In a church parking lot one Sunday I passed a small truck that had a new bumper sticker on it I had not seen before. It said, “Stop World Whining.”

I stifled a laugh as I thought about the many times pastors have to handle dissatisfied members in their church. Have you ever felt like saying, “What do I look like? God’s complaint department?”

Complaints, problems, and disagreements will always erupt in our churches when we least expect them to. They can be threatening and discouraging to the forward movement of the church. But hang in there.

When I played football years ago, one of the drills we used to run required us to hit a line of defenders, spin off and around the line, and continue running down field. The early church was like that. When they encountered complaints in the church, they addressed the issue head-on, spun off the problem using a Spirit-guided solution, then continued to grow and expand in a dramatic way (Acts 6 & 15).

“Stop World Whining”? It would be really be nice wouldn’t it? Yet, the Lord seems to use even whining to propel His church forward.

He is risen!