Complaining as a second language
With Pastor Timothy Porter
Philippians 2:14-15
Introduction:
Today, I want to give you a few reasons to stop complaining. Now, there are plenty of reasons not to complain, and you may be thinking, I know the first reason, “Because God said so.” Well, God did say so, and that should be enough,We could say amen right there and go home. I’m going to go a bit further, I am going to speak on the topic of "Complaining as a second lanuage" and show you the consequences of complaining.
*** STAND *** READ *** PRAY ***
Complaining is like a second language! We all speak it fluently and sometimes don’t even notice when we’ve slipped into it. We complain about the weather, our jobs, traffic, the lines at the store, lack of parking, the cost of gas, the school system, the Rec. coaches and the list goes on. And even after all our complaining, we don’t feel any better; we usually feel worse and so do the people around us.
I have noticed over the past several days that complaining is a huge problem not only in the world but in the church and unfortunatley in the home, so to have a home like God desiers us to have the complaining must be stopped.
Here we are in this room of complaining: It needs remodeling bad! It's a mess! We need a General Contractor - when it comes to Home Improvements Jesus must be the G/C
Answer some important questions about complaining:
1.) Is complaining always wrong? 2.) What is complaining? 3.) What does God think about it? 4.) How does it affect those around us?
I.) Complaining Turns Your Light Out
Philippians 2:14-15 (NLT) “14 In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can speak a word of blame against you. You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people. Let your lives shine brightly before them.”
Stay away from complaining and arguing.
I want you to know, if you complain and argue, someone can “speak a word of blame against you.” What does that mean? It pretty much means that if you complain, the person who hears you can rat you out, tattle tell on you.
If you complain, you’re not being a very good example. The Bible says to: live clean, innocent lives in a dark world and to let your lives shine brightly before them.
Brightly before who? Who are they (them)? The people living in the dark (the lost and undone, your family, you husband, wife, childern, friends co-workers.
?How can you shine like a star when all your conversations are full of complaining?
?How can you be a night-light for someone living in a dark room when you complain every ten seconds?
?How can you lead your family and be an example when all you do is complain?
?The answer is You can’t.
You can’t show somebody the good news when all the news you speak about is bad. You can expect your childern to be godly childern a speak accordingly like they are supose to when all they hear is complaining from Mom and Dad! You can't expect your pastor to be all excited and in a good mood when all he hears is complaining from you. Its draining, it makes his light go dim and it must stop !
? Nobody likes a complainer. Nobody wants to be like a complainer or around a complainer. Why not? Because a complainer is always negative.
What is complaining? We may know it by different terms -- such as griping, grumbling, whining, or belly-aching. In the KJV Bible, the common term used was “murmuring.”
But regardless of the word we use to describe it, complaining always has the same symptoms.
The dictionary defines it as “an expression of unhappiness, dissatisfaction, or discontent.” Complaining is the outward expression of discontent from within.
What does the word complain mean? Complain means in the Greek to grumble, whine, whimper, protest, object to, disapprove of, criticize, or make a fuss. An inner rebellion that defies God to His face and disputes His right to rule. That’s not a very positive definition. Why do you complain?
Illustration: How many of ya’ll have ever had bad service at a restaurant? How easy is it to complain about it? (I am as guilty as anyone in this room) It’s pretty easy. I mean, we’ve all been there. But suppose your waiter/waitress has had a horrible day and can’t seem to get anything right? His/her world is so dark, he/she can’t see their hand in front of his face. What kind of attitude is going to light up their world? An encouraging one, or a complaining one?
?Listen to waht the Bible says about this: Luke 6:45 (NKJV) 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
What we say reflects what’s in our hearts. Complaining, whining, and grumbling are rooted in an attitude of ingratitude.
People who voice their thankfulness for blessings big and small “shine as lights in the world.”
