Lighting the Room || Philippians 2:14-16 || Manna for the Mind #4

Welcome to Day 4 of my “Manna for the Mind” devotional series! This series takes a passage of scripture (typically 1-3 verses) and builds its understanding through its context and connecting scripture. Doing this helps us understand what the Bible truly teaches us. 

Philippians 2:14-16

14        Do everything without complaining and arguing,

15        so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as Children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked perverse people.

16        Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.

How do you represent Christ? How do you represent the church? How do you represent yourself? If all people see is arguing, complaining, and gossip, then they will get a false impression of who Jesus is and what the Bible is about. Suppose you often complain and argue with everyone who crosses your path. In that case, you don’t have the unifying power that Jesus wants you to have. We need to STOP arguing with each other. We must QUIT complaining about people and conditions within the church. (That hit hard.) We NEED to patiently work on our issues. When we argue and complain, we point out the issues we most likely struggle with. What causes us to argue or complain about something is a trigger of a separate, deeper issue within ourselves. Our belief in Jesus is supposed to unite those around us, but if it’s causing strife, anger, and complaining, then something is up.

Our lives should be characterized by moral purity, patience, and peacefulness. Are your morals pure, meaning are they without corruption or anything to make them wrong? Are you a patient person, meaning are you willing to suffer until the resolution comes? Are you full of peace, meaning do you live a life where you deal with strife with a smile and optimism? These things are ways to let God’s light shine in this dark world. It demonstrates the power of God’s word. Shine your light for God and allow it to illuminate your social circle.

We’re going to look deeper at verses 14 and 15. Before I get into those connecting scriptures, let’s do a word study on complaining and arguing because they can be subjective terms.

The Greek word for complaining is goggusmos (gong-goos-mos’), meaning a muttering or a murmuring. It comes from the same root word, gogguzó (gong-good’-zo), meaning to mutter or murmur. It describes a grumble that shows smoldering discontent. It’s going under your breath, speaking in a low drone about something you don’t like. If you’re curious about your complaining tone, see if you sound like cooing doves. This word is an onomatopoetic term that sounds like it.

The Greek word for arguing is dialogismos (dee-al-og-is-mos’), meaning reasoning. It discusses confused reasoning, especially in reinforcing others in discussion to remain in their initial preconceived opinion (not based on reason or actual experience.) It comes from the same root word dialogizomai (dee-al-og-id’-zom-ahee), meaning to consider. This word is a compound word: diá (thoroughly) and logízomai (reckon or add up). It means going back and forth when evaluating an argument in a way that typically leads to a confused conclusion. This word implies one confused mind interacting with other confused minds, further confusing each other.

Complaining means to grumble about something that you don’t like. Arguing means going back and forth about something that leads to further confusion. With that in mind.

1 Corinthians 10:10

10        And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death.

We start to grumble (complain) when our attention shifts from what we have to what we don’t. How true this is. The Israelites didn’t notice what God did for them – from setting them, making them a nation, to giving them a new land – because they were so wrapped up in what God wasn’t doing for them. Their complaints often lead them back into the hands of their enemies. They suffered, prayed, and asked God to rescue them from the situation that stemmed from their complaints. He did since our God is a loving, gracious, and forgiving God. We see this cycle continue over and over in the Old Testament.

Don’t allow your unfulfilled desires to cause you to forget the gifts God has given you, such as life, family, friends, food, health, and work. How often do you get caught up in what you want? It could be a new job, a new car, a new house, a new relationship, or a new moment that someone else is living on your social media feed. It happens more than you want to admit. Focusing on our wants often makes us forget what we have in front of us. We strive for what life will be like in the future instead of living in the present. We hope for new friends who do extravagant things instead of those we’ve enjoyed for years. We work hard for a new job only because of a pay raise instead of being grateful for where we are today and how much time and effort we’ve put into our current position. Don’t allow our wants to let us forget what we have.

John 12:35-36

35        Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going.

36        Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.

If John’s audience walked in Jesus’ light, they could become “children of the light.” It would reveal the truth about God and point people towards him. We are to be the light bearers of Christ, letting his light shine through us to the community.

I’ve heard it said that Christians are to walk about in a way that should attract others towards us. This is a picture of what Christ’s light should be like in us. Yet, it can be challenging to understand how this works. This is an analogy that, even for me, is hard to wrap my mind around. Something about the image and any explanation doesn’t provide clarity. Yet, Ephesians 5:1-2 gives us an explanation of how this works. It’s helped me understand what it means to be a light bearer.

Ephesians 5:1-2

1          Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

2          Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

We imitate God by modeling our lives after Jesus. We learn about Jesus. We try to understand how he lives, which is by God’s standard. We see how he acted and how he talked. His great love for us leads him to sacrifice himself so that we might live.

Our love for others should be just as Jesus’s is. A love that goes beyond affection to self-sacrificing service. A love that goes beyond care and compassion and turns its way into helping by any means necessary. It’s staying up late hours to have difficult conversations. It’s taking a friend who’s been isolating themselves out to dinner or bringing it to them and staying in with a good movie. It’s shoveling your neighbor’s driveway after a big snowstorm. This is what it means to be self-sacrificing in a way that Jesus was for us.

We’re not to complain. We’re not to argue. We’re to live a life that honors God and brings glory to him in all ways. We’re to be Christ’s light-bearers to the world and reflect the image of God to them. Let’s pray.

Father God, we thank you for everything you do. We may not do it daily, weekly, or even monthly. Still, the gratitude we have for the gifts and blessings you’ve given us and the life within us is beyond words. Help us to stop complaining and arguing. It doesn’t help. Help us to seek to understand. Help us to shine our light on the situation. It’s in your name; we pray. Amen.