(upbeat music) - Pastor John, you said something happened to you recently as you were studying the Bible for yourself and you wanted to share it here and ask Pastor John, please explain for us what happened. - Well, it was on the Lord's day, I'm sitting on the front porch and just trying to enjoy Philippians chapter two, which is one of the richest chapters there is.

It begins with have the same mind among yourselves and don't do anything from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves and don't look just to your own interests, but to the interests of others and have the mind of Christ. And you know what that means?

He didn't hold on to his outward manifestations of deity, but empties himself and becomes a slave and a servant and dies for us and rises. And so work out your salvation with fear and trembling. And then I got to verse 14 of chapter two and the Lord really convicted me.

I was on the point of tears, really. If I suppose if I'd let myself go, I would have cried all the way, but on the ring of tears because it says, do all things without grumbling or disputing. And I've read it a hundred times, more than a hundred, I'm sure, without it having this effect on me.

Grumbling is another word for complaining or murmuring. That word disputing is the word that, it's dialogus mois, it means reasonings or thoughts. And so what I think it means is complaining is usually accompanied by all kinds of rationalizations. As soon as I get frustrated or angry or disappointed or irritated at something, and I start feeling like, oh, maybe this is not good, my brain kicks in with unbelievable rationalizing.

So when he says, do all things without grumbling or reasonings, he doesn't mean reason is bad, he means this kind of reasonings that the heart that's unbelieving and self-defensive is producing, that's what's evil. And here's what sank the arrow deep into my heart, because the next verse says, that you may be blameless.

Now, there's do everything without grumbling, Piper, stop being a complainer, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world. And I thought, my light is my doing things without complaining.

So if I'm a complainer, I put my light out, and I live in a crooked and twisted and dark generation, what do they need, complainers? That's what they are. Well, what good is a complainer? My light goes out, and I thought, then I just, I stepped back and I said, now, why is that?

What's the light that goes out when you complain? And the light that goes out is the light of his power. I'm saying by complaining, God wasn't strong enough to stop this thing I'm complaining about, or the light of his wisdom goes out. He wasn't smart enough to keep this out of my life, or his goodness.

He just wasn't, he doesn't have my best interests at heart, so he lets this thing that I'm frustrated about come into my life. And so the longer my complaining goes on, the more I put out the light of his strength and the light of his wisdom and the light of his love.

And that just landed on me, Tony, with tremendous conviction. And I had to go just pleading to the Lord, have mercy upon me. Oh God, I'm just seeming to be wired to complain. I see faults everywhere I look, and I don't want to be this way. I want to be a joyful person, an affirming person, a hope-filled person.

And so I embraced afresh, as we must do every day, the gospel, ask for forgiveness, and took heart that in his mercy, this chapter is written precisely, not just to leave me there in my sadness and my misery, but to say, he really is bright. He really is light.

He really is strong and wise and good, and he can help you not murmur. So I think the way I would close this little confession is to just ask people to pray. I mean, if they're saying, yeah, me too, well, fine. I do pray for you 'cause I don't know who you are, but you know who I am now.

And if you're a Christian, you have some little teeny responsibility to join John Piper in praying that he wouldn't put his light out by complaining so much. - Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you for listening to this podcast. Email your questions to us at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org, and you can visit us online at desiringgod.org to find thousands of free books, articles, sermons, and other resources from John Piper.

I'm your host, Tony Reinke. Thanks for listening. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)