“Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life.” – Philippians 2:14-16a
Are we in a crooked and perverted generation? Yes! Therefore we must confront this reality that as followers of Christ we’re required to be blameless, pure, and faultless. And we have to do EVERYTHING without grumbling and arguing. That’s a tall order!
As the world crumbles, we must commit to proclaiming Christ by our words, actions, and character. We must shine the light of Christ by our good deeds so that people will take notice and praise God. When every temptation and frustration of the world is calling for us to just slide into our culture’s ever-growing cesspool of complaint, bitterness, and ugliness, we must resist forever. We are to be faultless – beyond reproach in the eyes of the world.
That’s true in our homes, on the road, in the office (or on Zoom), on our phones, and on the internet. All this sounds impossible in such a frustrating and maddening time. It is impossible if we rely only on our own strength, virtue, and self-discipline. We will fail in our humanness, which is why Paul says we must do this by holding firm to the word of life.
We must hold firm to God’s Word, the Bible, and we must hold firm to the Word Made Flesh, Jesus Christ. We must embrace His Spirit Who lives within us, comforts us, strengthens us, corrects us, and transforms us. We are to be better than this messed up world around us, but only by the power of Christ within us!