Complaining: That Joy-Killing Sin

If someone asked you what is the most pervasive sin in the world, what would you say? Anger? Lust? Hatred? Sure, those are surely all high on the “Top Ten Sins” list, but I believe that higher still on the list is the sin of complaining. Indeed, if it’s not in the top spot, it’s certainly number two.

One of the problems with the sin of complaining is that it’s so universal that many among us aren’t even aware that it’s a sin. Everybody complains about stuff all the time. We are so surrounded by complaining that we hardly notice it, unless, of course, the complaints are directed against us.

However, let us not focus only, or even primarily, on what people think of complaining. We need to consider what God thinks about our complaining. It’s clear from passages like Numbers 11 and 14, Psalm 78 and 1 Corinthians 10, that God is not indifferent to complaining. He is very serious about it, so much so that He issues His church this command: “Do all things without complaining and contention” (Philippians 2:14).

God knows that complaining is an expression of our pride, and not only pride in general, but more specifically, arrogance against God Himself. Think with me. We Christians believe that God is sovereign: i.e., that in some way He controls our lives. Therefore, since we believe He either causes or allows everything that happens in our lives, complaining about what happens is an expression of our doubting His wisdom.

Puritan Thomas Watson, in a sermon on contentment preached in 1653, said, “Murmuring is no better than mutiny in the heart; it is a rising up against God. . . . The murmurer chargeth God with folly. This is the language, or rather blasphemy of a murmuring spirit: ‘God might have been a wiser and better God’ . . . Our murmuring is the devil's music.”

Do you see the subtle rebellion against God that Watson describes? Complaining is nothing less than demanding from God an explanation that suits our convenience and comfort. It is calling God to account for my expectations of how I think He ought to be and what I think He ought to do. St. Paul hinted at the danger of such an attitude when he wrote, “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” (Romans 9:20).

A century before Watson, John Calvin wrote, “As soon as God does not send what we have desired, we dispute against Him . . . but from what spirit is this pronounced? From a poisoned heart, as if we said, ‘The thing should have been otherwise.’ . . . It is as if we accused God of being a tyrant or a harebrain.”

Complaining is sin because it disputes the goodness of God and thus maligns His character. St. Paul wrote, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

You will be a more joyful Christian if you learn the secret of being free from complaining. We’ll look at that next Friday. Until then, “Rejoice in the Lord always! Again, I will say it: rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).

Next week: Out of Complaining into Joy