Grumbling Against God - Philippians 2:14–16a
Charles Spurgeon once commented that “discontent and murmuring are as natural to man as thorns are to the soil.” Grumbling and disputes are commonplace in our world. Power struggles and competing agendas are nothing new.
Our congregations are not immune. From what I’ve seen, new pastors are not as overwhelmed by the demands of ministry as they are by church members motivated by self-interest and trying to enforce their will. And where self-interest reigns, grumbling and disputes absolutely spring up. This is true in your home, where you work, and where you worship.
I can’t help but think that we live in a time when complaining is seen somewhat of a virtue. It’s acceptable now to publicly express your complaints online on a daily basis. Sometimes an article isn’t as, should I say, “interesting” as the comments below it. Some of you may know this, but each ESPN sports article on their website used to have a section at the end of the article where readers could comment. But there was so much arguing and threatening, with so much vulgarity, that they could no longer simply monitor the comments and delete the bad ones. ESPN just stopped allowing comments all together.
Of course, there are times to righteously disagree, and there times to speak out for what is right, but that’s not what the apostle Paul has in mind here. In the previous verses, he has urged the church to obey God and produce the results of Jesus’ saving work in them. And they should rest knowing that it is God who gives them the desire and the ability to obey Him.
Paul’s message in verses 14-16 is rooted in the reality that we all have a natural tendency to grumble against God and dispute His will. We naturally disagree with God’s commands and complain about them. This is a byproduct of not trusting God’s providential power, infinite goodness, and absolute wisdom.
And any self-centered murmuring, complaining, and arguing toward anyone is ultimately an offense against God and paralyzes your ability to live for God’s glory. Grumbling and disputing renders a person useless on God’s mission in the world. These verses demonstrate that.
But the opposite is also true. Resisting the urge to grumble and dispute activates us on mission. Jesus demonstrated that. No one was ever more obedient on mission with God than Jesus Christ. No one was ever more humble or obedient than Him who brought salvation. Jesus could not selfishly grumble and dispute and save His people from sin. He could not restore us to God while displaying a lack of trust in God.
You see, those are things from which Jesus was saving us. That’s why He had to save us. And because Jesus displayed that kind of trust and obedience, His followers must also. Grumbling and disputing are out of place in the church.
King David of Israel, in Psalm 133 in the OT, wrote these words, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” In other words, “when brothers dwell together.” Much of David’s life is recorded in the OT books of 1 and 2 Samuel. One thing that is crystal clear is that David was no stranger to discord among the people of God.
As king of Israel, he endured continual grumblings and disputes. So Psalm 133 is not simply warm fuzzy language; it is a cry of the heart. It is a wonderful thing when church members are in full accord, with the same love and the same mind. Unity strengthens the church on mission; discord harms the church and immobilizes it.
But what is the actual harm in it? What real damage does grumbling and disputing do? That’s what Paul addresses that here. You can see the outline on pages 6-7 of the worship guide. Grumbling and disputing does these three things: exposes your guilt before God, extinguishes your light for God, and loosens your grip on God.
Now, most scholars agree that the grumbling and disputing that Paul has in mind was aimed, first and foremost, at the church leaders, at those who continually called the people to obey. It is not easy being a leader; it’s even harder when the people you lead are belligerent.
Parents, you understand this. Bosses and managers, you understand this. If you’ve ever led anything, you’ve been a target. Paul urged the churches to trust their leaders. In fact, that’s the focus of the verses and the sermon next Sunday. This week is more about you.
But the main evidence that Paul wants the church to avoid grumbling and disputing with the leaders comes from what he says in verse 15. Take a look: “that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation.”
That sounds very familiar. Deuteronomy 32 in the OT contains what we call “the Song of Moses.” Moses, of course, was the first great leader of ancient Israel. Moses describes the people of ancient Israel and their behavior toward God this way: “they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation.”
Much of ancient Israel wandered from God to worship idols; but first, they grumbled about God’s will to Moses, and they disputed the instructions given to Moses by God. But Moses was only a mediator between them and God. The people of Israel were not the people of Moses; they were God’s people. Moses led them out of Egypt, but God delivered them. God redeemed them. They belonged to God, not Moses. Moses was simply chosen and installed as their leader.
