Complaining, Yet Being Thankful

The title sounds odd, right? Yes it does, at first glance. Come with me as I explain what I mean! Scriptural focus is Philippians 2:14-16

"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, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." Philippians 2:14-16.

Let's remember the context of this epistle. Paul is in prison, yet rejoicing in Christ because his contentment is based on Christ, not his circumstances. He is writing to the Church in Philippi. The Church in Philippi has a special significance to Paul as it was the first Church he planted in Europe. In terms of the whole of chapter 2, there is a lot to mention context wise, so lets keep it brief and to the point. There were no major issues in the Church in Philippi, just one or two minor things, so rather than correct, Paul seeks to further explain the Gospel of Christ, with the end goal of both challenge and encouragement. Verses 1-11 speaks of Christ's example of humility, and a few things about what God has done in Christ by the Spirit. Verses 12-18 speak of being lights in the world, giving some very practical advice on how to actually go about it. Then verses 19-30 speak more of the situation, Paul wants to send Timothy and Epaphroditus and expounds that and the reasoning behind it for a bit. So it is in this context, and indeed the context of the whole Bible, that I'm going to look at these verses.

In the modern Western world, it is very easy to fall into scepticism. Very easy. Especially when you are looking at doctrinal things and working out your salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). If you know me well, you know I love complaining a bit too much. This is something that God has been convicting me of by His Holy Spirit over the past few weeks. As I ask Him to tenderly break and mould me by His Spirit working in me, He shows me more and more of my sin, as I ask Him to develop my hatred for sin, he does it, and He changes me through the valleys and mountain tops of life.

One thing I want to mention is PCI MAD weekend. I had heard of it, but hadn't been as a young person or crew member before this year. So I asked a few people what it was like and decided I'd go for it. Since I hadn't been able to do any summer teams, it was a great to be able to serve Christ in this team format in late October in Coleraine (super handy for me, not going to Belfast as usual)! So, I went to the training beforehand, and was all set for the weekend. I didn't think the talks would be used by God to impact me much since it was mostly young teenagers, but boy was I wrong. The talks from Melissa Piper, Stuart Hawthorne and Rick Hill really hit me hard, as did the songs. There was so much praising God, not just in the Diamond Hall, but also in the prayer room. God really used the whole weekend, the sessions, and every time chatting with other crew members, staff, youth leaders and kids to impact me, mainly in terms of being thankful, and less negative. I think we need a balance of holy discontent/hatred of sin and thankfulness, this is hard to achieve, but not impossible.

I'm not going to go into the details of all that is going on right now, but I am going to talk about how I see it in the Word of God. In Philippians, and the entire Bible (to use a friend's favourite phrase), we see how we are to be thankful, yet we are also to hate our sin as Christ does (see Psalm 97:10, and entire Bible - especially Old Testament).

So we are to both be thankful for everything, including trials (James 1:2-18), and how we are also to have a holy discontent in terms of hating our sin. Yes it is somewhat of a paradox, but it makes perfect sense to me, thanks to God's Spirit opening my eyes to it over the past while.

Now more on how that works out in everyday life. Practical application is absolutely key here, it's all well and good to read God's Word, but we must actually apply it to our lives and put it into practice. As discussed above, we need a balance between holy discontent (not becoming comfortable in our walk with Christ) and thankfulness (for everything, including trials). How can we achieve this difficult thing? We can't do it on our own for a start, the message of the Bible shows God working through weak, sinful, human beings to achieve His purposes (see 1 Corinthians 12 and elsewhere in Bible). So we need to see this as not impossible, even though it is difficult. This reminds me of the CEF conference last April in Portrush, one of the speakers, when talking on Acts and mission, said the mission we face is difficult, but not impossible. This is a tremendous encouragement, and challenge. We need to submit to Christ, get in step with His Spirit (see Galatians 5).

But how do we get in step and keep in step with the Holy Spirit? We immerse ourselves in His Word, in reading books about His Word and His call on our lives, in prayer, in quiet self examination and meditation upon His Word. Also through fellowship and doing life with other believers, we can be sharpened and become more like Christ. But the thing is, God uses many different things to shape and mould us into the image of Christ. The things He uses are His Word, prayer and other people (both verbally and via books). We must use discernment as to what is based on Scripture and is solid doctrinally, and what isn't, we need to pray for God's wisdom in this matter.

Let's take a closer look at this passage in Philippians.Verse 14 says "do all things without complaining or grumbling", implying doing things in thankfulness to God (as we read elsewhere in Paul's epistles and the Gospels). Not a lot to say on that. Verse 15 talks of being "blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish, in this twisted and crooked generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,". So much can be said on this verse alone, so lets get into it! Blameless and innocent refers to the continual sanctification of us as children of the one true King, that we may come before Christ on the last day knowing that we have given our everything to Him as He has made us more like Him. Paul speaks a lot of this throughout his epistles, and it is indeed crucial. Children of God without blemish reminds us that we are indeed adopted into His family through Christ by the Spirit, chosen by God from before the earth began. Amazing! Without blemish refers again to the pursuit of holiness and killing of sin. In this twisted and crooked generation refers to how radically sin has affected the world, this generation is indeed crooked and twisted as we haven't held to God's Word as the sole authority in our lives. Therefore, we must shine as lights in the world, that people may see and hear of Christ as we proclaim with with actions AND words. Verse 16 says, "holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." This reminds us that the Word of God is to central, Jesus is the Word, and hence we must hold to the authority and sufficiency of the Bible. We do all of this so that on the final day we will be able to know that we didn't labour in vain, doing what we thought was right, but what we know is right because God's Word says so. This is such a rich passage and I've only touched on it, so please go and read and consider it for yourself.

To close, let's join together in complaining less, being more thankful, and having that holy discontentment that the Bible speaks of. Let's cry out to the Lord to change, mould and shape us more into the image of Christ. God is calling you to holy discontent (against sin), yet thankfulness in Christ. We have such a rich inheritance in Christ, and He (hence His Word) must be the centre of our lives. Yes the Holy Spirit is crucial in this, but Christ is always the centre since he has purchased our redemption for us. Complain less, be negative less, be more thankful, yet have a holy discontent over your sin.

God bless, Ben