The fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew is an extensive and powerful teaching moment of Jesus, where he gives a full statement about life within God’s kingdom.
This great teaching continues on in the next two chapters of Matthew. But the fifth chapter ends in verse 48 by saying: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect.” So yes, Matthew 5 is a powerful teaching of Jesus about how the realities of the kingdom of God that should and can be active in the life of a follower of Christ. And yet, Jesus ends it by saying: BE PERFECT.
The heart of Jesus here, reveals a direct plea to pursue a righteous life. Jesus makes it clear here: this is the standard of our heavenly father we are to reach for, and it is his example we are to follow.
Roger Hahn writes, “The biblical word for perfect means functional rather than absolute perfection. This implies a perfection that can improve and grow rather than being static… to be perfect is to be what God desires us to be at each stage of our spiritual journey. That perfection will grow and develop through years of relationship with Christ.”
Pursuing godly perfection is about completeness and this journey toward Christlikeness is one that seeks after the heart of the father, and what God desires for us in each season. This call of Jesus to pursue perfection is about intentional growth as a follower of Christ.
What Jesus asks for is not perfect performance of all God’s laws but a heart willing to grow and learn and love in a godly way. A heart to seek completeness in Christ. Not in a relationship or in a workplace environment.
So this has been your goal in the pursuit of perfection in your life? Do you have a genuine heart for experiencing God’s will in your relationship and plans?
The pursuit of perfection is a holiness issue, for the perfection being described in Matthew 5:48 is a holy work. In many of our lives today, we see this pursuit as impossible. So perhaps, once we understand what the pursuit of perfection is meant to be, we can adjust our mindset and seek to understand why Jesus called us to this, and not simply focus on how impossible this pursuit seems to be, making then these words of Jesus more meaningful to our daily lives.
Matthew 5 is about seeking completion and being found, complete in Christ. It reveals an impossible standard that is meant to help us see our need for an intercessor – a mediator between us and God – someone who would save us since we could never be righteous enough to save ourselves. So because “being perfect” is about the pursuit of holiness, we have to understand that this gift of perfection that Jesus gives is called imputed righteousness. It is the Lord’s righteousness that is given to us when Jesus saves us. It is a glorious exchange.
So pursue completeness in Christ and as you do, remember all of the people in the Bible who carried out God’s purpose. Most of them had some serious character flaws, some more than others. They were not humanly perfect, but God worked in their lives as they lived in surrender to him and sought to grow in him and his holy ways.
Even if you achieve what you consider to be perfection in this life, in your own strength and will, it will never satisfy your spiritual needs. You cannot make yourself perfect. As followers of Christ, we are not called to be perfect. We are called to be who we are with all our cracks and imperfections, knowing that God’s glory will shine through those places into the world around us and that the glory of God’s love will mend our brokenness into something far more beautiful than it was before.
Do not seek perfection. Seek completeness in Christ, so that even with our imperfections, God’s glory can shine all the more powerfully. So church, go and BE PERFECT. Seek completeness in Christ as you grow in him daily.
Nick Emery is lead pastor at Hope Crossing Community Church.
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