Wrestling with Perfection, III

Posted on November 30, 2007
Filed Under Personal, Worldview |

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt 5:48)

We are wrestling with the question of whether or not this command reaches beyond the issue of salvation and carries any implications for how I live…how I clean my gutters…wash windows…or speak to the young man ringing up my groceries.

From the standpoint of salvation, we concluded that the standard does apply to us, but we are unable to meet that standard by our own actions. We all fall short. This led us to gaze upon the amazing grace of God, who stood in our place and took the full penalty for our sins. The righteousness and perfection that we need for a relationship with God was imputed to us by Christ. This is the good news of the Gospel…paid in full by God Himself.

Who can fathom the depth of that love and grace?

But the next question presses upon us: how do we then live? Does the command to be perfect end with our salvation? Or does it have implications for my actions in the present? Is there a perfection that I must pursue in how I tie my shoes? If so, what does that look like? Do I take the time every morning to make sure the laces are exactly even before I start to tie them? And if that is the case, does “perfection” demand that the length be “perfectly” perfect? If so, then I must measure them with a ruler. But is the ruler precise enough? What if I am off by a quarter of an inch? And if I take enough time to insure it is “perfect” with a ruler, is that good enough? What if it is still a millimeter off? What about a molecule off? (I can hear people screaming.) And if I can ever get the lengths perfect, what does a perfect “tie” look like? What if the loops are not the same size?

Where does this end?

But, one might argue, the command to “be perfect” only applies to moral actions. Tying shoe laces isn’t a moral action. Or is it? And what basis do we have for saying that Jesus was only referring to “moral” actions? Didn’t He say we were to be perfect, as our Heavenly Father is perfect? And isn’t He perfect in ALL of His actions and works? The Scripture say He is.

So where does this leave us?

Let’s start by asking this question: is every human action morally right or wrong? I have often used a graphic that I first saw presented by R.C. Sproul. It should be helpful at this point.

adiaphorous-blog.jpg

Some human actions are clearly acts of vice. They are ethically wrong…sinful. Some human actions are clearly acts of virtue…ethically righteous. However, there are a lot of human actions that fall into the middle of this continuum that are neither vice nor virtue. They are “adiaphorous”…ethically neutral. We have freedom within this area to act as we like. You don’t have to be frozen in the morning trying to decide if it is ethically right or wrong to select the blue shirt or the green shirt. You don’t have to worry if it is ethically right to put your left shoe on first or second. These are ethically neutral. You have freedom to wear the blue or the green. You have freedom to put the right shoe on first or last. Paul writes that one has the freedom to eat meat sacrificed to an idol or not. It is ethically neutral. However, if you do so and it causes a brother to stumble, then you do not have freedom in that action anymore. There is an ethical implication in how you choose. The same would be true if you knew that a coworker had some phobia regarding green shirts. That might turn your freedom to choose shirt colors in the morning into an ethical decision.

Okay, we may be making some progress here. And judging from some of your comments, this could be extremely helpful and freeing to some of you. But, we still have to deal with the notion of “perfection”. Yes, I now understand that there is no ethical right or wrong in how I tie my shoes, but isn’t there a standard of “perfection” that I should pursue? Doesn’t “aim for perfection” (2 Cor 13:11) mean what it says?

Well, next time, we will take a peek at the original Greek behind these words to see if it might be of help.

I think it will. See you then.

Comments

4 Responses to “Wrestling with Perfection, III”

  1. Joe Heberling on November 30th, 2007 1:01 pm

    Del, you are awesome. You are not, however, perfect.

    I just wanted to jump in on the clean desk issue. I am not a perfectionist. I do dislike clutter, particularly when it is an impediment.

    That said, my desk is almost never clean and neat. There is, however, order to it. I know where things are, the clutter or mess or piles are projects I am working on. They may not look neat but they are efficient.
    I have worked at places that had clean desk policies and I found that for most people it impeded their work. My observation is that those with excessively clean desks do not do any work. They may supervise those that do work, but they don’t do work. Work is messy, by its nature.

    There is an adage about cleaning, “in order for something to be clean, something else must become dirty; however, it is entirely possible for everything to become dirty without anything becoming clean”; this also applies to working.

