Matthew 5:48 – Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
2 Corinthians 4:7 – But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
Look at those two verses, they seem contradictory. How do they fit together? There is a sense in which we are called to be “perfect.” But we are limited earthen vessels. How do we reconcile the two.
We misinterpret Jesus’ words when we think of “perfect” in a mathematical way counting each mistake or imperfection, each flaw as though “perfect” means one-hundred-percent-correct. We also would be wrong to interpret “perfect” in a way that loosens our responsibility and commitment to excellence. We should always do our best “as to the Lord” (Colossians 3:23-24). What does “be perfect” then mean?
The word “perfect” (Greek τέλειος – teleios) means mature, brought to its end, and points us to fulfilling our purpose. When Jesus says, “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect” He is not speaking about my quoting His words exactly as much as He is speaking about us fulfilling God’s intended purpose for us like God fulfills His. The context of the verse is Jesus’ teaching on loving. Jesus teaches us to love our enemies, “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:43). The word “that” speaks of purpose. To be “perfect” therefore is not so much keeping the letter of laws as much as it is loving others like Jesus did and does. That is something we can only do in the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22). When we love like that, in the power of the Spirit, we end up fulfilling God’s law (Romans 13:10). That is our purpose.
It’s one thing to be “perfect” in terms of maturely living out God’s purposes in our lives. It’s a maddening unsettling peace robbing misinterpretation to be a perfectionist. Pharisees were perfectionists. They presented themselves as perfectly keeping the letter of the law. In truth Jesus said they were white washed tombs full of dead men’s bones (Matthew 23:27). In reality they were sinners like everyone else. But their sin was compounded and called out by Jesus because of their hypocrisy (cf., Matthew 23). Jesus said they gagged themselves to retrieve a gnat that accidentally entered their mouth, but swallowed sins the size of camels (Matthew 23:24). That’s where the enemy wants us to live. He tempts us into an impossible standard, then goads us into hypocritical maneuverings to keep that impossible standard. It’s a trap. It’s a form of slavery. Beware!
The genesis of these comments is a faux pas, an unintended mistake, a brain glitch I recently had. Ever had one of those? I was teaching on John the Baptist’s words at Jesus’ baptism and describing what a “winnowing fan” is and described it as something used “to find water.” But that is incorrect. For some reason in my mind, I thought of that wood stick shaped like a big turkey wishbone that people use to find water. It’s more mystical, than real as a tool. Some call it a “witching rod.” There’s no scientific proof to back up its usefulness. It was the mainstay of people looking for water in bygone days and you could probably find a few who still use it. But it has nothing to do with the “winnowing fan” mentioned in Matthew 3:12 which is a tool to separate wheat from chaff. I have no idea why that popped into my mind and out of my mouth. I corrected myself a few moments later in my message giving the correct purpose of a winnowing fan, but it still bothered me that I made such a mistake.
I listened to my message as I drove home from church and, not to toot my own horn, the message seemed effective and made good helpful points, other than that faux pax. But it bothered me. It was a burr in my saddle. It was a fly in the ointment, a stone in my shoe. I began dwelling on my mistake. It gnawed at me. It was the only mistake I made as far as I know. But it stuck out to me. That one little mistake was ruining my day. I wondered if anyone else noticed my mistake. Were people politely overlooking my mistake later when they offered kind words of encouragement? I don’t like to make any error when it comes to the teaching of God’s word. I try to hold myself to the highest of standards. Being a pastor, a shepherd of a flock of Jesus’ sheep is a BIG responsibility. I don’t want to ever mislead them in any way even if unintentionally. That mistake was like a car wreak; I just couldn’t look away from it. But then the Lord started talking to me. And I began listening. He reminded me of important truths, a better perspective. Let me share what the Lord reminded me about.
What did I learn from my mistake? First, I learned that imbalanced focus on mistakes is a tactic of the enemy. The devil and his demons can ruin a good message with the temptation to hyper critical thinking. We need to guard against giving the enemy a foothold, a beach head from which to make further incursions and attacks into our life (Ephesians 4:27). Remember, it’s not about us, it’s not about our excellence. It’s about the power of God working excellently through earthen vessels. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”
Don’t get me wrong, we should do everything in our power to avoid mistakes. But we should also keep in mind that WE ARE NOT GOING TO ACHIEVE MATHEMATICAL PERFECTION IN THIS LIFE. “Perfect” in this life will always be relative to a realistic expectation of imperfections. Therefore, we need to learn to not only minimize our imperfections but learn to live with the inevitability we will make errors. We have to learn to rein in our Type A personality traits. We need to make an effort to minimize our imperfections but also not obsess over them. How do we find the balance?
The second thing I learned was to guard against having an unrealistic opinion of myself. Scripture states, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5-6). We need all the grace we can get so it would be wise to remain humble. To think “soberly” (Greek σωφρονέω sōphroneō) means to be of sound mind, sane, moderate, balanced. We need to not think too highly of ourselves, but not too lowly of ourselves either.
We need to corral our thoughts and our internal conversations. The Bible states, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:20-21). The context of those words is Paul’s instruction to Timothy to “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). The passage is a warning to not get caught up in unnecessary quarrels and useless disputes. For us we might extend this call and warning to not get caught up in internal criticisms or obsessing over indiscriminate errors we make. We should humbly admit and confess them when we discover them, or someone brings them to our attention. But we shouldn’t allow them to beat us down or keep us from moving forward in God’s purposes for us. Make every effort to avoid mistakes, but if you trip, regain your balance and keep moving forward.
