If you identify as a Christian, you have probably heard at some point or other that you should model your life after Jesus. Whether you heard it in some kind of sermon, whether you heard the always-lovely “you may be the only Jesus somebody ever gets to see!” quip, or maybe you’ve just seen your fair share of “WWJD” bracelets, the point has been made that your life should reflect Christ. You are, after all, called a Christian.
But wait.
Isn’t Jesus perfect?
Am I supposed to be perfect? Are you supposed to be PERFECT?
Actually, oddly, it seems the answer may be yes.
Matthew 5:48 says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
There it is: Be Perfect.
The original Greek word translated “perfect” in Matthew 5:48 – teleioi – doesn’t pull any punches. It literally means something reaching its end, finished, complete, lacking nothing, perfect. That’s hard to swallow. I know I’m not perfect. Far from it. And try as I might, I don’t know if I’ll ever get there.
But there’s another verse that brings me some comfort here. Psalm 103:14 says, “For He knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust.” God knows our nature. He knows the weakness of the human condition. He remembers that we are dust – powerless, easily sifted, only made alive by the power of His Spirit, by the life of His breath.
It is God’s intention as we journey in this faith walk with Him that we grow toward the perfection He has in mind for us, but it doesn’t catch him off guard when we fall, when we fail, and when we miss the mark. He did, after all, send Christ for us. If he expected us to close the gap on our own, He wouldn’t have provided a perfect sacrifice on the cross for us.
Paul said this, and I think it’s something to take to heart: “Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-13)
We may not have attained perfection. We may not have reached the goal. But we should make every effort to get there, knowing that we can trust God and rest in his grace and mercy along the way, but also knowing that it is His call on our lives to continue moving forward.
The Endeavor 