What do you mean ‘Perfection?’
PERFECTION
‘To be made perfect in love in this life’ is, United Methodists
believe, a goal that is attainable through God’s grace, and one
to be earnestly sought. Don’t wrinkle your nose just yet! By ‘perfection’ we
do not mean a sterile ‘perfectionism;’ perfection does
not mean, for instance, that every hair on your head is in place and
that there is no dust on top of your refrigerator, that you have no
overdue bills, that your schedule is easily managed, that you always
wear deoderant, that you never get frazzled, or that you have no questions
about the life of the spirit. Perfection does not mean that you have
discovered and adhere to the ‘right’ beliefs, as opposed
to what others believe. And while ‘doing all the good you can,
in all the ways you can, to every one you can’ is a clear expression
of what United Methodists strive for in their faith practice, perfection
certainly does not mean being an annoying ‘do-gooder’ who
makes others feel guilty and bad just by being in your esteemed presence.
Perfection is, also, not a golden egg at the top of a spiritual ladder--a
prize which only the elite and strong in the faith might hope to
attain, but which the rest of us peons can only dream about. Rather,
perfection
is our true home, the place where we belong--the place to which we
are being drawn but which we resist with all of our might. To ‘strive
for perfection’, then, means that we seek, through all the means
we can, to let go all our resistance to the love and grace of God in
our lives, so that the perfect love of Christ might shine forth in
us. It can be, and often is, a lifetime struggle; but that is only
because we are so stubborn, not because perfection is a hard and heavy
burden. ‘Lord I want to be like Jesus in my heart,’ is
a verse of a hymn that conveys what United Methodists mean when we
talk about ‘moving on to perfection.’
This then is the expectation for membership in the United Methodist
Church—that we seek nothing less than to be like Jesus, to
be made perfect in love. Toward this end, we pledge, when we join
the
church, to be faithful by supporting it with our prayers, our presence,
and our generous giving, both financially and in service to each
other and to our neighbor.
It is a high goal, and we may not achieve it, but in love we help
each other on the way.
