And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied,
there arose a murmuring…. Acts 6:1
It seems the bigger the group the greater the chance there will be
murmuring. Murmuring almost always is an indication of dissatisfaction. In many cases it
also involves ignorance, in that the individual who is murmuring and expressing his
dissatisfaction is one who has no knowledge of how to correct the situation, or has little
appreciation of the work required to provide the service being complained of. It is not
uncommon for one who labors very little to complain about the work of others.
In the assembly at Philippi there was apparently murmuring which led to
a lack of unity. (Phil. 2:14) Murmuring is that low, under the breath complaining that is
never really vocalized to the oversight or the party being criticized, but has a way of
moving throughout the saints like the undetected slow leak that eventually sinks the ship.
Paul exhorts the saints to "do all things without murmuring"
in order "that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in
the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the
world." The world is filled with murmurers, and Christians will have little, or no
testimony when we are no different than the unsaved world.
Perhaps we all should take a personal inventory and see how much
murmuring is in our closet, and seek to appreciate the labor of others who serve the Lord
and us. Before we murmur we might ask how much we have done to help the situation.
Remember it is a lot easier to complain than it is to labor!