Listen to me Church! God has called every born again Christian to be a vessel for Him to shine a light for Him, be His light. So to be His vessel we have to be like this Pizza Box
Illustrate The Pizza Box: Let's say you ordedred a pizza and the pizza delivery guy showes up rings the door bell and you open the door and there he stands with your pizza but it is not in a box - it is just in his hand - I mean the cheese is ozzing all over the place and the grease is dripping off of his elbo and you are thinking where has that hand been what in the world is going on talking about a reason to complain! Your question to him is where is the box?
You were expecting you pizza to be in a (vessel) or a box. Now what you need to understand is the box, is only worth .37 its not very vaulable but it takes on a very important role, because of what is placed in it. The box gives no value to the product, it is the product that gives the value to the box!
So we, as saved childern of the most high God are vessels (the box) and Jesus is in us so therefore we should shine ~ We shouldn't complain because we sang the same song 3 weeks in a row! (Jared knows what he is doing trust him)
Don't whine b/c we meet over here on Wed. evening ~ trust me I am obeying God there is a purpose for it and that is to let our childerns worship expand!
It's not about you or me we are just .37 boxes that need to shine in a dark world to hurting people! The only way to do that is to be empty and clean on the inside! So we can be filled with the Holy ghost! Quit whining and start shining!
because complaining turns out your light.
II.) Complaining Gets You Nowhere
Do you remember when you were a child and you hated a certain food? How many of ya’ll still hate that food? Well, when you were a child and you had what ever it was you didn't like on your plate, did you have to eat it? I had to clean my plate or no dessert. And I wanted those brownies or coconut cake. It didn't make any difference if I said, “Mom, I hate broccoli, it’s so gross”? My mom didn't say, “Oh, I’m sorry, honey, I forgot; Have a brownie instead of your broccoli”? No way! She said eat the broccoli of no coconut cake! My complaining about the broccoli didn’t get you anywhere.
Well, just like complaining about your broccoli when you were a child didn’t get you anywhere, complaining about something today won’t get you anywhere. So, really, complaining is pointless, a waste of breath, a corruption of words. It defies a holy God! It will not advance the Kingdom of God one inch.
?In Matthew 20, Jesus told the parable about the 5 o’clock people.
Let me break it down for you. Early one morning around 6 am, a landowner went out trying to find people to work at his farm. He found some and told them he would pay them a hundred dollars for the day’s work.
At around 9 o’clock, the landowner went out again and saw other people standing around doing nothing, so he said, “Come and work for me and I’ll pay you whatever’s right.” So they went.
The owner went out again around noon and 3 o’clock and did the same thing. Then at 5 o’clock, he went out again and found still more people standing around doing nothing. He asked them why they had been standing there all day doing nothing. They told him it was because no one had hired them. So, he hired them and they went out to work his land.
At quitting time, around 6 pm, the owner sent for all the workers to come get their pay.
The five o’clock people came up and he paid them 100 dollars, so the people who worked from 6 am expected to get more than that. But they, too, were paid 100 dollars. When they got their pay, they started complaining. They said, “Wait just a minute here, buddy! These guys here only worked for one hour and you paid them just as much as us and we worked for twelve hours! This just ain’t fair and we ain’t taking this garbage!”
The owner said, “Hey fellas, I’m not being unfair to you. Didn’t you say you would work for 100 dollars? Take your pay and leave. If I want to give the guy who was hired last the same amount I gave you, can’t I do whatever I want with my own money? Or are you upset because I am generous?”
Well, let me ask you something? When the 6 am workers complained to the owner, did they get more money? When the 6 am workers complained to the owner, were they treated better? Did their complaining get them anywhere? No, it didn’t, and it will not you.
?Complaining is displeasing to the heart of God - . Because it is a statement of discontent about your life: Numbers 11:1 (NKJV) 1 Now when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; for the LORD heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.
When you complain you are drawing a circle around your life. And, when you take a look inside your circle you say? This is not good!
