Seeking Perfection
Matthew Ropp
MT520, Biblical Foundations of Mission
Dr. Charles E. Van Engen, Fall 1996
Fuller Theological Seminary, School of World Mission
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Perfection - The Unreachable
Goal
Call to Perfection
Biblical Models for Perfection
Obedience
Hunger and Thirst
Pressing On
God's Promises to Us
Missiological Implications
Conclusion
References Cited
Throughout my undergraduate degree I had a struggle
that perhaps many people would be glad to have, though for me it was often
a burden. I had a perfect grade point average - a 4.0. The Lord has blessed
me with the ability to do well in school and certainly I was very glad
to have this average. For several quarters, however, I really wished that
I would get just one "B" to take the pressure off. Being a perfectionist,
having a perfect grade point average made me want to keep that average
and so I always put myself under a great deal of pressure in my schoolwork.
I was able to keep that grade point average, but in retrospect I think
that my social life and perhaps my sanity(!) suffered because of my desire
to be academically perfect.
I was able to succeed in keeping my grade point average.
Often we may be able to achieve accomplishments that we consider perfect
or very close to it. As human beings we cannot be perfect, however, no
matter how much we strive for perfection or how hard we work. God has called
us as Christians, however, to do our very best to obey him in all circumstances
and to model ourselves after Christ, seeking perfection in a right relationship
with God. Then, although we cannot achieve perfection on our own, God will
make us perfect, holy and blameless before him through the blood of Christ.
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Perfection - The Unreachable
Goal
Being a perfectionist is not a happy profession. There
are many perfectionists in the world and I must count myself as one of
them. Webster's New World Dictionary defines a perfectionist as "a person
who believes in a doctrine of perfectionism" or "a person who strives for
perfection". The first definition is rather circular, to be sure. Perfectionism,
however, is further defined to be "any doctrine that holds that moral,
religious, or social perfection can and should be attained in this life."
(Guralnik and Friend 1964:1086) So, a perfectionist is someone who is always
striving for perfection and may also believe that perfection can actually
be reached.
Personally, I do not really believe that perfection
can be attained, but I do always strive to reach it. What a futile effort
that seems - to constantly try to reach something which one believes cannot
be attained. Often in the process of seeking perfection I become overly
critical of both myself and others. And because I inevitably fail to reach
perfection, I am disappointed when I miss the mark. Even though the results
may have actually been very good, they were not perfect! Constantly trying
to be perfect also contributes to a great deal of worry that I will not
live up to my own expectations. Being a perfectionist often leads to a
vicious cycle of worry, disappointment, new unrealistic goals, et cetera.
As a whole, the Japanese people also tend to be perfectionistic.
They strive for the best, working extremely hard to reach it. They also
have a sense of racial superiority, believing that the Japanese race is
the "perfect" race. Japanese is a language that is often considered by
the Japanese to be too difficult for foreigners to learn properly. In business,
the individual is expected to sacrifice for the sake of the company, working
extremely hard. In fact, sometimes they work much too hard. There is even
a Japanese term for working to death, 過労死 (karoushi), which literally means to "overdo working and die". Japanese
children go to school all day and then in the evening go to "cram schools"
to prepare for entrance examinations for the next level of schooling.
The Bible speaks about the possibility of being perfect.
It says that it is not possible! Ecclesiastes 7:11 states, "There is not
a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins." Likewise,
according to Romans 3:23, "… all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God…" (NIV) One cannot then be perfect because everyone has committed
sin. This is stated very clearly and in a straightforward manner. We should
not then deceive ourselves and struggle for perfection when the Bible explicitly
says that it cannot be reached! Obviously always seeking perfection is
not the healthiest of habits. Perfectionism results in anxiety, disappointment,
stress, and, in extreme cases, even death. Perfectionism may also result
in or be closely related to a sense of superiority. The Bible is very clear
that perfection cannot be reached by man, but that only God is perfect
in his love, justice, and mercy.
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Call to Perfection
Even though the Bible states that man cannot be perfect,
at the same time there are verses such as Matthew 5:48 which command, "Be
perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect." Is this a contradiction?
Is God on one hand telling us that we cannot be perfect but on the other
hand commanding that we must be so? Not exactly. The Greek for the word
"perfect" in this verse is telios, a word which does not imply sinless
perfection, but instead implies full development and growth into maturity
of godliness. The emphasis of the verse falls more upon the "committed
and close relationship with God." (The Complete Biblical Library:101)
This verse is also in a context of love. The challenge is to love as the
Father loves, not loving only those who love us, but loving even our enemies
and those who persecute us.
Deuteronomy 5:32,3 instructs the reader to "be careful
to do what the Lord your God has commanded you…" Here the instruction is
for the Christian to be focused in obeying the Lord. Matthew 5:6 says that
those who "hunger and thirst for righteousness" are blessed and they will
be filled. Likewise, in Paul's letter to the Philippians, Paul states that
he has not yet achieved perfection but that he presses on toward the goal
of becoming more like Christ. More than moral perfection, a right relationship
with God is emphasized.
