Being Perfect

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that we are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. The word for “perfect” in the sermon is the Greek word “telos.” Jesus, however, presumably spoke Aramaic, a derivative of Hebrew, so even though the text of Matthew 5:48 is in Koine Greek, the word he used for “perfect” was probably something like the Hebrew word “tamim,” which is also the same word used in Genesis 17:1 where God calls Abram to walk before him and be “tamim.” This word is also used in Deuteronomy 18:13, where the LORD says that you must be “tamim” before the LORD your God. The Greek word “telos” and the Hebrew/Aramaic word “tamim” both indicate perfection and blamelessness.

When I read the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:48 as a kid, I was very much concerned, knowing I was far from being perfect or possessing any kind of perfection: how could I achieve the perfection of God? When I learned it could also mean blamelessness, it did not alleviate any of my consternation, for I was also far from being blameless or attaining any kind of blamelessness. I knew it was important to be perfect like God the Father, but I did not have the slightest clue as to how.

I tried my best to be perfect, religiously reading the Bible for clues as to how I could be perfect like my heavenly Father. The more I searched the Scriptures, however, and compared them with myself, the more I found the chasm yawning between me and God: he was perfection to the T and I was not.

There was, of course, the concept of grace that was spread around the church I grew up in like butter on bread, but no matter how much grace was spread about, in terms of being perfect, I felt like I was toast. No matter how hard I tried and no matter how much I surrendered, I was not perfect and never saw how I could ever be. It seemed to be a prize sealed in the vaults of heaven, not to be attained till the life hereafter.

Perfection in the Beginning

Somehow, somewhere, someway, early on, I got the idea stuck in my head that Genesis 1 and 2 represent the world in perfection: God is perfect, so everything he created would then too by extension be perfect, I suppose is the line of reasoning I was working with. Indeed, in the accounts of Genesis 1 and 2, God himself sees all creation as good and the creation of humanity as very good. “Good,” it seemed, was a euphemism for “perfect.” Furthermore, how could a perfect being like God create anything less than perfect?

Yet, here we are some several thousand/million years later, and we have a problem that the Bible refers to as “sin.” This presumably started in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit and were expelled from the garden to live a life of suffering. In short, they ruined life for the rest of us, and we have been paying the price ever since.

Since God is good, though, and perfect in goodness, he had a plan to reach out to us in our sinful, imperfect state and reunite us with himself in heaven, where all will be perfect and good, no stain of sin or imperfection anymore.

Still, in this conception, perfection lies beyond the scope of this life, but the rub is that Jesus tells us to be perfect like our Father in heaven is perfect, presumably, now in this life.

Seeing Perfection Anew

It seems that there is quite a bit of confusion regarding the term “perfect” and “perfection.” I have heard it said that “I’m perfectly imperfect,” which is, of course, a play on the words “imperfect” and “I’m perfect.” It is not merely a cute turn of phrase, but also carries with it a much more profound meaning, indicating that we are perfect even in the mess of our imperfection. How can this be, however? It seems that our idea of perfection does not take into account the exact nuances of the term. Indeed, we even misapply it to words like “good” or “very good.” While something that is good may be perfect, that is not always the case, even if that which is good comes from a perfect being like God.

Kinds and Degrees of Perfection

There are kinds and degrees of perfection. One kind of perfection is divine perfection, which belongs to God. Another kind of perfection is that of creation, which does not belong to God but creation. Still another kind of perfection is human perfection, which is exclusive to humanity. Of course, there are other kinds of perfection as well.

The perfection of humanity is found in its being all that it is and was created to be and become. The perfection of humanity is not found in humanity trying to be what it was never intended to be. Examples may be given, but I will not limit the imagination with any here. I will say that as creatures, humans are contingent beings, dependent upon the Creator for the fullness of their perfection.

Within a kind, there are degrees; thus, within human perfection, there are degrees of human perfection, whereat an individual may attain more or less towards the realization of that perfection in all its fullness, along with the contingency relation obtaining between humanity and the divine. Human perfection is essentially found in bridging the gap between creatureliness, being created by God, and divinity, being created in God’s image. Thus, the perfection of humanity is not an easy task.

Back to the Beginning

In Matthew 5:48, Jesus says we must be “telos” or “tamim” like the heavenly Father is. Though meaning “perfect” and “blameless,” these terms also carry with them the connotations of completeness and soundness, being whole and intact, healthy and healthful.

Thus, the call to perfection is not a matter of attaining some grandiose ideal that is unattainable. Rather, the call to perfection is a call to be whole and complete, sound and healthy, to be or become that which we were created to be as humans.

It seems when God created humans in his image, he sought to create something that was nearly impossible to make: he sought to make divine image-bearers, godlike icons of himself within the nature of creation. That is to say, God put God within humanity, in a special and unique way, different from and yet connected to all the rest of creation. Then, in Christ Jesus, God took on humanity’s flesh to become like us in order to save us from our sinful state.

The real trick is not for the greater, that is, God, to take on the lesser, that is, humanity, but for the lesser to take on the greater, for humans to become God.