Something somewhere in you life went wrong and you have never delt with it so you complain because that's all you know how to do. Maybe it went wrong in mom or dads life and all you have heard is complaining and that's all you know.
Today is the day to deal with it give it to God. So that you can move forward. You must resist the temptation to look for the negatives in your life. A complainer seems to just seek to find the negative in everything. Seek Postive
You must understand that when we complain it is a sin that is displeasing to God.
because complaining gets you nowhere.
III.) Complaining Holds You Back
?Go with me back in your mind to way back B.C. With Moses in the book of Exodus 14 , We are with the Israelites. We’ve just crossed the Red Sea, now we’re in this huge track of woods (wildneress), and we’ve been out here for three days without water. All of a sudden, we come upon a pool of water, but the water’s bitter and tastes nasty, so what do we do? We complain.
Let’s voice our complaint. Everybody say, “This water’s nasty. Yuck!” Well, Moses takes a small limb from a tree and throws it in the water and the water becomes sweet, so we all get us a drink.
Now, fast forward a day or so. Now we’ve moved on and we’re hungry but there’s no food. What do we do? We complain.
Let’s voice our complaint. Everybody say, “We’re hungry! Give us some food! We should have stayed in Egypt because you brought us out here to starve to death!”
So, the Lord rains down bread from heaven in the morning time and sends quails to eat at night. And so we come up on this bread laying on the ground, and I look at you and I’m like, “What the heck is this?” That’s why we call it manna, manna means “What is it?” So we eat this manna and we’re satisfied for a while. But when we find out we have to eat it every day, what do we do?
We complain. We say, “In Egypt we had fish and steak. We had everything we wanted, but now we have to eat manna loaf, manna burgers, manna pizza and manna everything ! We hate this stinking manna.”
Ok, fast forward some more and now we’re moving through another large trac of woods and we’re getting thirsty and there’s no water. So what do we do? We complain. Let’s voice our complaint.
Everybody say, “Why did you bring us out here to make us thirst to death?” Well, we’re complaining and then Moses goes up to this huge rock and hits it with his staff and water comes rushing out. So we all get in line for the rock water fountain and quench our thirst. Well, it looks like our complaining got our needs met, doesn’t it? But that’s not what happened.
The Israelites’ needs were met in spite of their complaining, not because of it. God didn’t give in to their orders, he was merciful and he remembered that he had a covenant with his people. His whole intention was to take them to the Promise Land, a land flowing with milk and honey--not just manna and quail. God’s idea wasn’t for the Israelites to be circling the desert for 40 years, but it was their complaining that kept them out of the Promise Land. Have you ever thought that your complaining might just be the reason you can't enter your promise land? If you come to grips with your complaining maybe things would start happening for you!
?It not only held the isrealites back but it held their leader back! Your complaining holds your spouse back! Your complaining holds your childern back! Your complaining holds your boss back at work! Your complaining Holds your pastor back, Sunday School/Lifegroups back, Holds the Music Ministry back! Don't complain!
Their complaining held them back.
IV.) ALTERNATIVE: Watch your words and Praise the Lord
Go back to being a child again. You just called your Uncle Jimmy Joe a bad name. And your mom heard you. And her comment is, “If you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything at all.” That’s the truth, because anything bad that comes out of your mouth can come back to haunt you. It’s better to say nothing at all, than to keep talking negative. Speak Life not Death! Be and Encourager (Ron Corzine) your childern need to be encouraged not told they are always wrong, Men: encourage your wife, tell her she is beautiful and does a good job, Woman: you husband need encouraging, he needs to know he is appericated, Students: Your parents need encouranging from you they need to here thank you for all you do.
?Sometimes we complain about the way things are when we have nobody to blame but ourselves.We are not just victims of circumstance. We have the power to control what happens to us. But we need to do more than complain; we need to take action. How do we take action?