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Biblical Models for Perfection
Various models for becoming "perfect" in the Biblical
sense are given throughout the Old and New Testaments. Such Biblical characters
as Noah, Jacob, David, Asa, Job, Zacharias and Elizabeth, and Nathanael
are ascribed as having moral completeness. Three of the models for becoming
perfect include obeying the Lord's commandments, hungering and thirsting
after righteousness, and pressing on or straining toward that to which
the Lord has called us. These models all have one things in common: we
must desire and seek after a right relationship with the Lord and seek
to be Christlike. When we truly desire these things, then God will grant
us our desire.
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Obedience
Deuteronomy 5:32,3 says, "So be careful to do what the
Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the
left. Walk in all the ways that the Lord your God has commanded you, so
that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you
will possess." We are not to be distracted by anything to the right or
the left outside the will of God and thus break his commandments. We are
to "be careful" in obeying. Sin is often very subtle and slipped into easily.
So we must be on our guard to carefully keep on the right path. There is
a Japanese proverb that says, "Even monkeys fall out of trees." Even a
moral, upright Christian can easily fall into sin, so we must be on our
guard.
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Hunger and Thirst
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus lists several groups
of people who are blessed. Among them are those who have a real desire
to be righteous before the Lord. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness, for they will be filled." (Mt. 5:6) Hunger and thirst
are both very basic and strong desires for human beings. Without food and
drink our bodies would perish. With the same necessity as seeking nourishment
for our bodies this verse calls us to seek to be like God. As much as a
Japanese person desires to eat a bowl of rice when she is hungry or drink
a cup of tea when she is thirsty, so should that person desire to grow
in correct relationship with God. Another aspect of being hungry and thirsty
is that this happens every day and even several times each day. We eat
and we drink, our needs are satisfied for a time, and then we are hungry
and thirsty again. In the same way, we must continually hunger and thirst
after righteousness, in a process of continually seeking to be right before
God.
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Pressing On
If anyone might have obtained perfection or been guaranteed
of his salvation, one would think the Apostle Paul would qualify. In Philippians
3:12-4, however, we see that such was not the case. "Not that I have already
obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to
take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do
not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting
what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the
goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ
Jesus." Paul forgets what is behind, whatever accomplishments he has made
up to this point and also whatever failures are in his life, and strains
toward what is ahead. He longs to achieve salvation, to be made perfect
in Christ Jesus. No matter what is in the past, whether good or bad, each
day is new in Christ and from wherever we are there is always room to grow
closer to God. Like Paul, each day we should press forward, straining toward
what God has called us to through Christ.
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God's Promises to Us
Almost always included in God's commands to his people
is a promise of his provision and blessing on that people if they will
obey him. In Deuteronomy the Lord tells the people through Moses to obey
the Lord "so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days
in the land that you will possess." Also, in Matthew 5, Jesus says that
those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are blessed. Even more
exciting in this verse is that those who hunger and thirst will be filled.
When we seek the righteousness of the Lord, he will honor our earnest desire
and fill us with his righteousness! Likewise, Paul in Philippians 3 presses
onward in order to "win the prize". He knows that the Lord has promised
him salvation and an eternity in the very presence of God, and so he seeks
to reach that goal. God has also promised to work in our lives and work
in us the process of perfection: "…being confident of this, that he who
began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of
Christ Jesus." (Phil 1:6)
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Missiological Implications
What are the missiological implications of the concepts
of Biblical perfection of the believer, especially in the Japanese context?
-
It is no longer necessary to work as hard in the business world, certainly
not to the point where you work yourself to death. We cannot be perfect
apart from who we are in Christ, and so it is pointless to push oneself
to extreme limits.
-
As Japanese believers are perfected in Christ, they will see that in the
Kingdom of God there is neither Jew or Greek, man or woman, or by extension,
Japanese or non-Japanese. We are all equal in Christ. Therefore, the Japanese
cannot believe that they are a special race. This also has the potential
of enabling mission from Japan to surrounding Asian countries, countries
which have traditionally been looked down upon.
-
As a person is perfected, becoming more and more like Christ, he becomes
an integral part of the Body of Christ, that is the church. In Japan, belonging
to a group is very important and essential to one's identity as an individual
with the society. Becoming an essential part of the church fills this Japanese
cultural need.
-
As God brings to completion in believer's lives the work he has begun in
them, he will call them to his service. This will result in the Japanese
people reaching out to share the gospel with those around them and the
growth of the Japanese church.
-
Personally, the teaching of the Bible regarding perfection is freeing.
Knowing that I can never achieve perfection in this life, yet at the same
time knowing that God desires to mold me and perfect me in his ways, I
am freed from the pressure to always do everything perfectly. As I prepare
for my own mission in Japan, God will be in control of where he leads me
and of my own spiritual growth, so long as I am seeking him.
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Conclusion
Perfection belongs to God alone. God alone is divine
and we are but human, with many faults. No matter how much we seek perfection,
we cannot attain it. God has called us to seek him and his righteousness,
however, and when we do he will make us perfect in a sense in this world
and one day we may enter into true perfection in heaven. As the Japanese
church sees that there is no need to be perfect, but to simply seek God,
obey him and strive to win the prize to which he calls us, they will grow
and themselves become a missionary people.
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References Cited
The Complete Biblical Library, Volume 2: Study Bible, Matthew
1989 Springfield, MO: World Library Press,
Inc.
Guralnik, David B., and Joseph H. Friend
1964 Webster's New World Dictionary, College
Edition. New York: World Publishing Company.
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