So their grumbling was not against Moses, ultimately. It was against God. And what the grumbling and disputing did first was expose their guilt before God. It revealed that so many of those people did not truly know or trust God.
Many of you have previously seen conflict in churches, and always there are certain people who incited the conflict. Did you ever wonder if those people were truly saved? If someone is continually starting conflict, grumbling and disputing with leadership, you should wonder about that. Because you can’t be blameless and innocent before God, and also behave this way.
Those who are in Christ - those without blemish - those who possess the righteousness of Jesus by faith - don’t do that. It is sad that people in churches carry on and behave this way and don’t realize that the wrath of God may very well be against them because they are not in Christ. And when I say “wrath of God,” I mean hell. I mean eternal separation from God and the torment that awaits the unsaved. Hell will be full of self-important grumblers and disputers. It will be full of those who were averse to the will of God and to his mission in the world. That’s why Satan belongs there.
Does grumbling and disputing come very naturally to you? If so, beware. Examine your heart. Instead of always second guessing leadership, second guess yourself. And this does apply not only in the church, but everywhere in life. Children, this about this. Employees, think about this. The leaders in your life are there by the providential plan of the one true God. Unless they are attempting to lead you into sin, follow them with humility. Failure to do so may leave you guilty before God.
Also, grumbling and disputing extinguishes your light for God. Paul says that followers of Jesus should be in contrast to the crooked and twisted generation in which we live, notice the rest of verse 15, “among whom you shine as lights in the world.” God separated the people of ancient Israel from the rest of the world in order to teach them His ways and conform their ways to His, so that they could display His glory. So that they could shine the light of His truth in a dark, sin-corrupted world.
That is the mission of the people of God. Do you want to join God on mission? First thing, make every effort to live for God in front of those who are apart from God. Sadly, much of Israel rejected the God who delivered them from bondage in Egypt. And as a result, they extinguished their light. They put out the flame.
Do you know the old song This Little Light of Mine. It’s based on the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 5 in the NT. Jesus said to those first century Jews, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. That is what first-century Jews in the Roman empire should have been doing. They had the law and all the promises of the one true God. But they were largely ineffective for God.
How can the church shine a light in a dark world if we are characterized by infighting, criticism of leadership, complaining and disagreements? That’s what the rest of the world does. The church is supposed to be different. This is supposed to be the place where the truth of God reigns. Where Yahweh dwells. Are you shining for Him, or has grumbling and disputing extinguished your light?
Finally, grumbling and disputing loosens your grip on God. This one is interesting. Notice the phrase in verse 16: “holding fast to the word of life.” “The word of life” is alternate language referring to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of the life-giving work of Jesus. It means what Christ has done for His people. Living a perfect life in our place; Paying the penalty for our sins; Rising from death to life and thus defeating death. For a Christian, the gospel message is everything.
We must hold tight to it every day. We must cling to who the gospel says we are in Christ. It must define us. It must tell us who we are. It must tell us who our brothers and sisters are.
You ever have your arms full and there’s something else you need to pick up? What do you have to do? Put down whatever you’re holding. In order to grumble and dispute in the church, we must grab hold of some agenda, And in doing so, we must release our grip of the gospel. To pick up some ax to grind, we must put down Christ and his word of life.
Are you holding daily to the gospel of Jesus? Or are you holding on to something else: some gripe, some frustration, some agenda. This is the work of the Christian life, to hold fast to the One who will hold us fast.
As we go to the Lord’s table today, we come to eat and fellowship with the only One who did not grumble against God and dispute His holy will; but instead, He trusted and he gave glory to God. And in doing so, He earned the right to remove our guilt before God and impute His righteous record of living to those who believe in Him. He gave us a light to shine for God, and He made us able to hold on to God.
Paul compares the church to the disobedient ancient Israelites as an example of how not live with and for God, but you know, we have to admit that in our natural state, we are like them. They responded to God in the same way that all peoples of the earth respond to him.
But do you know, and we learned from our study of the book of Matthew, Jesus Christ was and is the true Israel. He is the only blameless and innocent One, the only child of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. He is the Light of the World.
Admit your sin to God and reach for Him now by faith. Let’s pray together.