Close Enough to Perfect

Scripture Verses that Caught My Attention Today: Matthew 19:21-22 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Observation: The man didn’t want to be perfect; he just wanted to be able to claim he was perfect.

Application: This passage took me down memory lane this morning. Seeing that desiring to be perfect didn’t work out so well for the man in the passage above, the phrase “Close Enough to Perfect” came to mind. I knew the phrase came from a song, but I had long since forgotten what song.

Thanks to google, it only took a couple seconds to look it up and find that the song was made popular by the country group Alabama. I used to listen to their music quite a bit in college and even went to one of their concerts in Columbus where I and thousands of others held up our lighters and swayed to the music with our dates (I have no earthly idea why I had a lighter since I never smoked…nor do I remember who I took to the concert). Good times…

All nostalgia aside, I think most of us are in one way or another like the man in the passage above. We would like to be able to say that we are perfect and, yet, there is always something that holds us back. We can always be found wanting. There is always something that is our sticking point. For some it’s riches, but for many of us who do not consider ourselves “rich” (even though in many ways we are rich) there are other issues that trip us up. Pride can be a biggie. The ability to forgive almost everybody but yet, NOT everybody can catch us up too. Feel free to add other issues to the list. We may wish we could claim to be perfect, but many of us don’t really want to be perfect. We just want to be close enough to perfect.

In some ways the man was trying to follow Jesus’ instructions. The word “perfect” is only found twice in the Gospels and both of these occurrences are in Matthew. In 5:48 Jesus says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Fourteen chapters later Jesus encounters someone who purports to want to be perfect but the man can’t follow through.

Was he close enough? Are we?

Rather than trying to attain perfection we would be better served, literally, to accept Perfection reaching out to us through Christ. It’s in his company that true perfection is found. It’s in his Word that we find hope and healing. It’s in his body and blood that we find the strength to continue our journey. It’s in his calling that we find our own voice.

That’s close enough to perfect for me.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for reaching out to us…and to me. I’m deeply grateful that you regularly stay so close at hand. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: 1 Chronicles 16, Psalm 106, and Matthew 19)