“Christian surrender means the death of complaining.”
Gary Thomas, Seeking the Face of God
After more than two decades of full time youth ministry I was three days and one summer camp away from my first sabbatical experience. Burned out, beat up, and depressed I was asking God the hard questions about life, ministry and the Christian experience. I was at an all time low point in my life and had got myself so deep into a pit of despair I could not see the light that I knew was in font of me.
My spirit was at war with anyone who would punch back whether it was Shanna, the boys, friends, coworkers, or anyone driving too slow! Besides a “broom incident” with one of our custodial staff my most memorable attack focused on a good friend and the Business Administrator at out our church. Jeff is a trusted co worker and man of God who up to that point had a long history of going to bat for the youth department so when I went to get my per diem check for camp I was livid to discover that I had accidentally made the check out in my name instead of cash and Jeff informed me that because of my mistake I needed to return from camp with proof that none of the dollars spent went on me personally.
Have you ever seen a youth pastor try to collect receipts for a youth trip that covers over1600 miles with 85 high school students and counselors? Me either! This was an impossible request. Impossible I say until I came up with a diabolical idea. Not only would I collect receipts but I would COLLECT receipts to an amount that would far exceed the nearly one thousand dollars I was accountable for. I would collect thousands and thousands of dollars of receipts and then dump them on Jeff’s desk!
Unbeknown to him I had declared war!
I told you I was in a bad place.
So I followed through with my plan, went off on sabbatical and 8 weeks later returned a different man, in large part because of our verse for today. Jeff never said a word and I almost forgot about my diabolical plan. Forgot that is, until the morning I walked into my office and it was littered with receipts, hundreds of them-Taco Bell, McDonalds, The Hume Lake Store, Burger King, Starbucks, Subway, of course In and Out Burger!
Point taken.
I laughed out loud, proceeded to his office where I asked for forgiveness, told him my story and we both had a good laugh (along with a fairly awkward man hug), and we both raised the white flag of peace.
Complaining, you see, is a relational declaration of war with someone or some thing. Complaining is the outward response of a heart that is unhealthy. Someone once said, “Hurting people hurt people.” Jesus affirms this by saying, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned. (Matthew 12-34-37).”
Where there is complaining there is no peace. Since the opposite of peace is war and complaining is an outward symbol of a heart at war, then the “Complainer” as we cal him is nothing more that a man who lacks peace in his life.
Furthermore, complaining is the negative expression of a life not fully surrendered to Jesus Christ and subsequently not fully alive in Christ. So, as I sat on that back lawn on the Island of Lanai one week prior to the conclusion of my sabbatical I realized that my lack of peace and dedication to battling with men and God was nothing more that the fruit of a life that needed to re-surrender to Christ.
So I did-willingly.
The verse that brought this to life for me was Galatians 2:20 that powerfully states, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Jesus told us that, “By their fruit you will recognize them (Matthew 7:16)” and I do not know about you but I want to be recognized as a committed man of God and not another complainer in house of Church of God.
