SHOULD WE BE GRUMBLING or COMPLAINING?

1 Corinthians 10:10 NIV (10) And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed by the destroying angel.

A dictionary defines the word grumble as “expressing a complaint in a bad-tempered way”.

I think all of us know what it means to grumble, or complain.  We do it everyday.  When things don’t go our way, or when we don’t like how we are being treated, we grumble, we complain.  And what really defines grumbling or complaining is the way we do it, and the words that we use. What we don't realize, as Christians, is how God detests grumbling.

The full passage of 1 Corinthians 10:10 was in reference to the Israelites, and how they were examples for us how NOT to live.

1 Corinthians 10:1-11 NIV (1) For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. (2) They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. (3) They all ate the same spiritual food (4) and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. (5) Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. (6) Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. (7) Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." (8) We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did--and in one day twenty- three thousand of them died. (9) We should not test the Lord, as some of them did--and were killed by snakes. (10) And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed by the destroying angel. (11) These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

God was not pleased with most of them.  What was it that God wasn't pleased with them, and should be an example to us today?  Idolatry, sexual immorality, testing the Lord.  And then verse 10 - "and do not grumble".

I believe we all know what it means to grumble, or complain!  We do it everyday!  We see it everyday in the world.  And it has never been so magnified than today.  We read it, watch it, in the news.  The news media like to focus on grumbling and complaining.  After a disaster they will report on the rescue efforts done to save people, but they will also show people complaining about how slow relief is coming, or what the government is doing.  During this pandemic there are so many lives that are being saved, so many good things happening around us, but the news will magnify the complaints of people – not that they don’t have valid reason to do it, my point is that what is magnified is the grumbling.

Social media has given every person today a platform to complain and grumble about everything and anything under the sun.  We post all our grumblings and murmurings, sharing it with everybody.  Sadly, even Christians are part of the scene.  Should we be grumbling and complaining?

Complaining and arguing has been with man from the beginning.

Genesis 4:3-5 NIV In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. (4) But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, (5) but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

The text doesn’t say that Cain was grumbling or complaining, but you can imagine, in his anger, what he was thinking, or even saying.

 It doesn’t become any clearer with the Israelites, as they were travelling to the promised land.

Exodus 15:22-24 NIV Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. (23) When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) (24) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"

 In verses 1-21 Moses had just sang a song about God’s deliverance of His people, parting the red sea.  The Israelites had just left Egypt, and were on their way to the promised land.

But the moment they lacked water they began to grumble.

When they lacked food, they grumbled:

Exodus 16:2 NIV In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

When they were thirsty again, they grumbled:

Exodus 17:3 NIV But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?"

 When they scouted the promised land they were about to enter, and so that it was very fertile, but also saw that the people who were living there were powerful and had to be driven away, they grumbled:

Numbers 14:2 NIV All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!

Even after the Lord had disciplined His people because of their sin, they grumbled:

Numbers 16:41 NIV The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. "You have killed the LORD's people," they said.

 

Again, and again, and again…they grumbled.

They did not take to heart what God had done, what He was doing, and where He was taking them.  All they saw was their own need, their own situation.

 Basically, this is why we grumble and complain, isn’t it?

Instead of seeing what our God has done, what He is doing, and where He is taking us, we focus on what we are going through, what we don’t have, what we want to have – and we grumble and complain.

In what we call the "sermon on the mount", when Jesus was teaching His disciples, He told them:

Matthew 6:31-34 NIV So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' (32) For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (33) But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (34) Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Notice how this is so related to the grumblings of the Israelites? What were the Israelites grumbling about?  What they would eat, what they would drink.

And even if they did not grumble about what they were wearing, it is evident that even if they wandered in the desert for forty years, their clothes did not wear out!

Deuteronomy 8:2-4 NIV Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. (3) He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (4) Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

They grumbled because they failed to see that it was God who was sustaining them, protecting them, providing for them, as they wandered in the desert.

Now, Jesus teaches His disciples not to do the same things.

(31) So do not worry, SAYING, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

When we say these things, we are grumbling, complaining.  What we don’t realize is that we are grumbling against our God.

(32) For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (33) But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

The first thing Jesus shows is how this is the life of pagans, who do not believe in God.  They run after these things. That's why all they do is grumble and complain when they are not able to have these things in their life.

We do not grumble or complain about what to eat or drink or wear because these are not the things we are running after!  Christians run after something greater, more fulfilling.

We run after God our Father, who knows what we need.  He knows, and so, we trust Him.  And if we just ask Him to open our eyes, everything we need is right in front of us.  It may not be as much as our neighbor has, but He provides.  So why grumble?

 We do not grumble or complain, because we seek His kingdom and His righteousness.

(33) But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

This is what we run after.  We seek Him, life under His reign, and the righteous life that He is worthy of.

And when we seek Him FIRST, then everything we need – what we will eat, drink or wear, He gives, provides for us.  So, why grumble?

So, before you allow the media to influence your thinking, before you are tempted to post your grumbling and complaining about life, step back and think - is this the life God wants you to be living?  Are these the words God wants you to be expressing to everyone?  Or is there something else that we need to be testifying to this world full of grumbling and complaining?

Philippians 2:14-16 NIV (14) Do everything without complaining or arguing, (15) so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe (16) as you hold out the word of life--