1 Corinthians 10:10 A complaint from my heart.

Part II

1 Corinthians 10:10 And do not grumble as some of them did–and were killed by the destroying angel.
I’ve come to the realization that complaining about others is not a good thing… It’s funny how I used to do this so much at other various churches, whether it be a leader, a congregation member, a youth, or just people around me. I realized that all it does is open up an opportunity to slander and take action such as  creating groups that become distant from someone, or factions in itself. I remember constantly complaining about a certain person at my other church. All this did was create pockets of people who boycotted everything this person did. Not only that, but the fact that we were complaining caused others to complain to and it just spread like a forest fire. I mean, it could have been in the hearts of a lot of people already, but the spark that flamed and fueled this place up was the complaint. Take the examples of the Pharisees in Luke 5 in the calling of Levi, the tax collector. This is how I picture that scene. These guys all look at Jesus and are thinking, “what the heck is this guy doing?” Then someone within the group says it out loud and they all agree and start questioning Jesus. In psychology, we learned that people become more bold in numbers (ever did anything really dumb with a bunch of friends that you would never do by yourself? 1 point for me). In this case, they didn’t go very far.

Although asking questions doesn’t seem to major, it can lead to it. When you complain, it hardens your heart towards the person. The Pharisees never really responded to Jesus’ word always questioning him, trying to trap him, etc. I remember that everything that my person said, I rarely listened to it, which is a blessing that s/he didn’t preach the word.

The reason why I share this, the reason why this is so convicting on my heart is because all I said was “What is this person doing?” rather than “What can I do to help this person?” It’s really funny how people put leaders on such a high spot that whenever it comes to the leadership, it’s all on them and that whenever they mess up, it’s all their fault. What we forget is that they are human, not Jesus. I mean, I do believe that leaders should be able to lead things (hence the word LEADer), but it only works if those who are following them help. I’ve come to know that very well and that complaining about what they’re doing wrong is a total disregard to Gal 6:2, Carry each other’s burdens. Yea, I really hope this person is reading this and if they are, Dude/dudette, my bad.

1 Corinthians 10:10 Part 1:Complain?

1 Cor 10:10 And do not grumble (discontentedly complain AMP), as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel. (Along side Numbers 16)
The story in Numbers talks about a group of leaders who created a faction against Moses about the leadership of the Israelites (which is one of the OBVIOUS acts of sinful natures Gal 5). In turn, Moses told them that God will choose he who is holy. An interesting thought is this. v9 talks about how these Levites rising against Moses was given many things, and yet they wanted more. Also, Dathan and Abiram was saying to Moses to the effect of “We have yet to receive what you promised us!” (v14) This goes back with yesterdays application. Are you content with what you have or are you going to complain about what you don’t have? Are you content with what you have received or do you focus in what you have not received?

Now the idea of complaining….(the context is to grumble or complain about the situation and what God has done but we’ll look ahead to the other complaints) I looked back on my life and asked myself, “why do I complain and what are the reasons and what happens when I do?”

I remember telling God many times:
1)Why don’t I have this certain thing?
2)Why do I have to do this thing?
3)Why do I have to go through this thing?
I see the error of my ways. The way I see it, what I’m telling God, just like the Israelites, is:
1)Why are you taking so long to give me what I want?  (Cause you know that the Lord will give you what you need [Matt 6:33/Ps 37:4])
2) Aren’t I the master and Jesus is my servant or aren’t I better than Jesus? (You may not be saying this to yourself, but you’re implying it. John 13:15 Jesus is washing His disciples feet and says “I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you.” The idea is Jesus laid down what He had, the power of God v3, and served his disciples. If you don’t like the idea of serving, always complaining when doing something, you’re implying that you are better than Jesus and that you are his master (v16a “I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master…” so you not wanting to serve is telling him I’m better than this.)
3) “I don’t want to be like Jesus. I don’t want to be what God wants me to be.” The reason why people go through trials is so that one can be stronger, more complete in their faith (James 1:2-4). (This is for the blog) I remember hearing people say, “Come as you are,” or “I don’t have to change to come to Jesus.” This is totally true…..up to a point. People tend to leave out the second half of this part. The reason why you would come as you are is so that God can turn you into what He wants you to be. He molds you, shapes you, and polishes you to be like Him. My pastor gave a really good illustration about the fire and gold mentioned in 1 Peter 1. An impure gold is placed in a furnace so that the impurities would rise to the surface. It would then be wiped off and placed in the fire again until the impurities are gone. Then they would rub something really irritating on it so that it can be polished with the final product showing a reflection of the cleaner. It’s the exact same thing in life. The fires, or trials, also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3, bring out the impurities in you. Have you noticed that when you go through crap, the real you comes out? Then you get rubbed by all the roughness in life so that you can reflect to others the one that polished you, God.
So this is the idea. If people say to come as you are, do you come that way every single time? If you were made Christian and you still “come as you are” from the first time you came, would God be happy? Don’t you expect growth from your children? Peter started off as a fisherman. Did he stay that way?

There will be a part 2. It’s interesting to write the blog at the end of the day. I realize how many times I’ve failed at what I’m trying to apply…

Isn’t it interesting that you don’t realizing that you’re failing until you already fail…?