“Be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)
It sounds so good to call ourselves perfectionists. We have higher standards than others. We go for excellence. We don’t tolerate mistakes. Nothing mediocre about us. Nosirree. Only the best is good enough for us and our Lord.
It sounds good but it may be as self-destructive as anything you can do to yourself.
This means, of course, that we may be misinterpreting that well-known command of Matthew 5:48. Let’s think about it…
You and I are not capable of perfection. Maybe in typing a letter or baking a blueberry pie, we are. But not in a single one of the really big issues of life.
A man cannot be a perfect son, brother, husband, or father.
A woman will never be a perfect daughter, sister, wife, or mother.
The pastor cannot be a perfect shepherd of God’s flock. The church member will never fulfill his/her duties perfectly.
A major factor of human existence which you and I must take into consideration in every aspect of life is the flaw in us. We are flawed. You are a sinner; I am a sinner. We were, we are, and we will continue to be so long as we live on this earth.
We call that original sin. We were born that way.
As if that’s not bad enough, we live in a fallen world. Among other things, that means that everyone else is in the same situation as we. “There is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10, quoting Psalm 14:3 and 53:3).
When Isaiah was given a clear glimpse of himself, he saw two things that rocked him to his core: he was a man of “unclean lips,” meaning an unworthy heart; and what must have been infinitely more depressing to him, everyone around him was in the same depressing situation (Isaiah 6:5).
We are all failures in life. Starting with the first couple who arrived on this planet fresh from the Father’s hands, no one has earned straight A’s in righteousness on the divine report card. As God said to the Babylonian king, “You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting” (Daniel 5:27).
That’s true of all of us. We have all “sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
So, where did this inner yearning to be perfect come from? And, isn’t it a noble thing to strive for the best we can give, to hit a standard of excellence? Didn’t God command it?
Continue reading →