WITHOUT GRUMBING OR DISPUTING

Php. 2:14-15a ... "Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God."

      The church is sometimes called a "community of believers." A community is a group of people who share or participate in something in common. In the case of the church this happens to be the conviction that God is real, that He has revealed Himself to us through inspired Scripture, that He sent Christ to be our Savior, that He has given us a law to govern our lives, and that He has given us citizenship in His kingdom which is eternal. All who hold this conviction and make the proper response thereunto are citizens in this "community of believers." The activites of sharing or participating in this common faith constitute the norm of Christian behavior. This norm, however, is not one which is set by those who participate, for the church is governed by God and not by man. Paul informed Timothy, his young  assistant, "I am writing these things to you ... so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth," (I Tim. 3:14-15). This statement indicates that there is a defined way in which Christians must conduct themselves as members of a Christ-centered community and that this way is revealed in the Holy Scriptures. Those who reverence God and strive to please Him will mark this way and publicly submit their conduct to it. And since that conduct is the outward expression of one's attitudes, they will first of all submit their will to the will of God. The statement to Timothy concerns our conduct as members of the "household of God," and our response to it will go a long way toward determining how strongly we are committed to being the community of believers who make up the Lord's church.

     The integrity, health, and strength of a congregation is impaired in direct proportion to the degree of personal disaffection that arises within it. Grumbling and disputing are the result of the individual preferences and desires contrary to what are held in common by the body as a whole. In other words, these detrimental activities within the church spring from individuals who elevate themselves above the group, esteeming their own condition, feelings, and ambitions as superior to those of others. We read of such an individual in the early church in III John 9-10: "Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say ... unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren ... and forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church."

      Such attitudes and practices constitute a violation of the Christian principles of fellowship and love. In I Cor. 13 we are taught that love "is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly," and "does not seek its own." A heart filled with love will therefore not grumble when its own preferences are not chosen as the mode for the group. The same text also proclaims that love "is not provoked." Therefore, it does not dispute when it meets resistance to what it urges. The fellowship that should prevail in the church requires the surrender of personal considerations to it, or it will not long be true fellowship. To insist on one's own goals at the expense of the welfare of others is a denial of the common sharing that is the essence of fellowship. When "grumbling or disputing" arise wthin the church, it exposes the body of Christ to reproach by those who are without. Those who engage in these negative actions also weaken themselves to a point where they are exposed to spiritual harm. In fact, as the closing phrase of the lead text indicates, they imperil their identification as "children of God." In the long run, he who surrenders his personal desires to the good of the church receives in return blessings far greater than those he has willingly sacrificed. Such a person truly exhibits the attitude (or mind) of Christ," (cf. Php. 2:5-8).