Sitting in a jail, just days before he literally is getting his head chopped off, Paul makes an unbelievable statement to Christians. “Do everything without grumbling or arguing” (Philippians 2:14). If you are thinking what I am thinking, Paul has every reason to grumble or argue. He was thrown in jail with false accusations…literally because he preached the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you know about the life of Paul, he started his career off so well. He was a top-level Pharisee meaning a leader of the Jewish nation. At that time, he was considered “a Hebrew of Hebrew”, a prominent theologian and lawyer. To the Jews, he was the man! Yet, here he is at the end of his life in a dingy, dirty, filthy jailhouse saying to all of us Christians to stop grumbling or arguing. Today’s world demands “real.” You don’t get any more real than Paul’s statement in his condition challenging us “not to grumble or argue.”
Additionally, Paul follows his above statement with this encouragement in Philippians 2:15&16, “so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life.” In other words, grumbling and arguing are indicators of your heart. If your heart is in alignment with God, you will not grumble and argue. Your life will “shine among the stars as you hold firmly to the word of life.” You will be lit up with God, “a child of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Wow!
So, your propensity to grumble or argue is an indicator of the condition of your heart. We are called to be a “light” to this world, choosing to allow the Holy Spirit to live out the life of Jesus in and through our lives. As the biblical passage above states, we live “blameless and pure” before our fellow man. If you think about it, a heart that does not “grumble and argue” is a heart that is grateful and thankful. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul declares that each of Christians are to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Let’s stop grumbling and arguing which blesses God and live His light out before our fellow man.
Barnabas Man 