We are all prone to grumbling, aren’t we? Unless you were born with a sunny, effervescent personality that is perky and positive 24/7/365, you know that it is easy to switch to “grumbly mode” very easily. Sometimes it happens and we aren’t even aware that we are going down the rabbit hole. It happens to ALL of us.
Even to General George Washington.
“In a letter to his nephew, Lund Washington… General George Washington writes on September 30, 1776, of his displeasure with the undisciplined conduct and poor battlefield performance of the American militia. Washington blamed the Patriot reliance on the militia as the chief root of his problems in the devastating loss of Long Island and Manhattan to the British.
“In his letter, Washington wrote, “I am wearied to death all day with a variety of perplexing circumstances, disturbed at the conduct of the militia, whose behavior and want of discipline has done great injury to the other troops, who never had officers, except in a few instances, worth the bread they eat.” Washington added, “In confidence I tell you that I never was in such an unhappy, divided state since I was born.”
“… Washington … was unimpressed upon meeting his supposed army outside Boston upon his appointment as commander in chief of Continental forces in 1775. Just as the British had, he saw “stupidity” among the enlisted men, who were used to the easy familiarity of being commanded by neighbors in local militias with elected officers. Washington promptly insisted that the officers behave with decorum and the enlisted men with deference…
“Washington fought an uphill battle for military order until Friedrich, Freiherr von Steuben arrived at General Washington’s encampment at Valley Forge on February 23, 1778. The Prussian military officer commenced training soldiers in close-order drill, instilling new confidence and discipline in the demoralized Continental Army. Before von Steuben’s arrival, colonial American soldiers were notorious for their slovenly camp conditions. Von Steuben insisted on reorganization to establish basic hygiene, ordering that kitchens and latrines be put on opposite sides of the camp, with latrines facing a downhill slope. Just having latrines was a novelty to the Continental troops, who were accustomed to living in their own filth.”1
Grumbling to his nephew didn’t solve the problem any more than grumbling solves our problems. That doesn’t stop us from grumbling, though, does it?
In Acts 6:1, we read, “And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.”
A real issue had developed in the early church. Was it major? That’s hard to say. It could have been a matter of the Grecians getting their feelings hurt over something that was done unintentionally and they assumed the worst, going straight to “murmuring” as if that would fix the problem.
The word murmur in the original language is funny to hear. Phonetically, it is gong-GOOSE-mos. It means a secret debate; a secret displeasure not openly avowed. If there is a problem, what good is accomplished in secretly debating the issue? There is only one purpose behind that and it is to stir up support from others. In so doing, it creates division.
In Philippians 2:14, we are told to “Do all things without murmurings and disputings.” And 1 Peter 4:9 says, “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.” Grudging is the same in the originals as murmur.
Do problems exist? Do less than ideal situations present themselves? Absolutely! Will grumbling fix anything? NO. In fact, it will probably make things worse because murmuring always causes division.
Let’s learn a lesson from the Old Testament concerning this subject, a lesson referenced in the New Testament – 1 Corinthians 10:9-10. “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. (10) Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.”
1https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/september-30/washington-blames-militia-for-problems
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