FAITH MATTERS Grumbling Part Of Human Condition

GOD THERE FOR HUMANITY DESPITE TRIALS AND TESTS

In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall know the glory of the Lord, because God has heard your grumbling against the Lord.” -Exodus 16:6b-7a

I’ve been hearing a lot of grumbling these days. There was grumbling about all the snow and cold weather we had.

There’s been grumbling about the economy and whose fault it is, and whether governmental bailouts were a waste of taxpayers’ money.

But the most grumbling I’ve heard in the past few months has to do with the University of Arkansas basketball program and whether Coach John Pelphrey should keep his job or whether Athletic Director Jeff Longshould fire him.

Now, I’ll grant you that I’m an avid sports fan, which irritates some readers of this column, and I’m prone to associate socially with other fans who express their views about the Razorback program.

By very definition a “fan” exhibits emotions when his team loses as well as when they win, so to a certain extent grumbling comes with the territory. But as someone who considers herself a loyal fan, I take offensewith other fans who, in their grumbling, withdraw their support from the very team they profess to care so deeply about.

For those whose interests don’t include sports, I’m referring to those fans who complain about the UA basketball program and its coach and who not only don’t attend the games themselves but also encourage “the Razorback Nation” to rise up in mass and boycott games.

All of this grumbling reminds me of the Israelites on their journey out of Egypt. Some translations of the Bible use the word “complaining” rather than “grumbling” for the Hebrew word describing the actions of the people whenever they became discouraged. But to my ear the word “grumbling” connotes a much more belligerent attitude, which the story tends to convey.

Time and time again, eachslow period or time of testing in their trek through the wilderness brought out the very worst in the people, to the point that they were ready to abandon their God and worship a golden calf that they’d had Aaron, Moses’ brother, craft for them. And time and time again God showed great patience, although the calf thing almost pushed God past even God’s limits, and did result in a considerable amount of punishment.

I wonder how God filters the considerable amount of grumbling of God’s people today. And I don’t necessarily mean the grumbling about the basketball coach, although it would be interesting to hear God’s perspective about the inordinate amount of time and spiritual energy we humans spend on sports and other such entertainments.

The people of Israel grumbled to God, and to Moses and Aaron about God, and they grumbled about Moses and Aaron. Today we seem to just grumble in general, not necessarily ascribing to God any sort of responsibility or ability to intervene or attend to our discontent.

And I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing. I mean, certainly I’m not suggesting that rather than calling in to sports-talk radio shows complaining about a coach the caller should aim his (it’s almost always a “he,” so in this case the gender choice is intentional) ire toward God, but I do believe that a certain amount of prayer for all parties concerned couldn’t help but be benefi cial.

Perhaps the most discouraging grumbling is the grumbling that members of churches, or those who have abandoned church, do about the church itself, church pastors or others within the church.

Much like the people of Israel, it is easy to become caught up in discouragement during times of uncertainty, or times that are “testing” or “slow.” All too often the fi rst thought is to abandon the church, or even turn from God, rather than prayerfully stick with God’s community - the church - through the diff cult times.

What is most sad is that many who leave the church do so without exploring the possibility that their very emptiness is the source of their grumbling - an emptiness that only God can fulfi ll. And the church, though comprised of extremely flawed people, is still the Body of Christ and the means through which God’s Holy Spirit unites the followers of Jesus Christ.

I can’t say whether coaches, or pastors, or leaders of any other group should remain in the positions they currently hold. God’s Spirit is always moving and only God knows God’s own will and what is best for all concerned.

But I do know that abandoning a team, or a church, or another organization out of dislike for the leader isolates the person more than it hurts the group. The UA and its athletic programs will be there when those who have quit going togames decide to go back. Likewise, the seasons go on regardless of how much we grumble about the weather, and we may vote out politicians whose policies we don’t like but we’ll probablygrumble just as much about those we vote in.

And God will always be there for us whether we grumble to God, or about God, and even if we abandon him.

THE REV. LESLIE BELDEN IS A MINISTER OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (U.S.A.) AND PARISH ASSOCIATE OF FIRST UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN FAYETTEVILLE. CONTACT HER AT [email protected].

Religion, Pages 6 on 02/26/2011

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