Perfection- Doug Savarie

I had a conversation with a friend a couple of weeks ago who is not a follower of Christ about why he refused to make a commitment to Jesus. Essentially, there were two things that were holding him back: (1) he did not want to be a part of the stereotype that Christians are hypocrites; and (2) he was not perfect and he believed that at true Christian was a nearly perfect person. These two things are very closely related. First of all, Christians sometimes appear to be hypocrites because they preach the gospel, yet they still sin. Secondly, God does not desire for us to be perfect. In the book of Romans, Paul writes, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23). We [Christians] know that we are sinners, and unfortunately, some of us sin by believing that we are more loved, or are better people, because we believe in God. The fact is that none of us are perfect. Paul writes in his letter to the Christians in Philippi, “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” (3:12). He, of all people, knows he is not perfect due to his past occupation of persecuting Christians; however, he continues to preach the gospel while acknowledging that he was the worst of all sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). I think that God’s desire is not for us to be perfect, but for us to embrace our imperfect humanity and the grace given to us through Jesus Christ.