Grace Community Christian Church

 

Archived Things Above

The Non-Witness of Whining (8/30/07)

In a recent Sunday morning message, I challenged the GC3 family to be "thermostats" wherever they were, instead of "thermometers". Thermostats set the spiritual & moral tone of an environment, while thermostats merely reflect what someone else has set. The context for those remarks was the return of students to school, but we also noted that this whole thermostat/thermometer dynamic has application in virtually every social arena, not just school. As followers of Christ, we get to adjust (or at least try to adjust) the climate everywhere we go!

One of the most morale-busting social behaviors is Complaining. It takes on a life of its own & just poisons everyone around it. You can enter your job place in a great mood, but when your co-worker begins to grumble about the inept boss or stupid system or incompetent IT people, before you know it you can be right there with him, ready to lead a rebellion for intelligence & common sense & justice. Your pulse rate soars, your eyebrows narrow, your mood darkens considerably. Hope dissipates. Optimism flees. Goodwill bails. Next thing you know, you're bad-mouthing everyone from the janitor to the CEO to the Congress.

Granted, there are legitimate complaints, but there are also appropriate, constructive outlets & times for those complaints to be aired. But some people don't care about being constructive, they just get energized by the negative torrent that gushes effortless out of their mouths.

Christ-followers are not immune to this. In fact, the Bible is adamant in its insistence that those who claim to walk with God should stay far away from a complaining mind set. Here are some samples:

Complaining reveals a mistaken sense of self-superiority:
James 5:9 (Message) "Friends, don't complain about each other. A far greater complaint could be lodged against you, you know. The Judge is standing just around the corner."

Complaining is a characteristic of those people who reject God & who will be the object of his judgment:
Jude 1:16 (God's Word) "These people complain, find fault, follow their own desires, say arrogant things, and flatter people in order to take advantage of them."

Complaining arouses God's anger:
Numbers 11:1 "Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp."

Complaining is associated with unbelief & can de-rail God's plans for an entire faith community:
Numbers 14:27-29 (God's Word) "How long must I put up with this wicked community that keeps complaining about me? I've heard the complaints the Israelites are making about me. So tell them, 'As I live, declares the Lord, I solemnly swear I will do everything to you that you said I would do. Your bodies will drop dead in this desert. All of you who are at least 20 years old, who were registered and listed, and who complained about me will die.'"

Complaining is a handy tool to create discontent & rebellion against God's established order & will:
2 Samuel 15:1-4 "In the course of time, Absalom provided himself with a chariot and horses and with fifty men to run ahead of him. He would get up early and stand by the side of the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone came with a complaint to be placed before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out to him, 'What town are you from?' He would answer, 'Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.' Then Absalom would say to him, 'Look, your claims are valid and proper, but there is no representative of the king to hear you.' And Absalom would add, 'If only I were appointed judge in the land! Then everyone who has a complaint or case could come to me and I would see that he gets justice.'"

Complaining is something best done as a prayer to God alone:
Psalm 142:2 "I pour out my complaint before him; before him I tell my trouble."

Complaining's absence is something that marks the Christ-follower as distinctive from the rest of the world that doesn't know God:
Philippians 2:14-16 "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing."

Something to think about next time you find yourself tempted to complain or whine or grumble about a situation over which you may have little or no control. Being a thermometer is easy- just do nothing. And risk working against God. But being a thermostat? Takes a lot more effort, but greatly increases the odds you'll be someone through whom God can work!

Hidden with Christ,


Jim Dewar --