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Postured: Resources for Doing Everything Without Grumbling

Postured: Resources for Doing Everything Without Grumbling

Last updated on: November 3, 2026 at 10:47 pm by Jeff McLain

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Postured: Resources for Doing Everything Without Grumbling 2026-11-03T22:47:38-05:00 Jeff McLain

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Photo by Orkun Azap on Unsplash. Postured: Resources for Doing Everything Without Grumbling.

It is not uncommon for a church to spend a lot of time explaining what it believes, what it teaches, what it preaches, and how faithfully it understands Scripture. These things matter. In such a time as this, good doctrine matters greatly. However, we must also consider how we treat others as followers of Jesus. This too matters greatly. Our witness is shaped just as much by how we treat one another.

In my last post, I explored Philippians 2:12–18 and Paul’s instruction to do everything without grumbling or arguing. In that passage, Paul writes, “Do everything without grumbling or arguing” (Philippians 2:14, NIV). At first glance, this might seem like a simple instruction about having a better attitude. But Paul is getting at something much deeper, a richer prophetic witness for us as followers of Jesus. Paul describes the kind of community God is forming and the kind of witness that community offers the world. Our words, attitudes, frustrations, and relationships all contribute to the picture of what it means to follow Jesus. Check out my last post to study that passage and the way it calls to be “postured” in the world in greater detail.

Throughout this POSTURED blog series, we are exploring seven passages from the letters of Peter and Paul that invite us to consider how we live, speak, and respond to the world around us. The central question remains: What is shaping us?

I am convinced these seven passages offer seven postures that followers of Jesus should embrace today. My hope is that these reflections and resources will help you spend more time with Scripture and consider what it means to live faithfully as followers of Jesus.

The Postured Sunday Morning Series

This blog series also reflects the POSTURED Sunday morning series we are doing at River Corner Church, a simple community of Jesus followers rooted in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The vision for this series is to explore seven passages from the letters of Peter and Paul that call followers of Jesus to live, speak, and respond to the world differently. Through Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit, we want to be shaped into people who reflect Jesus’ character and embody the values of his kingdom.

You can listen to the message, Do Everything Without Grumbling or Arguing (Philippians 2:12–18), wherever you find podcasts. You can also watch the message on YouTube.

Resources for Philippians 2:12–18: Grumbling, Arguing, and Our Shared Life

As part of this POSTURED series, I want to share resources that help us spend more time with these passages and consider how we can live out the postures Peter and Paul call us to embrace.

My hope is that these resources will help you reflect more deeply on Scripture, encounter different perspectives, and consider what it means to follow Jesus faithfully in our time and place.

Here are a few resources to help you spend more time with Philippians 2:12–18 and consider what it means to live without grumbling or arguing.

Watch: Glow in the Dark! — Philippians 2:14–18, Skip Heitzig.

I appreciate listening to other pastors and teachers work through familiar Scripture passages. In his sermon, Glow in the Dark!, Pastor Skip Heitzig offers another perspective on Paul’s words in Philippians 2:12–18. Listening to another sermon can help us notice aspects of a passage we may have overlooked, challenge our assumptions, and think more carefully about how we understand and apply Scripture.

Skip points out that this way of living is meant to make us stand out, to glow in the dark. Skip says, “And the world, as they’re watching our lives, we must therefore not blend into them, but stand out from them.” I agree. That, not a good habit, is what is at the heart of this passage. Skip continues, he wants us to “be different enough that they appreciate that difference, that it does something for them, it leads them out of darkness, you shine as light.” I appreciate Skip’s view on these verses, and I would love for you to explore them.

As you listen, consider what stands out to you about Paul’s call for the church to shine in the world. What does it mean for our shared life to be a visible witness to God’s goodness?

Read: Anger and Health Risk Behaviors — National Library of Medicine.

Our attitudes and emotional responses affect more than our immediate circumstances. They undermine the image of God we carry and work against the fruit God longs to bring forth in, with, and through our lives for the Kingdom of God. However, grumbling and arguing have practical, tangible effects. Such a way of life can influence our relationships, decisions, and even our physical well-being. This research offers an opportunity to consider some of the broader consequences of anger and the ways our internal responses can shape our lives. As you explore this resource, consider how unresolved anger, frustration, and resentment might influence the way you relate to the people around you. What might it look like to bring those things before God rather than allowing them to become our normal way of living? Read an article on these dangers from the National Library of Medicine and find many related medical reports.

Read: What Chronic Complaining Does to Your Mind and Body, According to Psychologists.

Complaining can become a habit. What begins as an occasional expression of frustration can gradually become the lens through which we see our circumstances and the people around us. We can lose ourselves and our relationships to it, and work against God’s call on our lives.

This resource offers another perspective on the effects of chronic complaining. Consider how often our conversations focus on what is wrong, what we dislike, or what we wish were different. Paul’s instruction in Philippians is not simply about avoiding negative conversations. It invites us to consider what kind of people we are becoming and how our habits contribute to the life of our community. Read the Article on Yahoo Health.

Read: How to Conquer the Grumbles — The Gospel Coalition.

