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The Perfection Trap

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Many dream of the Perfect Church. In this dream, the greeters are always smiling and genuinely happy. There’s a distinct absence of gossip, criticism and no judgmental glance is found. Teens never check their smartphones and babies never cry. The praise team is always in in tune, always in agreement of the songs, and every song is your favorite. The Pastor is always interesting and has the perfect combination of life-changing theology and church appropriate comedy—all in 15 minutes or less! He also knows the answers to every Biblical question and is always available, never tired, and always smiling.

Yeah, right. Reality hits and we know there’s no such thing as the perfect church. We all have been victims of gossip, criticism and judgment. We make mistakes. Our churches are often more empty than full. Pastors don’t always smile, are often on the verge of burn-out, and (I’ll be honest) there are plenty of questions we can’t answer.

Yet, here we are. God still has a use for us—even in our imperfection. This amazes me. Why does God settle with working with us while we are so imperfect? Imagine how much more God could do with us if we didn’t have this struggle with sin! How much more valuable we could be! At least we think we would be. (We seem to forget the whole “His strength is made perfect in our weakness” thing!)

I have struggled with this way of thinking for a long time—into this trap of “perfectionism.” We have become snagged in a state of mind that was authored by our adversary. It comes in the form of a teaching, floating around in Christianity for some time now, that says that you are to become perfect, just like God, here on this earth. Unfortunately, this teaching is not Biblical—it is a lie. [Remember the foundation of Satan’s lies to Eve: “you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).]

Yes, we are called to live differently. God desires to remove us from a life of sin and bring us to godly living. But this is not perfectionism. The most persistent misconception about heaven is the notion that it will be inhabited by people who deserve to be there. Satan has fooled us into thinking that we will be deserving of Heaven by the time we get there. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, the thought of our own goodness might actually keep us out of heaven!

Consider John’s warnings of this attitude in his first letter. These warnings are found in the “ifs” of 1 John 1. The first “if” is in verse 6: “If we claim to have fellowship with him [God] and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.” Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we are alright simply because we know “the Man upstairs.” Yet, if God reveals truth to you and you don’t care to follow it, then you are not truly in a relationship with Him. It makes sense: How can you claim to be close to God if you are walking as far from Him as possible? You cannot truly spend time with God and not be changed.

Fortunately John offers an alternative: walk in the light as God reveals it (verse 7). If we do this instead, we get different results. According to John, following the counsel of God (walking in the light) results in improved relationships with each other (we have fellowship with each other) and improved relationship with Him (cleansed of sins). Thus, if we can be fooled into thinking that we can be a disciple with out any change in our lives, we will be robbed of better relationships with each other and God!

This can often lead to the next lie: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (verse 8). But, wait. Isn’t it our goal to be sinless? What if we reach it? Couldn’t we claim it then? It would appear not. But again, it makes sense: how can imperfect people know when perfection is achieved?

The man who wrote so much about salvation by Grace—Paul—never considered himself having achieved this “no-sin” state of perfection: “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15). Of course, in the presence of the holiness of Jesus, the depth of our sin is more realized. One might think that Paul would have been doing pretty good in the area of perfection. But according to what he says in Philippians 3:12–14, he doesn’t claim to have reached perfection, but is pressing on to the finish line (the reward Jesus brings to those who follow Him). If Paul couldn’t claim it—after several missionary trips, having visions, accepted as an Apostle, starting many churches, and writing scripture—who can? The problem is that, in our desire to be free from sin, we want to imagine the day when we live with out sin on our own. Yet that day will never come.

But this is what makes the alternative in 1 John 1:9 even better: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Confession is owning up to something. It is the opposite of verse 8. Instead of claiming to be sinless, John says we should admit that we are sinners—own up to it. When we do, we can be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness. What a wonderful God! Yet, can you see how perfectionism can trap us? If I think I can become pure in action and thought, I wouldn’t need someone to keep forgiving me. My ability to achieve perfection on earth removes my need for a Savior!

