“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that 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” (Philippians 2:14-15).
Wine is booming right now. Folks hang out at wine bars, attend wine tastings, and go on wine tours of the wine country. I love a glass of Merlot as much as the next guy. My Savior has been known to keep the party going when the Cabernet runs low. However whine is also everywhere these days. At home. At work. At church. It seems like we’ve taken complaining and snark to an art form. There’s just one little problem. Believers shouldn’t bellyache. About anything. It’s one clear way we stand out in a world full of moaners. Paul lets us know once Jesus comes to our rescue we leave the whine country.
Hey, if anybody had a reason to grumble it would be the man with the pen in his hand. The apostle writes to his friends back in Philippi from behind bars in Rome. He’s in Caesar’s Supermax after being wrongly accused of stirring up trouble among the Jewish people back in Jerusalem (Acts 21:27-36). He’s spent the past several years in the joint just waiting for his case to be heard and eventually appealed his case to Caesar (Acts 25:11). Along the way, he’s survived a hurricane at sea, been shipwrecked, bitten by a venomous snake before being thrown back in the slammer once again. What he’s been through makes “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” look like a walk in the park. But take a listen outside Paul’s cell for just a moment. What do you hear? Not one bit of grumbling. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Now he writes to the followers of Jesus in Philippi. The best way to stand out from the rest of the whining world is to quit complaining.
I’m pretty sure the apostle left us a little wiggle room when it comes to grumbling. There must be a handful of things we can still gripe about. Let’s take a closer look, shall we? “Do all things without grumbling or disputing” (v14). Did he really write “all things?” Really? I can’t even complain about going to the DMV office? Surely he doesn’t mean calls from telemarketers. He must leave a loophole for those times I’m stuck in traffic and the interstate transforms into a parking lot. Nope. Sorry. “All things” (v14). A closer look at the Greek tells us Paul is talking about “all things.” As the old saying goes, “‘All’ means ‘all’ and that’s all ‘all’ means.” Trust me, I wish there a way around this too. We may have every reason to kvetch and moan. But we’re to follow the example of the One who came to pull us out of the mess we made. If the sinless of Son of God didn’t mutter under His breath as He was betrayed and murdered, what right do we have?
Just in case we’re unsure what “all things” we’re not to do, the man from Tarsus spells it out. “Grumbling or disputing” (v14). The first word is goggusmos, which means murmuring, muttering, or a complaint not openly shared complaining. This when we crank up a whisper campaign for those around us. We’re not grabbing a bullhorn and announcing to the world how jacked up the situation is. No, this is much more subtle and subversive. To paraphrase Governor Pappy O’Daniel from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, we’re not mass communicatin’. We’re one-and-a-timin’. We grumble to the person in the next cube about what’s going on. We whine to the folks in line at Starbucks. We rant on Facebook or Twitter. I’m looking for sympathy and support because I’m a victim. Look at poor, poor pitiful me. But maybe I’m the only one who does this. There’s no way you would stoop to anything like this, is there?
Paul tells us to steer clear of “disputing” (Gr. dialogismos). Notice how similar it is to the word “dialogue.” He’s talking about two people in an open argument. No whisper campaign here. This is blatant arguing. That’s EXACTLY the kind of garbage we shouldn’t find among God’s people. The apostle writes to his buddy Tim, “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling (Gr. dialogismos)” (1Tim 2:8). He tells the church in Rome not to get into silly fights with folks who are immature (Rom 14:1). When it comes to arguing, remember that it takes two to tango. There are times to take a stand but does this dispute bring glory to God? Does it bring people closer to Jesus? Or is it simply throwing mud on the wedding dress of the Bride of Christ? More often than not, I need to let it drop. Or in the words of that great theologian Elsa, “Let it go!”
One huge reason for the followers of Jesus to drop the grumbling and disputing is to stand out from the rest of society. We avoid muttering and arguing “that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God, without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you will shine as lights in the world” (v15). Once we’re kids of the King, we have NOTHING to whine or complain about! When we stop griping, we’ll stick out from everybody else. Why doesn’t she bellyache about her boss? Why won’t he beef about his situation? Suddenly, we shine brightly in a very dark world. Jesus called us to be light shiners and salt spreaders (Mt 5:13-16). One key way we do that is stuffing a sock in mouths instead of calling the wambulance. Let’s be “the light of the world” and “a city set on a hill” (Mt 5:14) instead of Debbie Downer or the sultan of snark. Remember, once Jesus comes to our rescue we leave the whine country.
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