My parents were such perfectionists that if I came home with a 98 scrawled in red at the top of a paper, they’d inquire what had gone wrong. When it came to housework, my mother labored tirelessly to banish every dust mote and polish every tile. Of course, she enlisted her daughters for help, which is why the image of a spotless house still haunts me today.
In truth, there is nothing truly flawless in this fallen world, yet we all seem to pursue some ideal of the perfect job and the faultless spouse. At times, many of us also yearn to be straight-A Christians.
This would be someone who never fumes at drivers dawdling along while yakking on their cellphones; never drinks an extra glass of wine and then posts stupid things on Facebook that she regrets the next day; and never tells a white lie when someone begs her to comment on their new hairstyle.
This perfect Christian would spend less money on clothes and more on charity, cook meals for every neighbor who has had a new baby, and always stop to help people stranded on the roadside.
Just reading that list is exhausting, and reminds me how far off the mark I seem to be. But these are all good pursuits, and I deeply admire folks who are apparently fulfilling nearly all of them — especially if they’re motivated out of a truly Christ-like love for others rather than fear they won’t make the grade.
Then there are the Christians like me, often trying to rack up points on some imaginary test, which we envision being scrutinized by a stern teacher in the sky. We sometimes fret that if we don’t make straight A’s, the Big Guy will scold us.
Fortunately, the New Testament reveals a stunning fact, namely that Christ’s first followers were certainly not straight-A students. There was that very down-to-earth fisherman, Peter, a man who begged Jesus, “Depart from me for I am a sinful man” — and then denied even knowing him.
Add to the list James and John, who squabbled over which one would get the choice spot in heaven. And don’t forget the woman with a tarnished reputation who shed enough tears to wash Christ’s feet.
These stories reveal that God doesn’t expect us to be superhuman, but that’s not to say we should stop trying. Instead, we might acknowledge that, despite our best intentions, there will be days when we are hung over, heartbroken and hurting.
There will be days when we doubt, when we fall prey to Satan’s snares — and run in the opposite direction from God.
Jesus could have chosen virtuous, upstanding-in-the-community guys with solid track records and women with spotless pasts. Instead, he selected a motley crew of sinners who failed many of life’s big tests. I would say this is because Jesus came into the world to show us the merciful face of God.
The apostles were so flawed they fell asleep when he begged them to pray with him — and then largely abandoned him at the Crucifixion. But that surely came as no surprise to Jesus since he forgave everyone from the cross.
Whenever I am haunted by the image of the perfect Christian, I remind myself that Christ came to call sinners like me. These are the people who rarely get gold stars in the book of life, but through God’s mercy I pray we will make it into heaven anyway.
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