So I have some time to kill before lunch, so I decided to return to the old distraction of blogging. Admittedly I had forgotten I had a blog, yet when I just checked my stats. 200 people looked at my blog in February! Shocking considering I haven't blogged since July 2007!
So I have been thinking about the culture of complaining recently; mainly in light of a study we did at housegroup last week on Philippians 2:1-18. Verses 14-16 reads "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..."
Now the context of this: it's written to one of the early churches in Philippi (eastern Macedonia) and so is written to Christians as encouragement to live the best life in Christ, in light of the fact that their lives had be saved eternally by Jesus' death on the cross. This is not meant to be a legalistic list of 'do's or 'don't's (confusing grammar) which I guess is how many people see Christianity sadly. I can assure you from my own life it's so much more than that - there is no reason why as a non-Christian I would have tried to not complain; it is only because I know that God gave everything to save me that I want to live a life that doesn't carry on as if that had never happened.
So, "do everything without complaining or arguing..." Have you ever tried this? Now I'm not hugely confrontational as a person these days which I must attribute to God working in me and changing me; but complaining - it's SO easy. When my alarm goes off in the morning, instead of thanking God for another day and the breath and life to live it - I think 'Do I really have to get up?' 'How am I ever going to finish that essay/reading etc?' This passage speaks directly into that. I recently defined discipleship as "living lives that don't undermine the words we're speaking". Is my grumbling undermining the glorious gospel I'm proclaiming...or even more, is my grumbling replacing the glorious gospel I should be speaking?
By grumbling I'm slotting right into the world. This passage speaks of living a life that is distinctive where we're shining like stars...is that really how I live. I was watching Bill Bailey last night with my housemates and he notes this culture of complaining - particularly in popular music (in the broadest sense...not cheesy pop). As I type I'm listening to the 'Just Great Songs' album...and it's so true...grumble, complain, whine; and these are the great songs! (I'm not having a shot as the album...I like it musically...lyrically I'm reassessing).
Whilst there are difficulties in life, true difficulties and painful moments most of us grumble because we can't think of something better to say. I have something better to say - it's the message of my Lord and Saviour so why do I join in this moaning? whoever said the Bible was out of date and irrelevant...I beg to differ 
As a Christian the challenge is to live this spurred on by Christ's strength and grace; as a human I beg your patience as I stumble and fail. Why do I write this? Well I could just blog; and probably grumble, however perhaps this might encourage someone to live a more pleasing life to God, and thus bring Him glory; or perhaps it might just challenge a preconception about Christianity. Either way I pray God uses it as He will.
In Christ x