We just Praise the Lord! We focus on Him we realize that it is not about ourselves! We are just .37 boxes that need to be filled with the spirit of God! And shine in this dark world. We
We also need to confess this word means "to express praise, give thanks,exolt, make a plubic confession, make an admission."
The bible says: Deuteronomy 10:21 (NKJV) 21 He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.
CONCLUSION:
You’ve seen the consequences, complaining turns out your light, gets you nowhere and holds you back. You won’t get to where God wants you to go with a mouth that complains.
You must learn to stay positive even in difficult situations. In order to make more positive comments you must look for the positives. Where will you find them? In the Word of God.
Out West, a cowboy was driving down a dirt road, his dog riding in back of the pickup truck, his faithful horse in the trailer behind. He went to fast into a curve and had a terrible accident. Sometime later, a highway patrol officer came on the scene. An animal lover, he saw the horse first.
Realizing the serious nature of its injuries, he drew his revolver and put the animal out of his misery. He walked around the accident and found the dog, also hurt critical. He couldn’t bear to hear it whine in pain, so he ended the dog’s suffering as well. Finally he located the cowboy -- who suffered multiple fractures -- off in the weeds. “Hey, are you
okay?” the cop asked. The cowboy took one look at the officer with his pistol still in hand and said, “Never better, sir.”
Cure for Complaining
Readjust your Focus
1.) Stop looking for the negative
2.) Start looking for the Positive
3.)Focus on speaking the Positives
Complaining is so much more than just a way of talking, it’s an attitude thing. Instead of scrutinizing every situation, instead of searching for the worst, instead of finding something wrong, why don’t you change your attitude and search for the best in your situation and thank God that you have nothing to complain about.
Change your attitude and change your words, and you’ll change the course of your life. When you change your course , you can start changing your world around you.
You’ll be heading in the right direction, and you’ll get to where God wants you to go at the time he wants you to get there.
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We all speak it fluently and sometimes don’t even notice when we’ve slipped into it. We complain about the weather, our jobs, traffic, the lines at the store, lack of parking, the cost of gas, the school system, and the list goes on. And even after all our grumbling, we don’t feel any better; we usually feel worse and so do the people around us. Negativity is highly contagious.
Read This: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:14-15)
Think: Complaining is like a second language. We all speak it fluently and sometimes don’t even notice when we’ve slipped into it. We complain about the weather, our jobs, traffic, the lines at the store, lack of parking, the cost of gas, the school system, and the list goes on. And even after all our grumbling, we don’t feel any better; we usually feel worse and so do the people around us. Negativity is highly contagious.
In the Old Testament, Israelites had a reputation for being whiners. God had rescued them from slavery and promised them a land of their own. He provided water when they were thirsty and manna from heaven when they were hungry. Still, wandering in the desert for forty years was no picnic and they grumbled about the hardships. In Numbers 11:1 we read that “when the people complained, it displeased the Lord. When the Lord heard it, his anger burned, and so the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.”
God takes our complaints seriously. And by that I don’t mean he’s filing them in a priority box to make our lives more comfortable. On the contrary, Jesus taught that “the good person out of the good treasury of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasury produces evil, for his mouth speaks from what fills his heart” (Luke 6:45). What we say reflects what’s in our hearts. Complaining, whining, and grumbling are rooted in an attitude of ingratitude.
On the flip side of that, people who voice their thankfulness for blessings big and small “shine as lights in the world.” We’ve all heard testimonies of people who have experienced great loss and suffering, yet they were able to praise God in the midst of it. If we really want to stand out in this world for the sake of the Gospel, we need to stop complaining and open our eyes to everything we’ve been given.
Ask: Pay close attention to what you talk with others. What kind of attitude is reflected in what you talk about? People love to complain about things together. How can you respectfully flip a conversation heading the wrong direction?
Pray: Getting our hearts in line with God’s is the first step to changing what comes out of our mouths. Spend some time with God confessing the areas in life that you tend to complain about and asking forgiveness for not being content with what you’ve been given.
