PURSUIT OF PERFECTION IS AN INTERESTING PHRASE. I HAVE MEDITATED ON IT VERY HARD. WHAT IS IT ABOUT PERFECTION THAT WE DON'T LIKE? IS IT THE KNOWN FACT OF OUR OWN IMPERFECTION? MOST PEOPLE WOULD READILY ADMIT THEY ARE NOT PERFECT. HOWEVER, SHOULD THIS JUSTIFY OUR NONE PURSUIT OF IT? SO THAT WE WILL HAVE A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF OUR DISCUSSION, PLEASE ALLOW ME TO DEFINE WHAT I MEAN WHEN I TALK ABOUT PURSUIT OF PERFECTION.
WEBSTER DEFINES PERFECTION AS AN EXTREME DEGREE OF EXCELLENCE ACCORDING TO A GIVEN STANDARD. TO BE PERFECT IS TO COMPLETE IN ALL RESPECTS, WITHOUT DEFECT, WITHOUT FLAW OR OMISSION. IT MEANS FLAWLESS, WITHOUT ERROR. THESE ARE DEFINITIONS FROM WEBSTER.
IT IS MY BELIEF THAT ALL HUMANS ARE BORN IN SIN AND SHAPENED IN INIQUITY. THUS, SIN IS AN HINDERANCE TO OUR REACHING PERFECTION. SO WE WOULD AGREE WITH THE STATEMENT NO ONE IS PERFECT. SHOULD MY INABILITY STOP MY PURSUIT IS THE QUESTION?
THE WORD PERFECT IN THE BIBLE IS THE GREEK WORD "TELEIOS" WHICH MEANS TO COMPLETE OR MATURITY, REACHING A GOAL SET BEFORE YOU, TO ATTAIN A MORAL END. THIS IS THE SENSE OF THE WORD IN WHICH I SPEAK, NOT FLAWLESS BUT A MATURING IN A MORAL SENSE.
THIS PHRASE "PURSUIT OF PERFECTION" HAS TAKEN ME CAPTIVE. NOW, ONLY GOD IS PERFECT IN AN ABSOLUTE SENSE. MANS' PERFERTION IS RELATIVE TO THE STANDARD GOD HAS SET BEFORE HIM. IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO PURSUE THE STANDARD THAT GOD HAS SET BEFORE US, WHICH IS OBEDIENCE IN CHRIST.
IN THE FOOTBALL WORLD, THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS HAVE BEEN ON THE PUSUIT OF PERFECTION, BY TRYING TO HAVE AN UNDEFEATED SEASON. THEY ARE 18-0, THEY HAVE NOT LOST A GAME. THEY HAVE ONE MORE GAME TO PLAY TO REACH THE DESIRED GOAL. I HAVE WATCHED AND LEARNED MUCH FROM THEM AS I PURSUE PREFECTION IN CHRIST.
THIS IS WHAT I HAVE WATCHED AND LEARNED FROM THEM.
1. THERE IS A TEAM GOAL AND STANDARD SET, TO WIN THE SUPER BOWL
2. TO STAY FOCUSED ON THE GAME BEFORE THEM
3. EVERY PLAYER MUST TAKE HIS ASSIGNMENT SERIOUS
4. EVERY PLAYER MUST DO HIS JOB
5. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE DISTRACTIONS
6. THE TEAM OPERATES AS A FAMILY
7. THEY ONLY RUN THE PLAYS THAT THE COACH CALLS
8. WHEN ONE PLAYER IS NOT HAVING A GOOD GAME SOME ONE ELSE STEPS UP
9. NO ONE PLAYER IS BIGGER THAN THE TEAM
10. THEY DON'T ALLOW SITUATIONS TO EFFECT THEIR DEDICATION
THEY HAVE NOT BEEN PERFECT ACCORDING TO WEBSTER'S DEFINITION. THEY HAVE FUMBLED BALLS, DROPPED PASSES, PENALTIES CALLED ON THEM, THROWN INTERCEPTIONS, MISSED TACKLES AND MISSED BLOCKS, BUT NONE OF THESE HAVE HINDERED THEIR PURSUIT OF PERFECTION. I BELIEVE THERE IS MUCH TO BE LEARNED IN THE BODY OF CHRIST. WE FUMBLE IN SIN, WE DROP THE BALL IN DISOBEDIENCE, WE HAVE BEEN CALLED FOR ILLEGAL PROCEDURES, BUT OUR GOAL SHOULD REMAIN THE SAME, "THE PURSUIT OF PERFECTION." PAUL SAYS IN PHILLIPPIANS 3:12-14 12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. WORD FELLOWSHIP REFORMED BAPTIST CHURCH, OUR THEME FOR 2008 IS PURSUIT OF PERFECTION WITH SINGLE MINDED DEVOTION TO GOD. JOIN WITH US AND PRAY THAT THE BODY OF CHRIST EVERYWHERE WILL BE ON A PURSUIT OF PERFECTION.
