THE CANCER OF COMPLAINING
The complaining spirit…. let’s talk about this. What is it? How do you know if you have one? What should you do about it? First, let’s recognize that complaining is as natural to the sinful state of man as air is to the lungs in your body. It’s one of the fruits of the original sin and it is a stain that has endured to this very day. A thoughtful reading of Scripture, especially the Psalms, will also reveal that it can be a very healthy and right response to complain sometimes. So how do we know when a complaint has morphed into a complaining spirit? That’s what I want to talk about.
A complaint is a lament about perceived wrongdoing or injustice. The Bible is full of complaints and instructions about how to complain well. The prophets complain that their message isn’t heard. Moses complains that his tongue is not eloquent, in fact even Jesus complained that His people were hard-hearted and slow of hearing, lacking faith. A whole book of the Bible is devoted to a righteous complaint! Ever take a read through Ecclesiastes? At the same time though we are warned to avoid a complaining spirit. So we can say there is a clear difference between a complaint and a complaining spirit.
What is a complaining spirit? A person possessed by a complaining spirit will find a reason and cause to complain about anything. If someone tries to address the complaints with proposed solutions, those entreaties will be brushed aside as inadequate or the counselor will be dismissed because “he doesn’t get it”. And the complaining will continue apace. The complaining spirit is not interested in solutions, it is interested in professing its own rightness in its own eye. If you in love try to confront this in a brother, you run the risk of being turned into a new source of fresh fodder for the complainer to use.
How is a complaining spirit developed? Generally speaking, a complaining spirit is a symptom of the cancer of complaining infiltrating and infecting the heart of a person. A past hurt, injustice, or abuse that was left unresolved can leave a laceration in the soul, infected with bitterness that can poison the heart. A complaining spirit is a fruit, the root is bitterness. A complaining spirit is a symptom, the pathology leads to a diseased heart. Cancer is an apt metaphor, complaining spreads like cancer. A sentence here, a phrase there, a byword is spoken and can act like radical cells that plant in the minds of others and germinate a new complaining spirit in the heart of others.
Am I infected? There are some simple diagnostic questions you can test yourself with. First, is your general disposition one in which you are quick to find fault in others? Do you rehearse past hurts presently, repeatedly? Do you feel empowered by complaining? Do you reject counsel and solutions provided by others who have heard you? Do you feel a personal offense when someone removes your justification for complaining about someone or something? These may all be signs that your heart is infected with, battling against, or consumed by the cancer of unrighteous complaining.
Get to the Great Physician! Deadlier than Covid, a complaining spirit is lethal. Joy, peace, contentment, righteousness, and holiness all wither where ever the poison gas of complaining is released. Consigned to the small world of self-rightness, the person infected with a complaining spirit will see relationships wither and fellowship diminish. Most importantly, God does not work with people who have a complaining spirit. The power of his presence, the experience of His blessing, and significantly diminished in the heart of the person who is open to all the schemes of the devil which are designed to feed a complaining spirit. Only self-recognition through self-examination and repenting before the throne of grace can save a person from having their entire life consumed by a complaining spirit.
What’s the Risk? If you didn’t catch it in the paragraph above, God cannot work with a complaining spirit. That’s the biggest risk because it opens up the possibility of self-deception. Empowered by complaining a person can convince themselves they are “in the Lord” or “doing his work” by “exposing darkness” or “discerning the truth about others”. Just to be clear here, if it can be done without the presence and blessing of the Lord, then it isn’t the work of the Lord. The man infected with a complaining spirit is in grave danger of “having a form of godliness but without its power”. What is more terrifying than to think you are doing the work of the Lord, in the Spirit of the Lord, only to find out too late that you devoted your life to hay and stubble instead of building an enduring legacy that will follow you into heaven?
Test Yourself! Please don’t read this and then just move on. We are in desperate need of men who will engage in self-evaluation, who will allow the Spirit to humble them and in that place of healthy lowness receive grace and mercy like water to nourish anew the fruits of the spirit which are like Chemotherapy to the cancer of complaining. Where love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are found, the cancer of complaining stands no chance and the door on satan is slammed shut because the God of glory dwells in joy-inspiring fellowship with the man whose heart is gripped by grace, not consumed by the cancer of complaining.
Guard Yourself! You can’t wear a facemask to present the spread of complaining but you can take some steps that will guard you against this infectious disease. Preventative medicine is the best, cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Get humble stay humble, for grace flows like water to the lowest point. Stop a conversation with a complaining person, you’ll prevent greater sin from occurring. Always remember you are not required to meet with or entertain the conversation of a complaining spirit.
Permit a Moment of Honesty - you don’t want to be in a fellowship of complainers, and I don’t want to lead an association of complainers. It’s no fun for anyone where there is a spirit of complaining. So let’s come together before the throne of grace for ourselves and one another, and seek restorative grace. If we need to complain about a problem or circumstance, we can be assured we are complaining the way the Lord intends. Where there are problems, they need to be addressed, and they can be addressed with the fruits of the spirit according to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.