Daily Thoughts from Philippians (12): No Grumbling, Only Shining – Philippians 2:14-16

I came upon this little bit of verse called YOUR GRUMBLING GOES WITH YOU:

There was a boy named Grumble Tone who ran away to sea, “I’m sick of things on land,” he said, “as sick as I can be; A life upon the bounding wave will suit a lad like me!”

The seething ocean billows failed to stimulate his mirth, For he did not like the vessel, nor the dizzy, rolling berth, And he thought the sea was almost as unpleasant as the earth.

He wandered into foreign lands, he saw each wondrous sight, But nothing that he heard or saw seemed just exactly right; And so he journeyed on and on, still seeking for delight.

He talked with kings and ladies fair; he dined in courts, they say, But always found the people dull, and longed to get away To search for that mysterious land where he would like to stay.

He wandered over all the world, his hair grew white as snow; He reached that final bourne at last where all of us must go, But never found the land he sought. The reason you would know.

The reason was that north or south, where’er his steps were bent, On land or sea, in court or hall, he found but discontent; For he took his disposition with him everywhere he went.

(Morgan, Robert J.: Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000, S. 393)

Paul is challenging this same disposition in his readers.

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, ESV)

The particular ways in which the humility Christ demonstrated can be worked out in the salvation given the Philippians and given to us is the cessation of grumbling and disputing.  We have all seen how the murmurings of even a few can discourage us and create doubt and disloyalty among us.  And when we grumble and dispute it is usually because we feel helpless to change what we feel needs changing so we resort to being a squeaky wheel.  And we seek to get others to be squeaky, too.  But this is not the way to change things.

Paul is showing us that we must recognize our higher priority, the shining as lights among a dying and dark generation that needs the word of life held forth and exemplified by us.  They need to see the way we love one another (John 13:34,35).  They need to see that unlike them we don’t selfishly cling to our own preferences and split from one another over it.  Instead, we see ourselves as children of God whom He has adopted for the very purpose of using us to help rescue others.

Paul adds a personal motivation to the Philippians.  He wants to be proud of them at the judgment.  He doesn’t want his efforts to disciple them to be in vain.  He is ever looking toward that Day of Christ, the day when Jesus returns to establish his kingdom on earth, to judge the unbeliever and reward the believer, and to complete the work He started in us.  Paul has invested in the Philippians and wants to see them work out their salvation with unity behind the gospel.  We too have people who have invested in us.  Are they proud of us, or have we given them reason to think their efforts were in vain?  Are we considering others more important than ourselves?  Are we rejoicing in the gospel and working for its advance?  Or are we caught up in petty squabbles?  How bright is our light?

Discussion Questions for Small Groups

1. What is one of your biggest pet peeves?
2. Have you found yourself grumbling and/or disputing because of this pet peeve?
3. Do you want to be “blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation”?
4. What would make your light shine all the brighter in this dark world?
5. Who would you make proud if your light shone that way?