Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned; behold, the Judge standeth before the door. James 5:9
There was an interesting, and very scriptural, rule at the Christian school where we sent our children: They were forbidden to complain. How much of our lives would change if such a rule were imposed on you and me? An anti-grumping rule would keep some of us fairly quiet, I expect. I have heard some people do little else with their tongues but to grumble and grouse about every little aspect of their day. If it’s not the weather, it’s the clothes they are wearing, or the noises and smells they encounter, or the food (even the tasty food is the wrong temperature for them), or the people they have to deal with. They object to everything that people do to them and for them. Our text says it is wrong to be that kind of person.
People who have a grudge against others, even if they hold it for a short time, are showing their lack of a good mirror. No, the person they are complaining about is not perfect. But the person doing the complaining is far from perfect as well, and they make very poor company (and they complain that nobody wants to visit them). A complaint is really an expression of dissatisfaction and a misquoting of Scripture (I have not yet learned in whatever state I am therewith to be content).
Who are we dissatisfied with when we complain? If we grouse about the weather, we are unhappy with God’s atmospheric handout for the day. If we complain about our family, we are unhappy with where God placed us on this earth. If we complain about other Christians, we are registering our dissatisfaction with those who God has saved and placed in His Assembly. Most complaints can be traced back to God as their target, although grumps would never dare say that.
The context of today’s text is the coming of the Lord. He’s not coming back to listen to our grudges! But He will deal with us for having them. -Jim MacIntosh