Being Perfect

One of our favorite excuses for choosing to do the wrong thing or failing to do the right thing is, "Well, nobody's perfect!"  That universal acknowledgement that all of us in fact do, "fall short of the glory of God (standard of perfection)" (Rom 3:23) creates the punchline for one of my favorite quips: "People who think they are perfect are very annoying to those of us who actually are."

Of course, I don't believe I'm perfect, nor does anyone who has even an ounce of true self-reflection: "Anyone who claims to have no sin has deceived himself (otherwise stated "does not know himself very well") (1 Jn 1:8).  That we are not, and this life are not gong to be, perfect is a universally accepted truth.

And yet (hang on, here comes a sharp turn), the Bible issues an imperative, seemingly staking a claim to just the opposite: "Be perfect, therefore as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Mt 5:48).  Really?  Really!  No kidding?  Not even!  But how...?  I know, right?  It does seem 180 from what we are sure to be true and what the Bible teaches elsewhere.  What can this mean?  Glad you asked.

There is a word in the biblical text that we tend to overlook when Matthew 5:48 is read: "therefore."  It is clearly there and we read it but we often do not acknowledge its grammatical weight in the imperative by considering what the "therefore" is there for.  It points to an antecedent that modifies its meaning.

In particular, the "therefore" in Matthew 5:48 points back to the fact that we are called,  like our Father does, to "love your enemies" (v. 44).  That is the modifier in this passage.  We are not expected to be morally perfect but we are expected to rise to the high calling of loving even those who hate and/or mistreat us.  In this we are to aim for the bullseye and keep shooting for it daily.  We are to settle for nothing less.

Is it difficult?  Yes.  Will it take tremendous effort?  Yes.  Can we really rise to that level?  Yes.  We can love people who mistreat us.  Parents, am I right?  Haven't you been mistreated by your children at times and still found it possible to love them?  Ever have a good friend who drew a line in the sand against you but you still found it possible to love them?  Yes, we do have the God-given ability to love people who are in adversarial positions.

We may not be able to live or work with our enemies.  We may not even be able to like our enemies.  But, we can love our enemies and pray for them.  And, in order to be sons and daughters (in the image) of our Father, we need to be perfect (fully functional) in loving as a top priority regardless.  Jus' Say'n.