Philippians 2:14-15 Do all things without complaining or arguments, so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.
In the chair I sit while reading the Bible I see my neighbor’s house. He has at the corner nearest me, a mulberry tree. I had some of these from time to time at my old house but none here, (so far!) A mulberry is a tree that seems to spring up spontaneously. It flourishes in all sorts of conditions. It’s almost impossible to eradicate. You can cut that tree to the ground, but it will come back if unattended. I suppose you could say one positive is it does provide a roosting spot for birds.
Paul said his generation was crooked and perverse. But I think he’d have the same assessment of ours. We have problems on every hand. Some things we have just too much of and others, shortages. But there never seems to be a shortage of complaining or arguments. We might describe both of those with the word contention. I think that contention could be the mulberry tree in the garden of life. It often appears spontaneously. We weren’t looking for an argument, but there we are. It doesn’t matter what the topic is. We sort of joke about politics and religion being lightning rods for contention, but really it flourishes in all sorts of topics. It is exceedingly difficult to eradicate contention. It takes not only effort on our part, but continued effort. And whenever an argument springs up, there are always those who stop by, like roosting birds, to see what’s happening.
Paul is not suggesting a better way of life. He is issuing a command. We must do all things without complaining or arguments and it will require our own efforts. This is not something God heals us of. When we get a handle on this area we will appear as lights in the world. Who can argue that we live in a lot of darkness? We need light! We who are the committed followers of Christ are to be that light. One sure way - stop arguing. (And don’t get me started on complaining!)
Blessings,
Pastor Russ
