The newest addition to the Baker family is an 80lb Airedale Terrier
named Zeke. I’m not ashamed to say it… he is my baby.
We got Zeke a little over a year ago when he was already one year old. Zeke was an outside country dog and didn’t have any home training, so
it was quite an adjustment bringing him indoors and introducing him to city
life. Though he already possessed a strong protective instinct, Zeke needed a
lot of training. Well, my wife would say he still needs a lot of training.
When he tries to give hugs to friends and family he hasn’t seen in a
while, or occasionally chews up a rug or my kids’ homework, one of two
not-so-healthy reactions usually arises within me. Sometimes, I get drawn in by
the puppy dog eyes and think, “Look at that face. I can’t stay mad at you. You’re
perfect!” Other times, I get defensive toward Stephanie and say something along
the lines of, “He’s not perfect like God; he’s just a dog! You should show him
some grace!”
Unfortunately,
neither of those approaches toward perfection are beneficial to my family,
house guests, or Zeke.
As I wrote in a previous blog entry, Joseph Prince has created a
theology that prevents him from feeling any guilt over not obeying the commands
of Jesus given before the cross. Given that understanding, you know he’s going
to have an interesting take on Jesus’ command for His disciples to, “Be
perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Here’s what he has to say: “We are already made perfect in Christ. We
don’t work towards perfection. Christ has made us perfect from the Cross. The
minute you believe you are made perfect in Christ.”
Those words just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, don’t they?
But I wonder… if Christians are eternally perfect from the moment they believe,
why does Paul write that God has caused many of the Corinthians to die and become
sick for not celebrating the Lord’s Supper in a holy manner?
If Christians are eternally perfect from the moment they believe, why
does Jesus tell the church at Pergamum He will wage war against them unless
they repent of their idolatry and sexual immorality?
If Christians are eternally perfect from the moment they believe, why
does Peter write that Christian husbands who don’t treat their wives with gentle
understanding will have their prayers hindered? Furthermore, why does he warn that God turns His face and ears away from Christians who do evil?
Even though we are made completely clean when we receive Jesus, forgiven
of all the sins we’ve committed and declared righteous, adopted children of God, clearly we are not always perfect in God’s sight. So what does Jesus mean
by the command to be perfect as God is perfect?
Let’s
start with the context of the passage in question:
“You have
heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But
I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that
you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise
on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love
those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do
the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles
do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect. – Matthew 5:43-48
It’s not that difficult to see that Jesus is imploring us to leave a
worldly form of love behind for a heavenly kind that actually changes things for the better.
He’s calling us to leave immaturity and choose to grow up and act like Him. If
there were more important words for today’s issues, I don’t know what they
could possibly be.
What
about the early Christians? How did they interpret this charge?
“Be perfect
as your father, perfectly,” … Now the Father wishes us to be perfect by living
blamelessly, according to the obedience of the Gospel. –
Clement of Alexandria 195CE, Volume 2, p. 921 [CD-ROM]
And
therefore the Lord the teacher of good things, forewarning for the future time,
says, “If you will be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me.” If rich men
did this, they would not perish by their riches. … He would follow the Lord
loosed and free, as did the apostles, and many in the times of the apostles,
and many who forsook both their means and their relatives, and held fast to
Christ with undivided ties. … But how can they follow Christ, who are held back
by the chain of their wealth? … They think that they possess, when they are
rather possessed. – Cyprian 250CE, Volume 5, p. 770 [CD-ROM]
Whether it’s the issues of materialism or loving enemies, Jesus isn’t
content to let us act like spoiled worldly teenagers. We are not at the center
of the universe, God is, and we exist by Him, through Him and for Him. As
Christians, we are His children, so we need to grow to act more like our
heavenly Father. He loves the evil and the good, and He left behind all the
riches of heaven to demonstrate that love to us.
The
Greek word for perfect used in these passages is teleios. It means something that becomes full-grown by going through the necessary stages to reach the end-goal. That’s a far different use of the word ‘perfect’ than I
use with Zeke, but it’s the one I should be using.
With that definition in mind, read this passage from James:
Consider
it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the
testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may
be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. – James 1:2-4
v What
trial is God currently allowing you to go through?
v What
enemy is God calling you to demonstrate tangible love to?
v What
worldly thing is God calling you to leave behind or relinquish ownership of so
that others can experience His blessing?
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