Yearning for Perfection

Many times throughout life we find ourselves yearning for, and desperately desiring perfection. It’s like it’s our shadow, following us wherever we go from parenting to friendship, study, work, music, diet, and body appearance. We get told it’s unattainable, unhealthy, and to be satisfied with ‘good-enough’. And yet almost everywhere we turn it comes back. So, what if there was a reason we were longing for perfection?

Recently I have been working through a number of Bible studies by Frontier Alliance International (FAI) (which I would highly recommend). The Studies themselves have nothing to do with perfectionism but it’s amazing how God can tie scriptures together to whisper to us exactly what we need to hear in the moment. The passage we were studying was Ephesians 5:25-32.

Almost everybody knows this passage. Its used at weddings and pretty much all Christian pre-marriage counseling but the teacher from FAI suggested that while on a surface level the passage is about marriage Paul is actually using marriage as a prophetic picture for something that is much greater.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,  
that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the
word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or 
wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same 
way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife 
loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, 
just as Christ does the church because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man
 shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall 
become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to 
Christ and the churh.(ESV) Ephesians 5:25-32

Hidden in this passage is the fulfillment of our desire for perfection. This beautiful passage is the future and hope of us, the church. Marriage is not primarily about our happiness but about painting a picture of the relationship Christ will have with the church when He returns.

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.  By doing this Christ is sanctifying the church and cleansing the church. So that the church may be presented to Christ in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or blemish. So that the church and all its members are holy without imperfection. Or to word it differently so that the church is made perfect.

We know that this passage is not solely referring to our earthly marriages because it concludes with Paul saying “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

As I sat and pondered the depth of this passage the freeing truths that became apparent were

1. We crave perfection now because this is what we are destined for
2. The here and now is grace
3. It is only Christ, not ourselves that will perfect us

Holy Spirit also reminded me of another passage that in a way summarises this sentiment. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5

We know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, 
they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and 
we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to 
move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions 
around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! 
We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection 
bodies! The Spirit of God wets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. 
He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.(MSG)
2 Corinthians 5:1-5

With the last sentence really driving it home. He (Jesus) puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle. This is the reason for some of our current struggles with perfectionism. Before sin and the fall our thoughts, desires, impulses, consciousness, heart, and emotion were totally un-corrupted and pure. However, since we all live in a post-fallen world every aspect of ourselves has in some way been affected. Jesus’ work is restoring us to our pre-fallen state. We yearn for it because that is what we are made for.

Jesus is the only one who can and will one day perfect us. It is impossible for us to achieve it through our own efforts. And we are not promised this in order to promote ourselves but so we can become a bride worthy of Christ.

Today we live between the now and not yet. We have this tension between what we presently are and what we are becoming. It means yes we struggle with perfectionism but ultimately we have hope knowing that the day will come when we are made perfect for and by Jesus.