VIEW FROM THE TOP – God’s View of Perfectionism
By Dr. Sandra Nelson

But many Christians believe that they are to live as perfect beings. After all, Jesus Himself said it. It’s in black and white, or red and white in some Bibles - right there in Matthew 5 verse 48. From His own lips Jesus said "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." See? Be perfect - just like God. Not half right and half not right - perfect! That’s why mistakes are bad and failure is so shameful. That’s why all this talk about accepting your limitations and weaknesses, and laughing at your mistakes isn’t right! Errors tell the story of faults and inadequacy. Shortcomings are an outrage and certainly short of the command Jesus made: Be perfect - just like God! Wait a minute. Be perfect just like God? Wouldn’t that mean be like God? If we were like God, wouldn’t that mean we’d be equal with? And heck, if we were equal with God then we wouldn’t really need God for anything because we’d be our own gods. Hey, that can’t be what Jesus is requesting. That can’t be right.

As a recovered perfectionist, it‘s easy to see perfection disease in others. Some years ago, one particular woman captured my compassion as she struggled to understand the thinking that could free her from the compulsive need to be perfect. I recall a conversation I had with her where I said a few things about her present mind-set in the direct, yet hopefully caring way I’m known for. And what she said I still recall today. She was angry with me because what I said upset her. She viewed her upset as sinful and in her snit she barked "You made me sin today." I remember being still in amazement of that statement, and that amazement remains with me now because I don’t understand that thinking, nor do I believe it’s what God intends us to think. After a pause, I replied in a low voice, "Gee, I sin every day." The emphasis on the command to be perfect isn’t on a flawless performance or a perfect moral nature. The Greek word translated as "perfect" in this passage means "to mature and grow in wisdom." The word perfect is defined as completion or maturity, not sinless perfection. Living isn’t perfection. If we could be perfect, we wouldn’t need a God. If we could be sinless, we wouldn’t need a Savior. God doesn’t expect you to be perfect and He knows the truth about you - that you’re imperfect and that you’ll remain imperfect this side of heaven:

Don’t be too eager to tell others their faults, for we all make many mistakes. James 3:1

If you claim to be without sin, you deceive yourself, the truth isn’t in you. 1 John 1:9

Admit your weaknesses to one another. James 5:16

If we say that we have no sin, we make God a liar. 1 John 1:10

For all have sinned and fall short. Romans 3:23

I have come not to call the righteous, but the sinners. Matthew 9:13

They are all under sin. Romans 3:9

Neither you nor I can ever be perfect on this earth. What we can accomplish is wisdom from mistakes, maturity from errors, good judgment from bad judgment, freedom from the lies by believing the Truth. This means accepting that mistakes will continue - yours and others. It means accepting that you’re flawed and so is everybody else - even those who can’t admit it.

Jesus never said that Godly maturity is a lack of mistakes. Jesus died for your mistakes. To be perfect means to acknowledge you don’t know a lot of stuff and you’re willing to learn more. Flawless efforts don’t make you the prized pupil in God’s eyes, as it did when you were in school. There’s no gaining His approval by your performance. You cannot earn His favor - you can only receive it. You receive it upon openly acknowledging your imperfections, confessing your sins, and accepting His forgiveness. God’s love for you is about who you are, not what you do. And this is what motivates people with healthy mind-sets to grow in wisdom - they’re not motivated because of their perfect efforts, they’re motivated because they’re loved.