Written by Trey Morgan has written an excellent piece about complainers in the church. With his kind permission, I share it with you:
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SPIRITUAL TEMPER TANTRUMS
1 Peter 2:2-3 “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”What a great picture for those whiny Christians, who are in every church in America. They wear their spiritual feelings on their sleeves and whine about everything. Churches just can’t ever seem to get everything perfect enough for them and so they are never happy.
- The worship arrangements are just not what they think they should be.
- They have never liked one single preacher the church has ever hired.
- They are the ones that constantly cry, “So-in-so hurt my feelings (or did something I didn’t like) so I’m just going to quit coming to church.”
- “But we’ve never done it like this before.”
- They whine, “I don’t like the decision the church leaders made about this, so I’m withholding my contribution to show my displeasure.”
Come on people, it’s one thing for my six year old son to occasionally show his immaturity and stomp his feet or fall in the floor and throw a fit because he’s not getting his way. But when you’re an adult and STILL showing your spiritual immaturity by stomping your feet and saying, “Fine, you’re not my friend anymore, and I’m not playing with you again” something is wrong.
Unfortunately, churches everywhere are spending too much of their time trying to deal with these “two year old” adults and their spiritual temper-tantrums, instead of trying to reach the lost around them. When will we catch on that God says it’s about unity, growing up and becoming mature spiritual adults.
So my advice to those adults who are continually throwing these spiritual temper-tantrums because something isn’t the way you like it, is the same advice I tell my little boy when he throws a fit … “Grow up, you’re acting like a big baby.”
By Trey Morgan
treymorgan.net
I agree. We actually spoke on this topic at our Lifegroup on Sunday night however we also brought up other points. I don’t think complaining is good and neither is just being a doormat and never speaking your mind. It’s one thing to complain it’s quite another to speak up and offer a solution to something.
For example, it’s one thing to say “Preacher! It’s always too cold on Sunday morning at church. Can’t you fix that!?!!!” and quite another to just sit there and freeze every week. There has to be some middle ground.
Too many times people just dismiss an actual need or concern by saying “Oh, quit complaining!”. True, many of these people do need to get a life and do need to approach the situation in a more professional manner but too many times there is something that needs to be addressed but is ignored because it is deemed just a complaint.
I think communication is the key which, sadly, is lacking in many churches these days.
There is a difference between complaining from time to time and BEING a complainer. As Tim commented , there is a time to complain about some issues. But being a complainer is a personal trait – and choice. A complainer is looking for the “bad”. Dismissing all complaints is not wise – there are real issues to be addressed. However, coddling the habitual complainer is what many times hinders the real ‘church work’.
Boy did I need that this week. Thanks Trey and Jeff. I’m going to try to act at least 11 this week. No seriously, thanks for saying it like it is!
Thanks for the good post, Trey & Jeff, on complainers and the reminder to not be one! The same holds true in our everyday lives. We need to be positive people as Christians, not negative whiny ones all the time.
If you have a “real” issue or need, bring it up, but don’t go around being totally negative all the time.
That’s my take on it.
Dee
Good point Chaina. There is a big difference between being a complainer and complaining.