Shine among them like stars in the sky
Philippians 2:14-16 - The most important thing that we can do to stay on the path with Jesus is to trust in Him and stop our complaining.
Photo of NGC 281 © 2024, Steven Sande
“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.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.”
Philippians 2:14-16 NIV
We live in a world of grumblers.
We complain about the weather, the government, our lives. We whine when gas prices go up, then complain that they’re not going down fast enough. We grumble about social media posts; we grumble about getting more spam email than legitimate email. We carp about bland food or food that is too spicy. We have complaints about church services being too long, too short, not relevant, incomprehensible, or filled with too many songs we can’t sing. We bellyache about our fellow Christians, that they’re not righteous enough or too self-righteous. The list of things we find fault with is endless!
God doesn’t want us to grumble or complain, as Paul is telling us in today’s verses from his epistle to the church of Philippi. That’s not to say that God’s people haven’t complained since Adam and Eve first became aware of evil; the Old Testament is chock full of continued grumbling. In Exodus, God had to listen to the Israelites whine about not having food, so He gave them manna. Then they complained about manna, so He added quail to their diet. They still complained. Exodus 16 alone has 17 (at least in the NIV translation) references to the words “grumble”, “grumbling”, and “grumbled”! It’s been unending, and God’s patience has been infinite.
Charles Spurgeon once said that there were three things we should never rail against — 1) God’s providence, 2) one another, and 3) the ungodly world. The first is fairly obvious when we look at it — even in the worst possible conditions (example: sick, starving and about to die in a concentration camp), God has kept us alive from birth up until the most recent millisecond and has showered us with His love.
The second is so difficult for us to follow, but do we ever realize that by criticizing one another we are criticizing one of God’s creations, and by extension, God? As for the third thing Spurgeon mentioned, we should understand that God created everything in that unrighteous world as well and it fell from grace with no blame or fault to Him!
I love this one comment by Spurgeon found on Enduring Word regarding the second item in his list. He said:
“Dispute not with God; let him do what seemeth him good. Dispute not with your fellow Christians, raise not railing accusations against them. When Calvin was told that Luther had spoken ill of him, he said, ‘Let Luther call me devil if he please, I will never say of him but that he is a most dear and valiant servant of the Lord.’ Raise not intricate and knotty points by way of controversy.”
How do we benefit from abstaining from “grumbling or arguing”? Paul tells us that we “may become blameless and pure”, then quotes from Deuteronomy 32:5 in describing the resulting Christians as “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”
The next verse is pure poetry from Paul: “Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” The stars are countless, bathing the universe with unending light even in the seeming darkness of night. The light of Jesus should shine through us as an example to the ungodly world, to bring comfort and cheer to all we encounter, to guide others into the light of righteousness, and to act as a light to illuminate the darkness of the world so that others are made aware of it.
Pauls’ final verse sounds a little odd coming from a man who preached humility: “And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.” It’s apparent from this line that he was troubled by the thought that his work might end up being in vain. Since his work relied on people, if those people didn’t grow in faith and love in the Lord, he felt his ministry would have been pointless.
The apostle looked forward to “the day of Christ”, and he knew that he could only be assured that his life’s work was fruitful if the Philippians remained steadfast in their walk with the Lord. Paul is likely not worried for himself, but for others. As a true shepherd, he was concerned primarily for his flock. He not only wanted to have his own relationship with God to be on good terms, but yearned to see others walking in the Lord.
The most important thing that we can do to stay on the path with Jesus is to trust in Him and stop our complaining. It’s also probably the most difficult thing we’ll ever have to try to accomplish.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father, I confess that being a sinner, I tend to complain and grumble much too often. I know that by doing so, I’m demonstrating a lack of belief in You and showing pride in my own abilities and aptitudes. I pray that You work within me to take every thought in each moment captive to Christ, letting You help carry my burdens in Your care and love for me. I ask this in the name of Jesus, AMEN.
Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.
Commentary quotations from Enduring Word are used with the written permission of the author