    Not being a perfectionist, I look to functionality. Why are you cleaning the gutters - to avoid damage to the house. Will a few needles and a little sludge impede the action of the gutters? If not you are done. Where does perfection end? You say there is a little sludge on the bottom, I’ll bet they are also a little dirty overall also. Have they been polished? Are all the nails or screws tight? Did you get all the needles dealt with? An hour from now more needles may gather, will you return to maintain perfection?

    Perfection (from humans) is an illusion, there are just different degrees of effort we expend.

    I echo all the comments that say that different things warrant different effort, people, relationships and God’s word are more important than a clean desk or spotless gutters.

    God bless,
    Joe

  2. Teresa Pettit on November 30th, 2007 1:38 pm

    Hello Dr. Tackett,
    I completed the Truth Project Lessons in August and since then I have purchased the set and I look forward to starting a small group in which I can share the wonderful information and hope that is contained in the series.
    I wanted to thank you personally from the bottom of my heart the series has transformed me. Not only in my world view but my relationship and understanding of what God has done for us.
    I have been a Christian for my whole life. I have always had a deep rooted love for God but for many years of my adolescent and adult life I have suffered from an eating disorder. It has held me back in many aspects of my life including my walk with the Lord. I know it probably doesn’t make much sense but there was a Lesson where you talked about Beauty and how the phrase “Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder” is a lie. Knowing that God has a standard for Beauty is liberating. Knowing that there is a TRUTH about beauty and that it is not something I must attain through the correct diet or clothes or exercise or the eyes of the world has loosened a hold on my life that I have been suffocating under for so long.
    It just took those few words you spoke to change my life and my outlook not only on others but myself. I always knew God was capable of freeing me from that disorder…that lie. But because you spoke when he told you to and said what he led you to say you have made a difference in my life.
    I know there is still a long road ahead of me but having the truth of real beauty…God’s beauty will make it alot easier to travel and I will not be so easily fooled by this world or the enemy.
    So thank you. I will continue to pray for your ministry as I have been. God bless you and what ever work you put your hand to.

  3. Jeff on December 1st, 2007 9:49 am

    Dell, thank you for this blog. I hope that you are encouraged by the many who read it, and the many down the road that will “catch up” on these archives. It is a great way to extend your very accessible teaching into this broad interactive forum. Run the race to receive the prize, fight the good fight brother!

    That is actually a good segue, I believe that to win you don’t have to be perfect. At least in all of the competition that I have been victorious I can only think of a few “perfect games.” And that is a joke…

    Just think of golf, unless you are Tiger Woods, nuff said.

    When it comes to fighting as well - the object is destruction then survival, not some notion of perfection. Precision is nice, but not required.

    Therefore, my take on perfection in the relational and work spheres is this. Those individuals who call themselves perfectionists will always be dissatisfied and even angry. Granted there is great benefit to a strong work ethic and diligence in our approach to labor. I’ve learned this lesson time and time again. God has prodded my heart in this area and I thank Him for my Dad’s example here. However, if you are looking for perfection here it will come at the cost of contentment in your relationship with him. Let me say this again, if you get your sense of worth by achieving some modicum of perfection in your work you will suffer the lies of Satan, the world and your flesh when you disregard your Position in Christ. In my Heavenly Father’s eyes “I am a 10!”

    I would say that I am content but never satisfied. I use prioritization ruthlessly to promote what is good, pure, true and just. Those things that are most important I pursue in excellence NOT perfection. This comes in conflict with the code of this world, So be it. But let me never come in conflict with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by your spirit - make me more like you. And in your glory I am looking forward to the day when you will raise all of your church up in sheer perfection.

  4. Miriam Schnee on December 2nd, 2007 5:39 pm

    Whenever I find a scripture that causes me to struggle, I’ve discovered it’s usually because we don’t have an equivalent English word for the Greek (or Hebrew). In checking my trusty Strong’s I find the word ‘teleios’ is also translated ‘mature’, and that its route word ‘tello’ means ‘to set out for a definite point or goal’. That helps me understand that I don’t have to tie a perfectly measured bow - my goal is to not have my shoe fall off! Incidentally, if you start out with perfectly measured lace-ends, you won’t have a perfect bow; one end will be shorter than the other because one has looped around the loop!
    I look forward to reading the Greek from someone who has studied Biblical languages.
    M. Schnee

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