That being said, however, there is a real
problem within the church of Christ. And that is that the language of the
world, that constant complaining attitude, has filtered into the church to such
an extent that it is hard to distinguish where one ends and the other one
begins. All too often we hear Christians complain about their health, about
their finances, about this or that perceived slight, and on it goes. Rather
than taking to heart the repeated exhortations of the New Testament to not be
anxious, but rather to pray, we forget prayer and instead complain about what
we find ourselves incapable of influencing.
I'm sure you've heard, and may have said it
yourself, the parent that tells his crying child that if he continues to carry
on, he will give him something to cry about. Well, it may be that in the not
too distant future God will give us something to truly complain about
(although, of course, complaining even then will be sinful). It is obvious that
the world, which is always hostile to the church, is becoming more and more
emboldened in their hostility and disdain for the church. Not only are the
governments of the world and people at large becoming more hostile to all
things Christian, but even so called "Christian churches" are
increasingly becoming like the world in their mad rush to "win" them
over.
Compare all this to the apostle Paul. Of
course, Paul is what you would call the poster child of the suffering
Christian. In 2 Corinthians 11, he catalogs a litany of persecutions and
problems that he encountered in his work for Christ. The event that gives the
name to this column was one of those persecutions. During his missionary trip
to Philippi, he was arrested and imprisoned for casting a demon out of a girl.
While in the prison, having his feet in stocks, he and his companion, Silas,
begin to sing praises to God. And earthquake subsequently comes about that
changes the whole trajectory of the event, as Paul and Silas are released the
following morning. But the point of the whole event, though was the fact that
even in such a situation, Paul and Silas were found to be singing praises to
the God whom they knew had ordained the very troubles they were
experiencing.
In conclusion, what we as believers should learn from this event is the fact that we truly need to "shut up and sing." Rather than continue to complain and carry on because our TV (one of five or six) doesn't quite have the pristine and clear picture that "we deserve," or any number of other such silly issues, we should rejoice in our salvation. We should rejoice and be grateful that God has seated us in the heavenly realms with Christ. And we should rejoice that our lives and everything that takes place in them is working to bring glory to God and to help us become more like Christ. Rejoice, for your redemption draws near!
