lay our burdens and questions before the Lord. Like Job, who earnestly cried from his despair, “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb … Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul?” we may in humility pour our questions and uncertainties at the foot of the altar. However, we must guard ourselves, for there is a type of jaded, antagonistic questioning which assumes a position of accusation. Here, earnest inquiries become barbs born out of bitterness and unbelief. Instead, we must always ask as one seeking answers from a loving Father whose will is sovereign and far above the scope of our mortally-addled minds. Even as we struggle with unbelief, we must approach with the goal of belief eventually, not as a prosecutor. When we struggle to reconcile our inclinations with some doctrine or other we must ask believing that there is an answer though to us it may seem a distant fog-shrouded shore.
We would do well to remember that the immediate context for Paul’s exhortation was his desire for unity within the Philippian church. Anytime people (even saints) congregate regularly, there is bound to be conflict resulting from misunderstanding, difference of opinion, and outright sin. Paul is attempting to circumvent such disturbances by pointing his audience back to the example of Christ. Disturbances and conflicts within the church not only disrupt the proper functioning of the body of Christ but also serve as a poor witness to those outside the church. We know too well the accusations, justified and unjustified, leveled against believers and the church. Many of these are born from our internal inability to view and value other believers and brothers and sisters in Christ, flawed yes, but created in the same image of God, and indwelled with the same Spirit.
We live in a particular time and place in the Western world in which the average citizen has access to modes of communication unprecedented throughout history. Yet as is so often the case, we, as fallen humanity, twist opportunity and innovation towards our sinful inclinations. The combination of platform and instant access becomes a toxic pairing for airing our complaints and grievances. Consequently, we are exposed to a culture of complaining almost constantly.
Given our distinctive placement as Christians engaging in such an environment we have the matchless opportunity to provide a counterbalance to the griping and complaining of the age. Though we are uniquely positioned in regards to our particular society, the call to self-sacrifice and contentment has always been counter-cultural for Paul remarks that the result of our abstinence from griping will be that we will “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.” Our lack of complaining will cause us to stand out from the throngs whose only recourse when their desires are not met is to voice their feeble dissatisfaction. This is what we must constantly and consciously seek to avoid: allowing our lust for selfish desires to manifest as complaint when we fail to achieve them. For all desires born apart from the Lord will fail to satisfy even if they happen to come to pass. If these are our aim we will always bear some grievance at the world and, even if we deny it, at God. This must not be among the saints. Let us be known for our complete reliance upon the Lord for our needs and wants. Let there be no complaints in the church for we love our brother as we do ourselves and love the Lord, the giver of all good gifts and who “in all things … works for the good of those who love Him.” Let us be known among all people for our trust in our good Father. Let us silence speak boldly when the chorus of complaint rises around us. Ultimately, let us give no thought to ourselves because we have fixed our eyes upon Christ who, “was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth,” and made no complaint against the sovereign will of His Father even though it cost Him the very real price of His own life.
