Unbelief In 140 Characters Or Less - Philippians 2:14-15 Series

Philippians 2:14 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—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

Introduction

I’m going to admit something to you that will shock you. I don’t use Twitter. I know you are stunned to hear that, because when you think of me, I know the first two words that come to your mind are “hip” and “trendy.” So you’d think I’d be all over social media, but I’ve just never understood the purpose of Twitter. What could you possibly say that’s worthwhile in 140 characters or less? So I just never got it … until last week. I went online and just read some tweets, and it came to me. I finally get it. The purpose of Twitter is very simple: Twitter is a platform for celebrities to complain about how difficult their lives are. I read about how miserable it is when you have a bad experience with your private jet, or when your limo driver doesn’t do a good job, or when you’re having trouble selling your Ferrari. Or when you’re stuck on a yacht in paradise without a jet ski. These are the kinds of tweets that go out from the celebrities. It’s amazing how much they complain. Every time they get a sore throat or a stomach ache or even chapped lips, they have to get on Twitter and announce it to the world.

“Just stubbed my toe”

“Bit tongue during dinner.”

A lot of them were just two words: “I’m sick.”

“I’m tired.”

“Sore foot.”

Here are a few others:

“i hate xmas cause everything is closed i need excitment in my life ive been so bored recently…”

“I'm so sleepy...why is it time to get up?!?!” (Can you imagine being too tired to get out of bed, so with the little bit of strength you have, you reach over and get your phone and send out a tweet complaining about it?)

“I hate trying to spread cold butter on a slice of bread…” (The project is just so laborious, he has to take a break from the meal and type out that complaint out on his phone.)

“i hate when hotels dont have … movie menues.”

“Packing for this week is giving me so much anxiety.”

“i hate when they put olives in salads that still have pits in them” (The horrors that some of these people have to live through.)

“I have a headache I'm tired and I'm cranky. I want a nap and I want tortilla chips.”

“I have a piece of quinoa stuck in my throat.”

“my canon printer says it has no paper but it does”

This one might be the most painful of all: “I lost my selfie stick.”

So the way Twitter works is you sign up to follow these people. That way, if one of them gets a runny nose, you don’t have to be in the dark about it.

Isn’t this amazing? These are the people in our society who have it all. They can buy anything they want, they’re famous, they are admired by millions, they have power and influence, they live in the most extreme luxury imaginable, and they incessantly complain. Our whole culture essentially worships a bunch of whining crybabies.

But aside from the celebrities - we all do this. I don’t have to look at anyone’s Twitter feed. If I want examples and illustrations of complaining, I don’t have to go any farther than my own heart. We are a complaining culture.

A Function of Selfishness

It’s actually not surprising that the wealthiest people among us have a problem with complaining, because complaining is a function of selfishness. And so the wealthier the culture, the more self-absorbed people are, and the more complaining there is. As a culture gets wealthier, family sizes get smaller, and kids grow up in a situation where the family revolves around them.

“What would you like for breakfast?”

“What do you want in your lunch?”

“You don’t like that?

OK, I’ll just take it off your plate and get you something else.”

Whenever he gets bored, one of his parents will be a playmate for him. If he has soccer practice or needs to go somewhere, mom will chauffeur him all over town. And so he grows up thinking the world revolves around him. You grow up in a family with 6 or 7 kids, you look at your diner and say, “I don’t like this,” one of your siblings says, “good,” and takes it. If you need to go to soccer practice your mom says, “There’s your bike. It’s snowing, so don’t forget your jacket.” The family doesn’t bend to fit your needs; you have to adapt to the system. Now, some of you have small families and you’re doing a great job. But the natural course in a wealthy culture is for a child to grow up thinking that happiness comes when all his impulses are satisfied. And he doesn’t know how to have joy when he gets into the real world and the world doesn’t bend to accommodate his desires and impulses. So he complains.