Which leads to the third lie: “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us” (verse 10). Wow. Whereas verse 8 was claiming to have sin under control, verse 10 imagines that we have no sins to confess—basically, we have never sinned. When we believe this way, we are actually calling God a liar! (“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”—Romans 3:23.) This is the attitude that says, “I’ve never really been that bad.” Yet, if this is the case, why continue to be a Christian? If you’re that great, why do you need Christ?

This is why Paul said, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). God’s grace is not meant to make us arrogant. Giving us victories in our lives is not to make us trust more in ourselves! Our enemy would love for us to forget the source of our victories. By focusing on our own perfection, we can actually lose sight of God.

The lessons of the Bible have never been about humans achieving perfection. They have always been about learning to trust and follow God. Even the patriarchs of the Old Testament, known for their faith, were not perfected. Hebrews 11:39, 40 says that they had not received the promise yet, “that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” Because perfection wasn’t their goal—living in God was. As Paul says in Philippians 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” God’s doing the work, and if He’s the One working, He’ll know when we’re finished.

This does not mean that we should purposely go on sinning. John makes this clear: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1).

Yes, we are sinners. The good news is that when we do slip and fall we have Someone to help us up—Jesus! You see, perfection is not supposed to be our goal, holding on to Jesus is! This one goal should consume us! Because of this, I want to be less focused on my current level of “perfection” and more focused on my hope in Jesus Christ! He will finish the work—we just need to stay in His hands so we can make it to the finish line.

Thoughts on Paul, Thorns, and Grace

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Any study on grace would eventually arrive at Paul’s personal struggle and God’s promise of grace. This struggle is laid out for us in 2 Corinthians 12:7–10. For the first six verses of chapter 12, he talks about visions and revelations from God, and his desire to boast about them. Then mentions that, to keep him from becoming conceited, he was given a “thorn in the flesh.” He says he pleaded with God to take it away three times, yet God wouldn’t remove his “thorn.” Instead, God gives a very interesting reply to Paul’s request: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (verse 9).

It is clear that Paul was struggling with something. Some have suggested that it was poor vision (mainly because of a lone statement in Galatians 6:11). However, I have always had a difficult time believing this was his “thorn.” Here are my thoughts on why: most often, when Paul speaks of the “flesh” he is speaking of the sinful nature, not the physical body itself. So it is more likely that he is talking about a sinful nature issue, not a physical issue. In addition, according to Paul, this issue in his life was there to keep him from becoming conceited. Poor vision, or any other physical impairment, does not necessarily keep someone from becoming spiritually conceited. (I have known a few proud people who wore glasses.) Besides, this poor vision issue is only mentioned once, while other, more serious struggles are mentioned more frequently.

A more humbling trial would be one that is of the spiritual nature; possibly a character flaw he wrestled with. Consider Paul’s frustration in Romans 17:15–25. In this passage he begins by saying, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very things I hate” (vs 15), and finishes with, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (vs 24). In addition, in this very passage, Paul mentions these hated actions are done “in the flesh.”

It would make sense that Paul, a former Pharisee, did not like any lagging spiritual problems, so he pleads with God to remove it. Yet, God’s reply was, “My grace is sufficient.” Would God’s grace be needed for poor vision? Is grace simply a bifocal substitute? More to the point, can weak eyesight keep a person out of heaven? Of course not, so why would grace be the answer? Grace is needed for sin. It is necessary for spiritual “thorns.” God’s encouragement to Paul was that His grace is sufficient to save a frustrated former Pharisee who was still struggling with spiritual imperfections. This is again evident in Paul’s response to God’s answer of grace: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (verse 10). Each struggle Paul mentions in that list were struggles he met as he ministered and followed the path God set before him. These are spiritual struggles—not vision impairment! Therefore, I believe there is a greater argument in Paul’s writings to establish a spiritual “thorn” that would require such grace from God.

