Do All Without Grumbling
by Edwin Crozier
Paul has told them to do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but always view others as more significant. Then he told them to always obey, following in Jesus' footsteps. In Philippians 2:14, he wraps up this section with a surprising teaching.
"Do all things without grumbling or disputing…" (Philippians 2:14 ESV).
I can’t help but remember Jesus in Mark 9:19 complaining, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” (ESV). Since Jesus uttered a complaint when a complaint was warranted, I don’t think Paul means we are never allowed to complain about anything. If the food at the restaurant is not cooked properly, we may return it. If the service at the hotel is poor, we may fill out the comment card with critical feedback. In fact, Luke uses the same word Paul did for “grumbling” when he said in Acts 6:1 that a “complaint” rose among the Hellenist Christians against the Hebrews because of the widows being neglected. That complaint was warranted and led to a marked improvement in how the congregation conducted its work and cared for each other.
This leaves us wondering what Paul really means.
In the context of viewing others as more significant, like Jesus did when he left heaven and went to the cross, Paul is likely talking about our relations with one another. As Peter tells us to show hospitality without grumbling (I Peter 4:9), Paul tells us to serve others without grumbling about it.
The second term Paul uses takes some real care to apply properly. The ESV translates the word “disputing.” However, the word can simply mean thoughts (see Luke 5:22; 6:8; I Corinthians 3:20). Paul is certainly not telling us to do all things without thinking. That being said, even when dealing with thinking, the term seems to emphasize wrestling with thoughts. It is like the internal dialogue we have as we go back and forth in our own minds about issues. In fact, the Greek term itself is the one from which our word “dialogue” comes. When that dialogue becomes external between people, it is translated as “argument” (Luke 9:46) or “quarreling” (I Timothy 2:8). That seems to be Paul’s emphasis in Philippians 2:14, which is why the ESV translates it “disputing.”
This drives home the context of interpersonal relations. This is not just about each of us as individuals refusing to complain about things. It is Christians, as a group, treating others as more significant without grumbling against one another or quarreling and arguing.
The big deal is why. Because we are to shine as lights in a dark world, being blameless and innocent in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. The world is full of grumbling and disputing. We are supposed to interact with one another differently from the way the world does. Frankly, as I consider the discussions I see on social media (including my own participation in many of them), I’m not sure we do this very well. No doubt, sin must be rebuked (see Titus 1:9), error is to be corrected (see Acts 18:26). But even then, we must remember the “Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness” (II Timothy 2:24-25 ESV).
In all of this, we must hold fast to the word of life. Certainly, we are to hold fast to the inspired word of life. We are to know God’s instruction and follow it. But even more, we are to hold fast to the incarnate Word of Life, to Jesus Himself. By holding on to Him, the Philippians would interact with one another properly, and on the day of Christ, they would be those over whom Paul could be proud that he did not labor in vain. In that case, even if he does get executed, the Philippians can rejoice with him, and he can rejoice with them.
May we follow the same plan. May we learn to grow with one another without grumbling or disputing, even when we don’t always see eye to eye.
