Complaint Department

Is the temperature too hot or too cold at church?  I have watched individuals in a church get up and go adjust the thermostat only to have another person get up and readjust it back to the temperature that best suits them.  

Neither person worshipped that morning, as their focus was on their comfort rather than the Lord Jesus.  I have seen people leave churches for personal preferences (and prejudices).  Sometimes they go to another church, but not always; sometimes they just stay home.  Their reasons vary, but the purpose was never focused on the gospel of Christ nor on those who have poured and invested in them for years.  Most times the complaints aren’t voiced until after they have exited the fellowship of that particular church.  And we wonder why the lost watching world has questions about why they should “try church.”  Our grumbling and complaining make a church family sound more like a social club, with all its various and seemingly endless issues, rather than the place where Christ brings forgiveness and acceptance, and we as his followers are commanded to do the same.  

As shared this Sunday, we are to shine in this crooked and perverse generation rather than emulate them.  Our passage in Philippians 2 is preceded by the example of Christ who was obedient (without complaint) even to death.  So we are called to be blameless and pure children of God, showing what happens when the lives of those in the church are surrendered to the Holy Spirit.  James 4:1-8, which I quote often, tells us the problem and the solution: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.  Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”  

If you ask someone how they are doing and they share the struggles they are facing, yet are walking in trust with the Lord to take them through the issues in life, this is not complaining.  When we want/demand others and God to simply meet our needs (to be our butler, maid or therapist) or else – we have ventured into the downward dangerous spiral of complaining.  Parents are busy and many times overwhelmed with the needs of job, home and family.  Aging adults are many times physically hurting, and the multiple changes in life are challenging.  Can and should we acknowledge the issues where we find ourselves — YES.  Should they cause us to trust the Lord’s work in our life through these situations to help transform us — YES.  Can we share these burdens with others — YES.  

Our trust in the Lord, especially when verbalized, helps others see the work of God in us, even the lost watching world. Don’t we really already know the difference in sharing as opposed to complaining by the tone of voice, the look on the face and the outlook on life when we look in the mirror or when conversing with another person?  We know what pleases and displeases God.  We need to be reminded that complaining is not acceptable to God and does not bring praise and glory to the Lord.  May we help ourselves and others by keeping Philippians 2:14 at the forefront of our mind.  Don’t we all wish to be a part of a church that never complains?  It all starts with you — changing yourself or helping others to avoid complaining.  

Pressing on…

Ron Tipton, Senior Pastor