Live out purpose we were created for
A British Methodist preacher stood up one morning and announced his sermon would be on Christian perfection.
“John Wesley urged his preachers to speak about Christian perfection on a regular basis, and I haven’t done so in about 20 years,” he said. “But it’s such a formidable topic. Who among us would pretend to have attained perfection?”
It was a rhetorical question. But to the preacher’s surprise, one man raised his hand.
“You, sir, please stand up. Do you mean to stand there and claim to have achieved perfection?”
“Not at all, reverend,” the man said, “I’m just standing here in proxy for my wife’s late first husband.”
The husband’s dry humor aside, perfection is an elusive ideal we seek. No, it isn’t merely elusive. It’s an impossible ideal we seek.
Yet “being perfect” is an effort we all stumble over in some way or another. And it gets us in unnecessary trouble.
Join me in a brief look at a gospel verse that is too often the cause of our dilemma: “You must be perfect – just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48, Good News Bible)
What? How are we supposed to be as perfect as God?
This verse is (sorry, I can’t let this one go by) a perfect example of how we get ourselves in trouble being so literal about the English translation of a passage that was not originally written in English. The Greek word used here for “perfect” is “teleios,” and it has nothing to do with our idealized abstract notion of perfection.
Teleios is an adjective that describes a thing when it is used according to the purpose for which it was made. A Phillips’ screwdriver is designed to turn a Phillips’ screw. A full-grown man is teleios as compared to a half-grown child, for humans are born to grow into adulthood.
For what purpose are persons created? To answer that, let’s put Matthew 5:48 in its fuller context. Verses 43-47 speak to the highest purpose of human beings.
Our identities as “sons of God,” as children of God, are confirmed as we are able to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
In Genesis 1:26, we hear God saying, “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness.” We are created so we can become like God.
Jesus shows us what that means. God gives us the power to live out that identify.
A person is teleios (perfect) in the Gospel sense when we are able to fulfill the qualities of daily living that God shows us through Jesus – merciful, generous, passionate about justice and just treatment for all persons, and the list goes on. The person who cares most for others is the most perfect person.
I really like how Gene Peterson translates the “be perfect…” passage in his translation “The Message”: “In a word, what I’m saying is this: Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”
In his letters, Paul the Apostle often “sets the table” before serving the meal. He reflects on a particular theological truth, and then says, “OK, now let’s deal with the problem we have before us.” I’ve tried to follow his pattern in today’s column. My reflection on perfection sets the table. Now let’s look at the issue I want to us to chew.
Since we too easily mistake what is meant by “be perfect,” we too easily allow perfectionism to overwhelm our better spirits. We try so hard to be without blemish, and expect others to be the same way. But our expectation of others is too often based only on what we believe is the “perfect Christian.” I’m always leery of that label.
It leads to trouble. It so easily leads us to exclude others when they don’t fit the mold we have made for everyone, including ourselves. Exclusion of others leads to sins like pride and prejudice. I don’t recall those being God-like qualities.
In an opinion piece last week, Jane Eisner wrote of a Pew Research Center poll that said nearly two in five Americans have a negative view of Muslims. That percentage hasn’t changed much since the 9/11 attacks.
The poll revealed that the folks with the most negative attitude toward Islam were white Protestant evangelicals who attend church regularly.
That finding didn’t surprise Robert Wuthnow, author of the newly published book “America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity.” He said, “How we view another religion depends a whole lot more on how we view our own religion than anything else.”
When persons of any faith tradition view their beliefs with a sense of exclusiveness (“we have it, and you don’t”), I think we’re distorting the “perfection” Jesus calls us to.
We are children of God. So are Muslims and so many other religions. Let’s end the family feud!