{"id":47,"date":"2018-11-06T16:23:21","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T00:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/migrate.bettersermons.org\/?p=47"},"modified":"2020-06-01T11:41:33","modified_gmt":"2020-06-01T18:41:33","slug":"is-perfect-a-dirty-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/is-perfect-a-dirty-word\/","title":{"rendered":"Is “Perfect” a Dirty Word?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Is “Perfect” a Dirty Word?<\/span><\/div>\n

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Key Passage<\/strong>:\u00a0\u201cBe ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,\u201d\u00a0<\/i>Matthew 5:48.<\/p>\n

Key Thought:\u00a0<\/strong>God calls us to be perfect within a framework of complete spiritual peace and assurance. Perfection is equated with maturity and faithful growth.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


\nIllustration:<\/b>\u00a0Have you ever rolled two strikes in a row in the sport of bowling? It is a good feeling when that ball squarely hits the \u201cone-three\u201d pocket and all ten pins go flying. But it takes 12 strikes in a row for a perfect game of 300.<\/p>\n

Illustration:<\/b>\u00a0In 1956 Don Larson went to the mound in the World Series and proceeded to get 27 Dodgers out in a row. No hits, no walks, no errors, not a single Brooklyn hitter getting even 90 feet down the line to first base. That is a perfect game.<\/p>\n

Is \u201cperfect\u201d a wonderful word? In the pages of\u00a0Sports Illustrated<\/i>, yes. When your child gets a perfect 4.0 and is named valedictorian, yes. When your boss tells you the new web page you designed is perfect, good. When your family gets you a birthday present, and you tell them it\u2019s perfect, good.
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\nQuestion:<\/b>\u00a0Why is\u00a0perfect<\/i>\u00a0a great word except when it comes to religion and spiritual things?<\/p>\n

When Jesus says to His disciples, both in the year 31 A.D., and here in the 21st century,\u00a0\u201cBe ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,\u201d\u00a0<\/i>(Matthew 5:48), we begin to get nervous. We begin to think about words like \u201cPharisaism\u201d and \u201cperfectionism.\u201d Are we only going to get into heaven if we manage to get our spiritual lives up to the level of \u201cperfect\u201d\u2014a 300 in bowling and a 4.0 at UCLA and 27 straight outs in the Fall Classic?<\/p>\n

Question:<\/b>\u00a0Should Christians even strive for perfect? Is perfection our goal? Frankly, trying to be perfect gets bad marks in the Christian faith; the challenge of striving to be completely perfect has turned many would-be believers into atheists, or for sure into discouraged Christians.<\/p>\n

Rich Young Ruler:<\/b>\u00a0A young man asked Jesus: \u201cExcuse me, what good thing do I have to do to get eternal life?\u201d Jesus replies: \u201cKeep the commandments.\u201d \u201cWhich ones,\u201d the man asks, maybe thinking that out of the original blueprint, he can get by with just a couple of them. But no \u2014 Jesus runs down the whole list. And this wealthy entrepreneur, who bought Yahoo at four, sold PriceLine.com at 126\u00bd, and cashed out just before the dot-com bust, says to Jesus, \u201cI\u2019m already doing that. What else?\u201d Jesus tells him:\u00a0\u201cIf you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me\u201d<\/i>(Matthew 19:21).<\/p>\n

Is this what it takes? Complete sacrifice of all that we treasure in life? A life of monasticism?<\/p>\n

Reality Check:<\/b>\u00a0The Bible tells us flat-out that we are going to be imperfect. That\u2019s fact. We\u2019re told that in the Old Testament, a famous verse: Isaiah 64:6.\u00a0\u201cAll our righteous acts are like filthy rags.\u201d\u00a0<\/i>We\u2019re told the same thing in the New Testament: I John 1:8:\u00a0\u201cIf we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0In\u00a0The Message<\/i>:\u00a0\u201cIf we claim that we\u2019re free from sin, we\u2019re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Good News:<\/b>\u00a0I John 1:8 is exactly one verse away from one of the greatest statements in the entire Word of God. After we\u2019re told that we\u2019re sinners, and that we have sin in us\u2014gutter balls and C\u2019s and D\u2019s on our report cards\u2014Jesus makes us this promise:\u00a0\u201cIf we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Key Points:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

1. Though we are not perfect, God has a solution. It is heaven\u2019s plan to graciously lead us toward perfection\u2014as defined by God Himself.<\/p>\n

2. Even though we fail, God will still win and share His kingdom\u2019s triumph with us. His plan is called Calvary!<\/p>\n

3. Our failings, serious as they are, do not appear in Scripture to be a life-or-death issue, the overriding factor in Game Seven of the World Series.<\/p>\n

4. Even though grace is an \u201camazing\u201d and blessed gift from Jesus, saved Christians still determine to honor God by holy living. Matthew 5:16:\u00a0\u201cLet your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.<\/i>
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\nTrying to Obey:<\/b>\u00a0A leading evangelical apologist once spoke on the radio about the issue of keeping the Sabbath. His topic was grace and obedience: the reality that Jesus has paid the price for our sins, and that God is faithful to forgive. But should Christians then endeavor to keep all ten of God\u2019s Commandments: His answer went like this: \u201cNobody ever has or ever will live in a perfect obedience to it.\u201d Which is true. \u201cOnly Jesus Christ.\u201d That is also true. But then he went on to say this: \u201cYou don\u2019t, by trying to keep it every day, and I can\u2019t. So . . . I\u2019m not going to TRY.\u201d<\/p>\n

WRONG! Seek Obedience and Holiness:<\/b>\u00a0Because of the glory of Calvary, the Bible now invites us to walk toward new light, try to be holy and faithful. It is wrong to say, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter; I\u2019m not even going to try.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right Notes:<\/b>\u00a0All good piano players (even forgiven ones!) try to hit right notes, not wrong ones. Golfers aim at the pin, not the water hazards. Even weekend bowlers aim for the pins and not the gutter.<\/p>\n

Baseball Illustration:<\/b>\u00a0In 1988, Christian pitcher Orel Hershiser was nearly \u201cperfect,\u201d breaking Don Drysdale\u2019s so-called unbreakable record with 59 consecutive scoreless innings. Along with a miracle Kirk Gibson homer, his shutout pitching brought the Los Angeles Dodgers the crown in five games against the Oakland A\u2019s. In his baseball book,\u00a0Men at Work<\/i>, George Will asked Hershiser: \u201cSo what\u2019s your goal when you go to the mound? A no-hitter?\u201d Orel gave this answer, which every Christian should pay attention to. \u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cA perfect game. If they get a hit, I am throwing a one-hitter. If they get a walk, it\u2019s my last walk. I deal with perfection to the point that is logical to conceive it. History is history, the future is perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, starting from\u00a0now<\/i>, the goal is never IMperfection\u2014it\u2019s always perfection. You go to the mound planning to give up no hits. If someone gets a hit, well, from that point ON, you plan to give up no more hits. You aim for perfection because you love your team and because that\u2019s what a dedicated ballplayer does.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s especially gratifying to take that view when you know there\u2019s a Kirk Gibson in the dugout, ready to win the game for you in the bottom of the ninth.
\n______________________________<\/p>\n

Submitted by David B. Smith. Better Sermons \u00a9 2005-2009. Click here for\u00a0<\/span>usage guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is “Perfect” a Dirty Word? Key Passage:\u00a0\u201cBe ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,\u201d\u00a0Matthew 5:48. Key Thought:\u00a0God calls us to be perfect within a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions\/49"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettersermons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}