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Perfect is a description of the attitude in the heart that results in how one treats others. I have always thought it was a description of external conformance to a list of requirements and ideals that felt unattainable so I always felt resistance to this verse. It triggered the reaction inside of me that legalism uses the Law to produce as described in Romans 7.
But when reading My Utmost it suddenly hit me with much more clarity just now that Jesus is talking about a disposition of the heart, not a description of performance. That becomes much clearer when I honestly consider what being “perfect” is in God's context.
If being “perfect” for God meant the same thing that I always thought it meant for me, then God would be always careful to do the right thing to get everyone else to think He was perfect. He would never fail to keep all of His rules and Laws and would never be caught doing or thinking anything bad.
Now of course, that would seem to be very easy for God to do because He is all-powerful and furthermore is not even tempted by sin. But it seems to me, with that view in mind, to be uncaring and even harsh of Him to demand that I have to do the same as He is doing with all of my disadvantages. But now that I think about it that is basically what I have thought for most of my life.
But Chambers said something here that alerted me to a completely different perspective on this word. I have always placed the word “perfect” in the realm of the externals, the behavior – including the thoughts – the performance arena of my life. Since I was nearly unaware of how to live from the heart successfully I had no alternative option from which to consider this word. This text was always used to impose a sense of inadequacy, guilt and shame on me with the supposed effect of causing me to want to work even harder to become externally perfect with the added burden of including my own imagination and impulses. That was an impossible task and a burden that neither we nor our father's could bear. But it was laid on us nonetheless.
Now I am beginning to see this text quite differently. Chambers implies that perfection as God demonstrates it is in the perfect attitude and disposition that He has toward us. It is seen in His gentleness, forbearance, forgiveness, graciousness, and strong, passionate desire for us to come close to Him so that we can receive more life and be filled with joy in the presence of His love.
The biggest obstacle for me to see perfection in that light previously was that my internal picture of God did not perceive Him in that light. Oh, I might have been able to string those words together as a verbatim repeating of some Biblical proof texts. But my heart did not feel or experience the reality of those words in the way I thought and felt He was treating me, and certainly not in the way most people who claimed to represent Him treated me.
My picture of God was mostly formed around a stern, rigid, rule-imposing authority figure who seemed rather distant but demanded that I love Him in spite of His unattractiveness. To make matters worse, I read many statements that described a natural obedience motived by spontaneous love in response to God's love and it all seemed totally confusing and meaningless to me. I could never comprehend how that could be a reality in my life by trying harder to keep rules and discipline my thoughts and .... and I could never honestly say that I could feel any love coming toward me from God. Now after spending significant time in Romans 7 I can see more clearly how I was “married” to the wrong spouse spiritually which made it impossible to be “perfect” even though that was the constant demand of the “Law” and all the rules of performance that I was directed to focus on. The more I tried to be perfect the more I seemed to experience the opposite reactions, in my heart, at least if not externally.
But now after receiving several years of radical modification of my views about God and starting to see Him as a heart-based being who is passionate about His love for everyone, who lives from His heart and desires us to live more from our hearts than being focused on performance, it is becoming easier to see this word in a different light.
I am realizing that it is crucial that I first experience the truth about how God really feels about me and treats me before it is even possible to approach the idea of perfection and arrive at a correct understanding of it. If I treated people the way my heart thought God was treating me for most of my life, my attitude toward them would be very distant, somewhat harsh and quite demanding of conformance to my ideals for them. I am sad to say that that is really a pretty accurate description of what my life has looked like and still does far too much. I have treated people the way my heart felt treated by God and the damage from that has been enormous and devastating. But I cannot change the way I spontaneously act toward others until I get a better picture of the truth about how God really feels toward me. And I can't get that changed by means of force, even toward myself. Instead, I have to be exposed at the heart level to the humbleness, gentleness, and kindness of God that leads me to repentance. I have to get a correct understanding of who Jesus really is and what He has done for me. And I also need to be filled with a new Spirit at the heart level that energizes and gives life to all of these new understandings and truths about God. That is what I see as the Romans 8 experience.
Now I am beginning to see that when I look at the word “perfect” as a description of attitude more than performance that it becomes much more within reach. Not that I can change my own heart by trying harder. But I am starting to learn that my heart will change naturally if it is exposed more openly to the grace and beauty of God's real feelings and dealings with me. Instead of focusing on trying to be “perfect” – which only tends to trigger the opposite feelings as described in Romans 7 – I find that as I fill my mind with more and more truth about God's passion and emotions and heart attitudes about me that my own heart begins to warm and desire to reflect what I see in Him.
That reminds me of a verse coming up later in Romans 12. It contrasts the difference between a life of attempted conformance and a life of spontaneous and joyful combustion. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2 NIV)
The pattern of this world is to insist on external conformity through force and hard work, motivated by fear, intimidation or shame. The religious life modeled on this pattern is not that much different but uses the Law of God as its tool for measurement. It is primarily a left brain religion that is very keen on being right, believing the right facts and doctrines and focused on looking good. That is the goal of that interpretation of “perfect”.
True religion, in contrast, is a heart-based transformation that comes naturally by filling my mind with new things that dislodge the lies about God. It is a transformational experience that reorients the relationship of my left and right brain so that I can be led by the Spirit of God and live as a Christian naturally and spontaneously. The compelling motivation of my life will be springing from my heart instead of being driven by my head. My life can move from fear and shame and force to love and value and peace. It is only then that I am even able to perceive and agree with what God's will is and I will then perceive His will as something good, something that is pleasing and desirable and I will be glad to be perfect.
