“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” (Philippians 2:14-15)
I have a hard time understanding this teaching.
I assume it’s because I love to do both of these things … complain and argue … probably more than most people I know.
How often am I saying, “This is wrong!” and “You are wrong!”?
A lot. Trust me.
And so I begin to deconstruct it:
What then, is everything?
Do we assume this is an absolute?
What then, is complaining?
Do we never say anything negative?
Instead, do we choose to live a false life because we’re ignoring the obvious elephants in the room?
Where then, is there room for speaking the truth, even if it is in love?
What then, is arguing?
Instead, do we agree to never disagree?
Where then, is our responsibility to do what is right?
So then, is this a matter of degree, a discernment and not a yes or no?
Maybe it’s ok to gently point out flaws, but it’s not ok to complain.
Maybe it’s ok to offer a different opinion, but it’s not ok to argue.
When a teaching calls for discernment, more work is needed.
This then, is why we must renew our our minds, so that we will be “able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)
This passage holds the answers to the questions I asked: “so that you may become blameless and pure … in a warped and crooked generation.”
The test of complaining and arguing is found within and without.
If complaining and arguing come from an impure heart, they go against this teaching. It is a difficult thing to unravel the motives of the heart! Impure motives are the seed of self-deception.
The other test: blame from others (including God). This is also a difficult filter to apply.
When we are indistinguishable from the warped and crooked generation (Philippians), we have also conformed to the pattern of the world (Romans). In this, the teaching is clear: we are called to be different from the world.
So then, when you complain and argue, do so from a posture of purity and ensure that you remain blameless.