Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
People like to grumble. We grumble at the car in front of us because it is not moving fast enough. We grumble at our children because they aren’t moving in the way we want. We grumble at our boss because he/she is asking to much of us. We grumble at our sports teams because they are not winning strong enough. We like to grumble. We even like to grumble in church. The donuts are not good enough, the music is not soft enough (or loud enough), the preacher is not entertaining enough, or the service is not short enough. When James writes the above line he is writing to people who are dispersed abroad. They were being so persecuted they had to leave their homes and find new places and new lands to live in. If anyone had the basis to grumble it would be them. Yet, James writes to them to not grumble against one another. There are almost 50 one another statements in the New Testament. Unlike this one, most don’t come with a negative motivator. This one says we are not to grumble against each other so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. Imagine if we thought every time we yelled at the car in front of us something happened to us instantly. Imagine if there was a cosmic-shock-collar for grumbling. Every time we grumbled we were shocked by it. It is not that James is insensitive toward their plight, or our problems. There are times when things are not going to go our way and we almost naturally grumble. But grumbling occurs because we do not like our current reality. Yet, our current reality was created by God. We are experiencing something God intends for us to experience. Note what James has just told this group of wandering and persecuted Christians:
James 5:7-8 (ESV)
Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
James gives the antidote to grumbling before he tells them not to do it. He tells them that God is in charge and we are to wait patiently for God’s plan to unfold. Like the farmer who waits for the crop we, too, are to wait patiently for the reality we are currently experiencing to unfold for His glory. The next time we feel like grumbling we might want to ask what God is doing and what seed is He planting into our lives to produce a fruit for His ultimate glory? James not only gives them this negative motivator, he gives them a positive example. He wants to them to consider the prophets that came before them who suffered and, yet, had patience. He does not mention a particular prophet but Jeremiah immediately comes to mind. He suffered but did so to proclaim the plans God had for Israel. The next time we want to grumble we should think of the negative motivator (we will be judged by God for it) and the positive motivator (others went before us with patience in suffering).
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