PODCAST
No Complaints?
December 2nd, 2010
Philippians 2:14-3:1
“Do everything without complaining or arguing” (v. 14). You’ve got to be kidding, right? What fun is it if we can’t complain a little? After all, we’ve got legitimate grievances here!
Could this be part of what Paul means by “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (v. 12)? Could it be that we have to surrender our right to complain and argue, “to become blameless and pure children of God” (v. 15)? After all, didn’t Jesus get angry? Didn’t he cast out the moneychangers, call the religious leaders hypocrites, “whitewashed tombs,” and a “brood of vipers”? Yes, but Jesus’ anger was directed against sin, hypocrisy, and greed. Most of our complaining and arguing has to do with us: our comfort, our preferences, our way.
Paul was writing to believers. They and we have a choice to make. We can continue to argue and complain, or we can “shine like stars in the universe.”