Why does this even matter? This gives me more hope. I can go to the eye doctor and get a new prescription, or get Lasik surgery, to improve weak eyes. But my walk with God is riddled more with weak faith, lack of courage, biased love, and other spiritual inconsistencies. No doctor on earth can help me with those struggles. For that I need grace. Praise the Lord, that’s exactly what grace is for! And God will say to us as well, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Heaven on Layaway

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I am always amazed at how we humans can be so fickle about what we will accept as a gift. At one moment any gift is seen as unacceptable charity, usually due to senseless pride. Another moment, we will do anything to get some pointless thing free, but it turns out not to be so “free” after all. I’ve learned, too often the hard way, that neither position is healthy. Although most situations I experience have been trivial, I have caught myself acting both ways in my spiritual life. Most often, it has been refusing the free gifts—like salvation—that God offers me.

People refuse free gifts in one of two ways: we either outright refuse to accept the free gift, or we offer to pay for the free thing. So, maybe I don’t want to refuse salvation, but I don’t want to accept it as a free gift either. This poses a huge problem.

It’s a problem because the gospel message is simple: If we hold onto Christ, we have life. Sin (as I shared with you in the last blog) is breaking off this saving relationship with God; it is rebellion against His love. This meant that salvation and condemnation are relational, not behavioral. For many this isn’t good news. Most often, it’s because there is a deep desire within us to have something to do with our own salvation. We want it to be behavioral—we want to work it out ourselves and be self-made. It often seems that we want salvation to be something earned.

I had been taught (not always directly, but frequently implied) that we must do some great pious thing as payment for eternal life. Yet the Bible is very clear that this isn’t the case: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4, 5). God made us alive when we were dead in sin; we are saved by God’s grace. Just as Peter said in Acts 15:11, “We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved.”

God’s grace is an amazing thing. Most define the Biblical concept of grace as “unmerited favor” or, as some might suggest, getting what we don’t deserve. Interestingly, in the Old Testament, the word for grace is frequently translated only as “favor” and is found in the commonly used phrase, “so-and-so found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” Noah found favor. Abraham found favor. Moses found favor. The list goes on. I find it fascinating that this favor they each found in God’s eyes was unmerited. They didn’t do anything to deserve it. In fact, each example has a long enough list of bad behavior on their résumé. Yet, each one was in a relationship with God. Study about their lives and you will see that this favor (grace) came as a result of that relationship.

Although grace was present in the Old Testament, it wasn’t fully realized by mankind until Jesus came. John 1:17 says, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The law was well defined through the writings of Moses. But as Jesus ministered to the people, they were shown a more complete demonstration of grace. Think of the woman caught in adultery—grace. Think of Zacchaeus—grace. Think of the thief on the cross—grace. Undeserved favor had never been seen like this!

Until Jesus, they may have, like us, looked back at those who had received God’s favor as being worthy of it—as if they had earned it. We often think that those stories served as examples of what would happen if we did the right things. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Paul tells us that these stories of mankind overcoming were to reveal to those who come afterwards the “incomparable riches of [God’s] grace” (Ephesians 2:6, 7). It was not the achievements of men that were on display, but it was the greatness of God’s grace. Those stories revealed the grace of a God who is able to save the most imperfect, forgetful backsliders among us.

It is necessary for us to see the greatness of His grace too. Romans 3:23, 24 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” We are all sinners, yes. We all fall short of God’s glory no matter how hard we try to live “right.” And we are all justified the same way—by His grace! Paul describes it this way: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4–7).

Our salvation was never based on what we have done, but has always been based on God’s mercy—His grace. Simple repetition of good actions will not create righteousness in our lives. “Conquering” our sinful desires does not earn us a mansion in God’s kingdom. Salvation is not earned—it is given. If we are to receive eternal life, it can only be through God’s unmerited favor towards us.

