We live in a culture that is obsessed with perfection. We demand perfect fruit, without a spot or blemish from the supermarket. We will not wear clothing with patches or stains. It has gone so far that many of our children will not wear just any pair of jeans; they need to be the ones who have the right designer. This is so deeply ingrained in the youth that some of them will not even associate with other children who wear the wrong brands.

We carry this obsession into the way we see our selves as well. Our culture is obsessed with youth and extremely body conscious. Body toning, diets and cosmetic surgery are all billion dollar industries in our country.

At times it seems as if our Christian faith is a part of this compulsive perfectionism. In fact Jesus himself seems to be a part of this. In his greatest teaching, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus ends the first section on how we are to act by saying “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) Jesus words set the bar so high that many of us don’t feel like we can ever live up to the standard he has set. This kind of perfectionism seems to be at odds with Jesus of acceptance and forgiveness. What are we to think?

One way to explore this dilemma is to look at the origin of the Greek word Jesus uses that we translate as perfection. The word Teleios is often translated as perfect in English but out understanding of perfect is not quite the same. We think of perfect as being without defect or blemish. The Greek word in the Gospel implies completeness achieved by through purposeful development. The word can also imply reaching maturity. It is this implication of process or growth that is missing from our static understanding of perfection. So how does all of this add to our understanding of what Jesus meant when he admonished us to be perfect?

Maybe, like Jesus did in his parables, we should take an example from everyday life to help us. It seems like just a few months ago that we were all watching Zachary Young as he learned to walk. Every Sunday after Church he would pull himself up on something and then launch himself across the room. To say that he was walking is not quite correct, it was more like a controlled fall. He lurched forward about three or four times and then tripped over the dust in the carpet.

So does his lack of ability walking make Zack a less than perfect baby? Far from it, he is doing great for his stage of development. Falling down is a big part of learning to walk, especially if we understand perfection as something that develops rather than just being without blemish. Zack is a pretty perfect baby in my book, even if he is going through the stage where he is learning how to say no with great distinction.

Saint Paul also helps us to understand that our faith is a process that leads toward maturity. He tells us “We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” (Ephesians 4:14-15)

Most of us are pretty hard on ourselves. We don’t feel that we are the people that we want to be much less the people that God intended us to be. God however sees us the same way we see Zack. It has been a while since he tripped on the dust on the carpet. Now he is running, beginning to talk and generally getting into things. If we, like Zack, fall from time to time in our faith walk it is all part of the process. My advise, and I believe God’s is to ease up on yourself we are all a work in progress. Remember, the definition of perfection all depends on what stage we happen to be going through at the time.

Pastor Jim Bliss
February 2006