On Perfection

I have a problem.

Maybe some of you are thinking, "Gee, she finally realized it!":)

I've been thinking a lot lately about perfection. Now, I'm not what you would call a perfectionist. My room is often messy, I don't finish (or half-finish) things perfectly, and I don't necessarily follow directions to the letter. There's no area where I have things set up exactly how I want them and if you move them, you're in trouble (especially now). But even though I am quick to tell you how imperfect I am, and quick to realize how short of the highest mark I fall, I do always strive to be as perfect as I can. Maybe it's something that stems from my German heritage (my German relatives tend to be awfully meticulous), or maybe it's just because my dad always told me to do the best that I can. But wherever it came from, it has created a problem.

Because for the longest time, I would look at the Bible as a story of heroes. And I certainly didn't want my heroes to have flaws. I couldn't understand why David was considered a man after God's own heart - I mean, hello! He slept with Bathsheba and killed her husband!! Boy did that make me mad. I couldn't believe he fell like that and people still looked up to him!

And then there's Jonah. The guy who ran away from God, was swallowed by a whale because he wouldn't do what God said, grudgingly followed God's command, whined about the whole time, and then berated God for killing a vine that shaded him and for having mercy on a whole people group. Talk about a whiny loser.

These people had flaws. And I couldn't understand why they would be included in the Bible. After all, shouldn't we see people who do mighty things for the Lord and strive for perfection and almost, nearly reach it? I looked down on these people and many other people who had obvious flaws. I expected better of them. They're Christians, after all. God's chosen people. Shouldn't they be like God? Perfect? (Notice I exempted myself from this lofty expectation!) I have failed to remember, especially lately, that the Bible is not simply a guidebook to being a really good person.

Then I started reading Give Them Grace, by Elyse Fitzpatrick. One of my facebook friends recommended it for parents as well as for teachers. And since I'll be spending a considerable amount of time with children under the age of 10 this year, I thought I should read up on parenting, since those skills are helpful for teachers as well. This book really diagnosed my problem with perfectionism.

Listen to what she says about obedience vs. the message of the Bible:

"...[E]very story is about God's grace through Jesus Christ and the gospel... The story of Jonah isn't about learning to be obedient or facing the consequences. The story of Jonah is about how God is merciful to both the religiously self-righteous, unloving Pharisee (Jonah) and the irreligious, violent pagan. The story is about God's ability to save souls and use us even when we disobey. It's a story about God's mercy, not our obedience."

She goes on to ask how many times you use the Bible as a rule book instead of the "good news." Unfortunately, I think I've been using the Bible for my rule book. I got upset when people disobeyed the rules, as if that were giving us a bad example. But the primary goal of the Bible is not to teach us to be obedient. Yes, we are to grow to be more like Christ, and we are no longer slaves to sin like we were before. But we're supposed to focus on God's grace, His mercy, NOT how to be perfect! The goal is to bring us to Christ. To show us the great mercy of God in saving us even though we fail Him again and again and again and again. Even His greatest king, David, failed him in a very great way! And yet, God calls him a man after His own heart. The Israelites turned away from Him time after time after time. They whined when they were slaves in Egypt and they whined after He set them free. They followed Him, but also other Gods even though He reminded them over and over again that if they didn't obey Him alone, there would be consequences. And yet He says, "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me." (Isaiah 49:16) He even calls them his children, dearly beloved by the God of all the earth: "But the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye" (Deut. 32:10). The creator and maker of the world stoops to call us His children, forgives our weaknesses, gives us strength to be better, saves us from ourselves, loves us.

May I learn to be more and more like my merciful God, and less like the rule-obeying, self-righteous Pharisees.

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (Lam. 3:22-24)