Then a thought creeps back into our minds: surely there is something we must do in addition to accepting this grace, right? Nope. Our works do nothing toward our salvation. The Bible is very clear: we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8, 9). Period. “And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:6). You can’t call it unmerited favor if you earn it, can you? It cannot be undeserved if you are able to pay it off in a righteousness installment plan, can it?

Sadly, this is what many seem to want: an installment plan on salvation—heaven on layaway. They want eternal life, but do not want it through charity. Yes, it may begin as a gift, but many want to pay God back. Is this what God offers? Salvation: 90-years-same-as-cash? Paul says in Galatians 2:21, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.” If we pass up God’s grace and try to work our way to heaven—salvation through a payment plan—we are claiming that Jesus’ death was worthless. Because, if we can earn salvation by ourselves why did Jesus die?

Now some have strongly disagreed with me on this idea. They have told me that they have accepted Christ’s sacrifice on their behalf, but there’s still a lot of work to do to keep saved. I cannot help but disagree with their disagreement. Did Jesus go through all of that humiliation and pain, and not change a thing? Did He suffer through everything He did so our salvation would be just as difficult (if not more)? Can we truly accept Jesus as our savior and still need to justify ourselves before God with our own actions? This is Paul answer: “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace” (Galatians 5:4). Whenever we try to justify ourselves with our own “righteousness” we are, in reality, distancing ourselves from Christ and abandoning the grace that come through a saving relationship with Him. What a horrible thought!

Again, please don’t misunderstand me. Living under grace does not mean it doesn’t matter what we do. We cannot, as Jude 4 says, “change the grace of our God into a license for immorality.” This is not how grace works. Think about it: if you were pulled over by a police officer, clocked going more than 20 mph over the speed limit, and the officer only gives you a warning—he extends to you unmerited favor—does this offering of grace allow you to travel the rest of your trip at 20 mph over? If a different officer pulls you over a second time, would you be able to say, “Oh, it’s okay officer. I’m driving under grace”? Of course not! Grace does not give us permission to continue to live in rebellion.

What should be our reaction to grace then? The story of Moses provides our answer: Moses was a man who found favor in God’s eye. God said so Himself—to Moses! This is what Moses said in reply: “You [God] have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you” (Exodus 33:12, 13). Upon hearing that God’s grace was upon him, he desired to know God more so he could continue in that grace. It made him want a deeper relationship with God. Did he ever make a mistake after this? Plenty. Did God’s grace still cover him? We know it did: he was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Elijah and Jesus!

So what happened to Moses’ imperfections? Did he clear them all up in the last minute? Did he get “control” over his life and that’s why he was on that mount with Jesus? Was Moses standing with Elijah because he had proved to God that he was finally worthy? Actually, he disobeyed God right before he died, which resulted in him not entering into the land of Canaan (see Deuteronomy 32:49–52). Even at the end he still had faults. Misbehavior was still part of this great patriarch’s life. Yet, he was there, on the Mount with Elijah, to encourage Jesus. How could this be? As God said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

God’s grace is sufficient to save sinners, no matter how deep they are in sin. In fact, the greater the sin, the greater the offering of grace (Romans 5:20). We should never underestimate the power of God’s grace. His grace was sufficient enough to cover the sins of Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, David, Mary Magdalene, Peter, Paul and many, many more. His grace was enough for the thief next to Him on the cross—the same one who had no opportunity to clean up his life. This means that His grace is sufficient to cover me—and you!

You see, I have realized that no matter how good I think I am, I will never be good enough. No matter how clean I am, I will never be clean enough. But God already knows that. We always fall short of God’s glory. Actually, He has never expected us to try to rise to His glory—rising to God’s glory is Satan’s desire (Isaiah 14:12–14; see also the lie Satan continues to tell humanity first said in Genesis 3:5)! Instead, God wants us to admit our imperfect humanity—our un-godlike nature—for it is in our weakness that His strength is revealed.

What if we still have some bumps and bruises? What if we don’t have it all together? We have to lay those imperfections at the feet of Jesus. Trust Him—He can take care of those issues—because His grace is sufficient to save you!