Dr Paul Allen

What kept the children of Israel out of the promised land after being miraculously delivered from Egypt ? It was a spirit of rebellion, which was fueled by an attitude of unbelief, which in turn was fueled by a persistent habit of grumbling and complaining. And so, one whole generation of Israelites wandered aimlessly in the desert for 40 years because, rather than being worshipful and thankful, they chose instead to grumble and complain. Can we learn from their mistakes? A Pattern of Complaining Looking back to the book of Numbers , we see this pattern unfold clearly in the space of four chapters. In Numbers 11 the children of Israel grumble and complain about the food the Lord was supplying for them. In Numbers 12 , Aaron and Miriam grumble and complain about the woman their brother Moses married. In Numbers 13 , 10 of the 12 Israelite leaders come back from spying out the promised land full of unbelief and fear. (For the record, can you remember any of the names of the 10 ...

In Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s excellent book  Choosing Gratitude , she makes the point that we are either whining or worshiping. Our natural, sinful state makes us prone to see what we lack, what we don’t have, and what’s gone wrong in our lives. Complaining is often my default response. Just the other day I noticed how even though I’d had a relatively good day, as soon as my husband walked in the door after work, I talked about the kids’ after-school squabble, our little guy’s potty-training accident, and did I forget to mention the freezer isn’t working right? Often the things that pour off our tongues to others can be complaints of things not going our way or how we’ve been mistreated by others. We’re a rights-oriented culture, and if we don’t get what we think is rightfully ours, we storm off in anger or despair. Often, we slip on the sins of entitlement and discontentment down the slope to anxiety and depression. We can become surrounded by dark thoughts and unmet exp...

Do everything without murmurings, complaining, disputes and arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.( Philippians 2:14-15 ) The Holy Spirit makes sure that we do not take lightly the obligation to live godly lives. This “list” contains both warnings and promises. Everything is to be done without “murmurings” and “disputings.” Both words are very interesting synonyms of heart attitudes that produce ungodly behavior. The Greek word translated “murmur” is goggusmos, and it is almost an onomatopoeia (sounds like what it actually is)—a secret debate, muttering to oneself. The “dispute” (Greek dialogismos) suggests a logical debate with oneself. We are commanded to remove that kind of behavior from ourselves so that we may well be blameless and harmless as the “sons of God,” living “without rebuke.” These words are powerful in their description of God’s expecta...

Let’s examine the edges of sinful complaining and what makes it so heinous a sin.  Phil 2:14 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.” The scope of the command is breathtakingly panoramic: all things. And no, the Greek affords no wiggle room . All things means all things. It is literally just as sinful to kvetch about trivial problems (like the weather, or traffic, or volume of the church music, or your spouse’s snoring, or the paucity of serious presidential candidates) as it is to vent about serious issues like the threat of terrorism, or the diagnosis of a terminal illness. Does this mean that any and every observation about a negative situation is a sin? No, that’s not what Paul said to the Philippians… THE SPECIES OF GRUMBLING Paul mentions two species of complaint: grumbling and disputing. In Greek grumbling is the word γογγυσμwv / gongousmōn. It’s an onomatopoeic term that refers to indistinct sounds of muttering or murmuring. So forbidden grumbling is not lodgin...

The joy-sapping sin of complaining: Phil 2:14-15 “ 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 .” Understanding that sedition is a form of rebellion , which spreads easily, the two reasons that complaining is so seditious are found in this passage… A. COMPLAINING IS CONTRARY TO GOD To God, our complaining about a situation he has allowed into our life is offensive. Because of Jesus’ death, we are in a relationship with God, he is our Father, we are his children, he loves us and he provides for us. To complain about what he has handed to us is to slap away the gracious hand of providence. Grumbling is saying that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is not sufficient to bring me joy, I also need the right weather, spouse, finances, health or job in order to be joyful. When you grumble about the traffi...

I’ve been reading through the book of Exodus again. When I look at all that Moses went through as a leader, it tends to make me feel a bit better about my own challenges. This time as I read I paid close attention to every time the Israelites grumbled against or argued with Moses in the early days of their exodus from Egypt… and it was a lot! But here is what is interesting to me… each time they grumbled or argued with him, Moses went to God. He didn’t argue with them. He didn’t try to reason with them. He didn’t try to explain himself or his decisions. He didn’t try to make them happy. He went to God. Moses got what I often forget – He knew that he was simply an instrument for God. Moses understood that he was leading these people for and with God. I get this wrong all the time. I’ve never considered myself a people-pleaser, and yet if I’m honest, I feel a whole lot better about my leadership if people like me and like how I’m leading them. Moses didn’t seem to care what p...