The third thing I thought about was, we need to come to terms with our limitations. To the very gifted, wealthy, and talented Corinthians, Paul wrote:
2 Corinthians 4:7-12 – But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.
Someone sardonically interpreted people being “earthen vessels” as people being “cracked pots.” Can’t say I disagree with them. We people are cracked, broken, flawed. But the point of Paul’s words is that we should own up to our limitations and understand any good accomplished through such “cracked pots” is all the more reason to give glory to God.
Notice an admission of Paul here. He uses the word “perplexed.” “Perplexed” (Greek ἀπορέω – aporeō) means to be at a loss mentally, to be left wanting, to be embarrassed. When we are young the world is a wonder. As we grow, we mistakenly think we know everything about anything. As we mature, we learn we don’t know as much as we thought we did. And as we age we begin to wonder how we thought we knew anything. The only sure thing in this life is “the more sure word” of God (2 Peter 1:19). The Holy Spirit is our Teacher (John 16:13). He anoints us to understand God’s word (1 John 2:20). He gifts us to proclaim and teach it in edifying ways (Ephesians 4:11-12). But we still need to come to terms with our limitations. Sometimes we will speak like golden tongued orators, sometimes we won’t. The thing to remember, the thing to count on and be thankful for, is that God is able to take our meager morsels and make a meal that will feed the hungry.
The most important thing I was reminded of was, God’s grace. The solution to dealing with our imperfections is grace. Grace is not an excuse to haphazardly accept imperfections. Grace enables us to live through imperfections that arise despite our best efforts. Paul prayed three times for a thorn in his flesh to be removed. God’s answer was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul didn’t complain about God’s decision. He certainly didn’t discount God’s grace. Paul embraced and exulted in his human condition responding, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). “Infirmities” (Greek ἀσθένεια – astheneia) refers to feebleness of mind and body, frailty, sickness, weakness. Infirmities are the consequence of the general effects of sin. There are consequences for the personal sins we choose to do (Galatians 6:7-9). But there are also consequences of planetary sins we are born with because of our connection with our original parents (Genesis 3; Romans 5). What we see in the mirror is not what God originally intended us to be. We are fallen and flawed because of the inherited effects of sin. But grace gets us through our fallenness.
We need to remember who we are and who we aren’t. We are complete in Christ in terms of our salvation, our eternal life, and its security (Colossians 2:10). But we are still in our earthen vessels. It’s important for us to make this distinction. The weaker we understand ourselves to be, the more we will depend on God’s grace. And the more we do that, the more we humbly admit we are flawed, imperfect, prone to mistakes, the greater the power of Jesus will be in us.
I have been in ministry around four decades. I have evolved, grown, matured over that time. I began teaching as a slave to my notes and preparation. Every detail of my messages were planned to perfection. When I delivered my message, if I left something out, I felt I had failed. My focus was on my flaws. At that point my messages were my messages. But I needed to grow beyond that perspective. Through prayers of frustration and felt failure I came to a realization, a more accurate and truthful perspective. The Holy Spirit of truth eased my concerns and called me, invited me, to trust Him and be open to His extemporaneous directions. I obeyed and it was a liberation.
When I surrendered to the Spirit and put faith in His provision, no longer were my messages a product of my preparation. When I trusted Him, preaching and teaching became more like setting a table in study and then waiting on Him to work. Ministering was transformed from a pressure cooker to a joyful celebration. Trusting Him meant presenting myself as a waiter to the Holy Spirit who would cook the meal. What I discovered was that even if from time to time I’d spill a drink or not fold a napkin properly or even mess up a table setting, the Holy Spirit always had a way of bringing me and those at the table with us, to a place of being filled. I learned, the presentation isn’t as important as the meal itself. Good food, cooked just right, minimizes the importance of how it is presented. No matter how determined we are to be perfect, in this life, we can always find a water stain on the plate. But don’t let the slight imperfections ruin the meal.
God’s grace will lead you to a place where you find satisfaction in saying, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). God’s grace will settle you, comfort you, smooth out the rough edges. “Needs” (Greek ἀναγκή – anagkē) refers to distresses due to felt needs. “Needs” are what you feel when something is missing. Grace enables us to press on even when we don’t measure up or feel we are missing something. Grace is exactly what we need when a winnowing fan becomes a witching rod.
All of this requires a step of faith. We are realistic and admit we aren’t perfect. But we present ourselves to the Lord for His use. We have a mindset that accepts, “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:13-15). We speak in faith, faith in God’s power to effectively use us. We speak, because the Lord has a resurrection in our future. We speak, because people need to hear God’s word. We speak, because of God’s grace, and everyone needs to hear about that and be thankful to the God who gives it. We speak, because what God does through these cracked earthen vessels, in spite of us, is miraculous and He should be glorified for it.
In the end I was able to thank God, even for my earthen imperfections. Thank You Lord, for using me at all. Thank You for Your Grace. May God help us and keep our winnowing fans from becoming witching rods. May we do our best, in the power of the Spirit, and trust Him for the rest. May we pray, in Jesus’ name, “Lord, please make us what we need to be, so we can do what You call us to do, for Your glory, until Jesus returns.” Amen!