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“凡所行的，都不要发怨言，起争论， 使你们无可指摘，诚实无伪，在这弯曲悖谬的世代作 神无瑕疵的儿女。你们显在这世代中，好像明光照耀， 将生命的道表明出来，叫我在基督的日子好夸我没有空跑，也没有徒劳。” 腓立比书 2:14-16
腓立比书二章5节，保罗鼓励我们“当以基督耶稣的心为心”。只是我们常常陷入一个困境：比起披戴基督的谦卑和顺服，我们常常以“发怨言”和“起争论”来面对生活的种种。上一回提到保罗在12-13节中鼓励信徒操练并展现出基督的样式（做成得救的工夫），这里，保罗直面对抗一种不顺服的态度：当事情不按我们的心意进行时，就怨声载道；当别人的意见不与我们相合时，就起冲突争论。这两种态度是一个信号：我们在生活的某些方面，还不能全心全意来信靠天父。13节提到，天父向我们心怀美意，并且在我们的立志行事中带领我们。
经常抱怨的人以自己的需要和舒适为出发点，常有未能实现的预期使他们失望，总能感觉有人在亏欠他们。如此，即使是神的新的工作的开始，对他们来说也难以接受，因为偏离自己的预期和熟悉的方式。喜爱争论的人以自己的视角和观点为出发点，把持不同意见，特别是相反意见的人当作对手，愿意花时间与神和教会抗争；为了赢得争论，往往忽略了与弟兄姊妹彼此相爱的诫命，与神的关系也出现问题。抱怨者无法与处境际遇和好，争论者无法与弟兄姊妹和好，两者最后都难免落入试探，在这弯曲悖谬的世代里失去喜乐和平安，失去基督徒的光盐作用。
那些愿意从抱怨和争论中脱离出来的基督徒就不至于如此。从抱怨和争论中脱离出来，谦卑自己，接受神借着环境对自己的陶造，是在耶稣基督里成长以致成熟的开始。13节告诉我们，神对我们的生命怀着美意，有时候神正是借着不甚美好的环境在我们里面开始并成就他的工作。抱怨和争论显明我们想要倚靠自己的理解和方式，而不是信靠神。15-16节告诉我们，控制住自己的心思和舌头，不发怨言、不起争论，对于成为“无可指摘，诚实无伪”的基督徒是必要的。这个时代弯曲悖谬，各人任意而行，而神无瑕疵的儿女将如明光照耀，将得“圣洁”为赏赐，并将生命的道表明出来。光明与黑暗，你往何处去呢？是就光，还是就暗呢？若是立志在这世代中保持洁净如明光照耀，先从停下抱怨和止息争论开始吧。要知道，这是属灵健身房的操练项目之一。
Philippians 2: 14-16
Just as in verse 5, we are called to a Jesus attitude, many fall prey to another attitude which substitutes the Jesus attitude of humility and obedience in our lives: complaining and arguing. After verse 12-13, encouraging the believers to work out and display the Jesus attitude in their lives, Paul immediately confronts the greatest challenge to Christian obedience: our complaints when things do not go our way, and our insistence on arguing when our opinions are not valued. We struggle against these un-Jesus like attitudes whenever we mistrust the Father who in Verse 13 says is directing our spiritual training, and working in us.
Complainers only seek to meet their own needs and are unwilling to leave their comfort zone. They live in a world with unmet expectations and their disappointment leads them to believe that someone owes them. They thus find it hard to accept God's new work in their lives because it is so different from their prior experiences. Arguers see things from only their own angle and treat all other perspectives, especially opposing one, as the enemy. They spend their time combatting God and his church, failing to love their fellow brothers and sisters and failing to love God because they want to win their argument. The end result: Complainers cannot reconcile with their circumstances and Arguers cannot reconcile with their brothers and sisters. Both end up in temptation, both find themselves without peace and joy in a perverse world.
But the man who is able to free himself from complaints and argument to accept God's moulding finds new growth and maturity in Jesus. Complaining and arguing causes us to rely on our own understanding and less on 'God's purpose and his will' (verse 13). Verse 15 and 16 tells us the result of obedience without complaint or argument, 'we shine like stars'. We have the reward of holiness, in a world which trains its residents in perverseness and evil. Based on these three verses, where are you headed? Are you moving closer to the light or closer to the darkness? If your answer is light, it is time to stop complaining and arguing, and start accepting God's training.
（图片来自网络）
