I mentioned yesterday that last Saturday my Verse of the Day was Philippians 2:14-16. That passage begins with a vital command. “Do everything without complaining and arguing.” The goal of that command is “so that no one can criticize you.” [NLT]
Unfortunately, that is one of those commands that often fall by the wayside. We are a culture that loves to complain and loves to argue and that cultural norm has at times invaded the church. I know I have fallen victim to it!
What makes this attitude even more horrendous is that persecuted Christians around the world think American Christians are living a miracle. (It is estimated that 380M Christians faced some form of persecution in 2025. That ranges from hunger, lack of medical care, lack of access to work or school, to imprisonment without a trial, torture, and martyrdom.)
I have been reading some of the testimonies of these persecuted ones. They marvel that American Christians can meet whenever we want to, that we can sing our music as loud as we want to, that we have access to Bibles (as many as we want in whatever format we want.)
While they suffer for Christ, I’m often complaining about how loud the music is – or something just as trivial. God forgive me. Amen & Amen