The Oddity of Perfection
Isn't it interesting that the number
7, which by divine estimation is the number of perfection, is in human
estimation an "odd" number? You might say numbers by course of
alternation, are either even or odd. And yet, it is indisputable that in this course
of alternation, the lot of 7 has fallen to the "odd" category. My
point in using this example of the perfect yet odd number 7 is to simply show
this, that when something is considered as perfect (or in a state of being
perfected) by God, it is more often than not considered as "odd" by
people who do not have a yen for recognizing the perfect.
When the perfect Son of God and Son
of Man walked this earth, He was not recognized as perfect. Instead, He was
considered odd, very odd indeed. The people He came to save first, the Jews, esteemed
Him “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4) His own family and
the folk of his town thought at one point, that He had gone insane. When He was
sentenced and then crucified by Roman authorities, they thought they were doing
away with a criminal, a socially odd person. In all these cases, He who was
perfection in the flesh was considered odd.
Perfection and Imperfect People
Perfection is a property of reality
that evokes a sense of oddity. When imperfect people are confronted with
perfection, it is beyond perception, beyond recognition. When we who are
imperfect behold that which is perfect, we look at it through imperfect eyes,
and with imperfect judgment conclude that it is odd. Naturally so, for without
a frame of reference imperfect people cannot recognize perfection.
For instance, if you bring an
uncivilized Barbarian into a Renaissance art museum, and show him some of
Michelangelo's sculptures, or a Rembrandt painting, and exclaim
"Perfect!" he may think in his own thinking way, “How odd that this
city man is looking at a piece of stone and calling it 'perfect.' ” Further, he
may consider the storing of stones and rocks (which we call “sculptures”) in
vaulted buildings, an odd practice. He has no frame of reference for perfection
in western high art. You may say he has no “class.” I say he has not had a “class!”
So give him one. Give him some time: educate him, enculturate him, display
“perfection” of this sort before him regularly. Then bring him back after a
year or so, and you may find appreciation has been cultivated. He may then stand
gazing with you, appreciative of Michelangelo's sculpture, David. Why?—Because
now, a frame of reference has been built into his thinking. And now, though he
may not be able to pull off a sculpture like Michelangelo's, he at least has a
sense of the "perfect" in art. What was once odd in his estimation is
now appealing. So perfection evokes a sense of oddity, in that what is truly
perfect is viewed by imperfect people as odd, unless they have been exposed to
and have experienced perfection for themselves.
What then does a person need in
order to recognize the Perfect Man, Jesus, and to recognize imperfect men being
made perfect? More importantly, why do we need to recognize the Perfect Man,
and the process of perfection He carries out in people?
Irresistible
First, in order to recognize the
Perfect Man and to recognize the process of perfection in other men (and
women), one needs to know Him. When I say “know” I don't mean mere intellectual
assent, as in “know of” Him. By knowing Him, I mean knowing Him experientially
and relationally. One needs to be exposed to and experience the Perfect Man. But
isn’t He odd? Why would I, and how could I want to know someone who is odd in
my estimation? My being drawn to Jesus is not a cause for worry, because part
of His perfection is that Jesus draws people into a relationship with Himself.
You do not have to, neither can you, know Him by an exercise of your own will. He
takes the initiative and He is so perfect that when He woos you, it is
irresistible. When Perfection finally woos, His is an irresistible wooing that
causes us to perceive His perfection. When Jesus woos us, we begin to know Him
and He instills within us that frame of reference needed to recognize perfection
and anything that falls short of it. When we know Him and see Him as perfect,
because of the frame of reference He gives us, we also begin to see the work of
perfection in ourselves and in other people. The Perfect One who wooed us is also
in the work of perfecting us, and others.
We need to know Jesus in order to recognize the Perfect One He is, and His
work of perfection in others. Does your heart cry out for perfection? Do you know
Jesus, the Perfect One? His invitation to all is, “Come!”
But why is there a need to recognize
perfection at all—whether in the Perfect Man Jesus, or in others? The answer to
this is something we all need to know for our everyday lives, as you and I interact
with people of varying personalities.
Not So Great Expectations
Simply put, we need to recognize the
process of perfection in people because none of us are perfect. In fact, we are
far from perfect. We are imperfect and flawed. We are—as Jesus describes us—sinners.
However, the good news is this. The Perfect One came to call us sinners to
repentance: that is, a life that is being restored to perfection. When we,
having realized we fall short of perfection and are sinful, come to Jesus, He
exposes our great flaws showing us our need for Him. Then He puts us on the course
to being perfected by His gracious and masterful hand. He does that to all who
are wooed by His perfection. In this life, if and when we come to Jesus, we are
on the path to perfection, never yet perfect. Only in heaven will we have been
perfected, in the sense that we will be in the presence of God, without sin,
suffering, and death.
There’s a second reason we should
recognize the process of perfection in people, and that’s because it lowers our
expectations of them. Bill Thrasher states something very profound when he
says, “Expectations destroy relationships.” When we realize that people are in
the process of being perfected, and are far from perfect, our expectations of
them are lowered, and we grant them grace, forgiving them their imperfections,
their flaws, and the hurt they have dealt us. We are able to better preserve
relationships with people in whom God has begun the work of perfection. This is
also true of people in whom God has yet to begin the work of perfection. We
also lower “perfectionist” expectations of ourselves, and are more forgiving of
our own flaws. We grant grace when we encounter imperfection in others, knowing
that we ourselves have been granted grace by the Perfect One, and knowing that
we, though being perfected by Him, are far from perfect. This is not a call to
let people take advantage of us, rather a call for us to take advantage of the perfecting
work of grace in our life, and display the fact that the Master has begun to
perfect us.
Have you realized you are far from
perfect? In the process of your own perfection have you begun to grant grace to
people whose imperfections clash with your expectations of them? If you have,
you should thank God who is giving you grace to bear with the serious flaws of
other people. This is a mark of His perfecting grace in your life. If you
cannot answer in the affirmative, you are perhaps not experiencing and being
exposed to the Perfect Son of God and Son of Man, Jesus. He is the Perfect One,
and invites you to follow Him, leaving a life of sin that will not ultimately end in perfection, but in
destruction and death. Instead, He invites you to a path that will lead to
eternal bliss and perfection. Won’t you come?
© Kenny Damara, 2014
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