This resource brings us back to the heart of Paul’s instruction. How do we resist the temptation to grumble? How do we cultivate gratitude and contentment rather than continually focusing on what frustrates us? The Gospel Coalition has a helpful resource, How to Conquer the Grumbles, that you may find helpful. In this article, Michael Herrington argues that grumbling reveals where our hearts are focused: on our own desires and our own kingdoms rather than God’s. Learning to resist complaining requires humility, recognizing our self-centeredness, and following Jesus’ example, who humbled himself and put others first. When we stop grumbling and submit our attitudes and actions to God’s kingdom, our lives become a visible witness to a different way of living in the world.

I appreciate resources that go beyond telling us what to stop doing and help us consider what we might cultivate instead. Following Jesus involves more than avoiding certain behaviors. It involves allowing God to reshape our hearts and teach us a different way of living.

Explore: Bible Verses About Avoiding Quarrels.

Spend time exploring what the broader Scriptures say about our words, disagreements, anger, and relationships. Philippians 2 is not the only place where we find instruction about how we treat one another.

Proverbs 15:1 — A gentle answer can turn away anger rather than escalate conflict.
Proverbs 15:18 — Patience calms quarrels, while a hot temper stirs up conflict.
Proverbs 17:14 — Stop disagreements before they grow into something more difficult to resolve.
Proverbs 20:3 — Honor lies in avoiding unnecessary conflict.
Proverbs 26:20 — Gossip fuels conflict, while refusing to spread it can end an argument.
James 1:19–20 — Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.
James 4:1–2 — James challenges us to examine the desires and motivations behind our conflicts.
Romans 12:18 — Make every effort, as far as it depends on you, to live at peace with everyone.
2 Timothy 2:23–25 — Avoid foolish arguments and respond to opposition with kindness, patience, and gentleness.
Titus 3:1–2, 9 — Avoid quarreling, practice gentleness, and avoid unproductive controversies.
Ephesians 4:29–32 — Use words that build others up and practice kindness, compassion, and forgiveness.
Romans 14:19 — Pursue what leads to peace and mutual encouragement.

Consider reading these passages alongside Philippians 2:12–18. What themes do you notice? What do they reveal about the kind of community God desires to form among his people?

A Few Thoughts on Grumbling

C. S. Lewis offers a particularly challenging reflection on the danger of allowing grumbling to become a defining characteristic of our lives. This is a point I have come to appreciate. He writes:

“Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others… but you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself, going on forever like a machine. It is not a question of God “sending us” to hell. In each of us there is something growing, which will BE hell unless it is nipped in the bud. ” – C.S. Lewis

Lewis’s point is worth taking seriously. Grumbling can become more than an occasional response to frustration. It can become a habit that shapes how we see others and the world. We can become so accustomed to finding fault that gratitude, contentment, and generosity become increasingly difficult.

I think this matters especially when we consider the church.

We can know our Bibles, understand our theology, attend worship, and participate in the life of the church while still letting our attitudes undermine the very things we claim to believe.

We can be more concerned with winning an argument than preserving a relationship. We can spend so much time talking about what is wrong with our church, our neighbors, or the world around us that we lose sight of the grace we have received.

Paul reminds us that God is doing something among us. He is forming a people who shine like stars in the sky, a community whose shared life points toward something different.

What would it look like for our churches to become known less for their complaints and conflicts and more for their gratitude, generosity, humility, and love?

That is a question worth sitting with.

What Is Posturing You?

As you work through these resources, I encourage you to return to the central question of this series: What is shaping us?

Our habits, relationships, conversations, frustrations, and desires all influence the people we become. We can confess that Jesus is Lord while allowing other voices and influences to shape our priorities, attitudes, and relationships.

In Philippians 2:12–18, Paul reminds us that God is at work in us, both individually and communally. We are invited to participate in that work, allowing him to shape our desires and actions so that our lives together reflect the character of Jesus.

Take some time this week to revisit Philippians 2:12–18. Read it slowly. Pay attention to Paul’s connection between God’s work in us, our responsibility to live faithfully, and the witness we offer to the world.

Consider these three questions:

Where have grumbling, complaining, or arguing become regular patterns in your life?
How might your words and attitudes be affecting the people and communities around you?
What is one practice you could cultivate this week that would help you become more grateful, generous, and gracious toward others?

Perhaps a relationship needs attention. Perhaps a conversation needs to happen. Perhaps you need to spend more time cultivating gratitude or learning to see the people around you through the grace God has extended to you.

We are not simply trying to become nicer people. We are allowing God to form us into a community that reflects Jesus’ goodness. May we become a people who shine like stars in the sky, whose words and actions point beyond ourselves, and whose shared life makes the goodness of God’s kingdom visible to the world.

Walk out the way. Live the life God has prepared for you.

Again, this continues the conversation from Postured: Do Everything Without Grumbling or Arguing. And also our series at River Corner Church:

If this post resonated, subscribe for future reflections, share it with a friend, or leave a comment. You can learn more about his journey to recover a rooted Christian way of life through the Lord’s Prayer, ancient habits, leading a quiet life, and simple Jesus communities online at JeffMcLain.com, the Lead a Quiet Life blog on Patheos, or the Discovering God Podcast.

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About Jeff McLain

Jeff McLain is a Doctor of Ministry Student on the Lord’s Prayer at Kairos University, Director of Pastoral Ministries at Water Street Mission, and a pastor at River Corner Church. Mobilized by 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Jeff blogs about recovering a rooted Christian way of life through the Lord’s Prayer, ancient habits, leading a quiet life, and simple Jesus communities. You can read more about the author here.

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