2MinuteMark
There was a time
When business events and church outings
Came with an invitation:
“Come on,” they’d say, “It’s just a scramble.
Just go along for the fun of it.”
But golf is a competitive game.
And when none of your shots are used,
When you spend all your time searching for balls—
Balls in the tall grass, Balls in the woods—
You come face-to-face with reality: You’re not a golfer.
Playing one game doesn’t make you a golfer.
Those in the know had a name for me:
Hacker.
And so, it is in life.
Making one complaint doesn’t make me complainer.
It might just mean I’m a keen observer.
Golf is addictive—Mostly for the right reasons.
Competitiveness, always, Camaraderie, yes,
And constant pressure to improve.
Complaining is addictive too—For the wrong reasons.
It reflects our dissatisfaction with how others act,
With how poorly we’ve been treated.
The Book of Exodus, a story of plagues and wonders,
Is ultimately about miraculous freedom.
If I were freed from hundreds of years of slavery,
I hope I’d be eternally grateful.
The Children of Israel, instead, Became world-class complainers.
No slight was too small, No inconvenience too minor
To escape a scathing opinion.
Most complaints were about their leaders.
(So that’s where we learned that trick?)
Even the leaders complained—against each other.
That didn’t go so well: Miriam was struck with leprosy.
A stroke of failure.
God revealed their real problem.
He had Moses tell them:
“Your complaints are against the Lord,
Not against us.” — Exodus 16:8
Our complaints are signs
Signaling we’re unhappy with our lot in life,
The life God planned for us.
Any inconvenience, any smirk,
Surely can’t be part of God’s plan.
But then we remember the inconvenience For Jesus—
Explaining life to the know-it-alls,
The smirks at the cross:
“Finally, he gets what he deserves.”
Yet it’s the cross that gives us forgiveness—
And a grumble-free freedom.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
That you may be blameless and innocent,
Children of God without blemish
In the midst of a crooked and twisted generation,
Among whom you shine as lights in the world.
— Philippians 2:14–15
We can be a HACKER or a PRO.
We can be a COMPLAINER or a LIGHT.
We can’t be BOTH!
–Mark Coblentz, Founder of Walnut Creek Foods