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The Pursuit of Perfection
I remember as a child sitting on hard wood pews in church
amongst all the "Pomp and Circumstance" of Sunday morning. Everyone
wearing their absolute "Sunday Best"... big hats, stockings, suit and
tie, pearls, etc. Surely THIS group had the ticket to heaven; everyone
looked so "perfect." Like they each possessed the wisdom of God, and did
everything with meaning and precision...
Personally, I remember always feeling the weight of
failure crushing me; whatever "spirit" I had definitely wasn’t Holy.
Young and Word starved, I didn’t understand the meaning of Grace. So I
spent most of my time under the spirit of guilt and condemnation. The
majority of my young Christian life was spent trying to work my way into
heaven, be perfect, and keep this monochromatic Christian infused "Stepford"
persona. I wanted so much to be like my brothers and sisters in Christ;
but realized I could never be as they were, “perfect.” Little did I know
that underneath the "Pomp and Circumstance" was pain, desolation, envy,
and much more. It was evident that we were a beautiful church filled
with beautiful people, but we’re no better than 'whitewashed tombs."
"What
sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees.
Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs--beautiful on the outside
but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of
impurity." Matthew 23:27
Praying until I couldn't anymore, I begged God to fix me!
Why did I feel so damaged? Finally, I was inspired to create a writing
piece called, "The body" for our 5th Sunday program. Little
did I know it was virtually identical to 1 Corinthians 12:12...
"Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its
many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all
baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles,
slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the
body is not made up of one part but of many." 1 Corinthians
12:12
This was amazing but nothing new; our Father has always
inspired His people to spread the "Living" word, and continues to do so
through now...
"For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but
prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the
Holy Spirit"
2 Peter 1:21
This revelation of the "body" revealed something of
greater significance...
"...My body which is broken for you…” (partial scripture)
1 Corinthians 11:24
Jesus came to allow His perfect body to be broken. His
body is a reflection of us! Finally I understood why my prayers for
perfection were declined. It was foolish to ask such a thing because
there is and will only be one perfect man. Jesus Christ! Who died on the
cross at Calvary so we don’t have to bear the burden of chasing the
elusive spirit of perfection?
No matter how bad we want perfection, we can never
achieve it...
"For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of
flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not
understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am
doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to
do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.…" Romans 7:15
Now that the white wash is gone embrace love, humanity,
and most of all your individuality. Remember we are all broken and here
to evolve into something better. Never be shocked or led astray by the
actions of a brother or sister in Christ who are still flesh. Sometimes
your church family may hurt you worse than people in the world did but
FIT family take heart, don't be discouraged, and best of all rejoice
because the same thing happened to our Savior!
Good luck on your continued pursuit of perfection!
Until
next time . . . SG
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