Mr Perfect: The Movie

1 John 1:10

          We will be casting a new movie about an actual living person. It will be titled “Mr Perfect: The Movie.” We are looking for nominations and suggestions for the actor to play the lead role. The person is allowed to star in the movie, if that makes it easier. Don’t worry ladies, the sequel will be “Ms Perfect: The Better Movie.” Our culture seems to be obsessed with perfection. People concentrate so much on their looks, that they often miss what is much more important. People can put up with ugly if the character and personality are dynamic. But even the best looking can’t maintain true friends if they are rotten to other people.

          The sad thing is that some people actually believe they are perfect, or at least as perfect as any human being can be. They might never actually say those words, but by their action they say it. Everything is about them. The world revolves around them and what they do. Other people are just an inconvenience. Their feelings and ideas just slow down the perfection that they want to enact in their world. They say they want to get along, but then at the first hiccup they rail into those who stand in their way. Their opponents are then portrayed as the lowest form of life, devoid of intelligence and common sense. If they would just do what he wants, everything would run smoothly.

          This is not a new type of person, bread in the throngs of the 20^th Century. There have always been those who thought they could do no wrong, that they were sinless. But John will have none of this. He says that anyone who claims to not have sinned in their life, past and present, is a liar. They are trying to make God the liar, saying that He is wrong. Not everyone is a sinner, and they are the proof.

          What this kind of person is really doing is replacing God and His judgment about right and wrong with their own set of standards, a set that they make up to make themselves look good in their own eyes. That way they can claim to be perfect. They redefine what is evil making it good instead.

          Notice that John uses the pronoun “we” as he discusses this problem. He says that we might be the ones claiming that we have not sinned. Even if our culture redefines a sinful act, that doesn’t make it any less sinful in God’s eyes. This includes a church culture. We have often excluded people for whom Christ died. It used to be by the length of their hair or the color of their skin. We excluded people because they didn’t dress like we did or talk like we did.

          So when we paint what we do as the pinnacle of perfection, we are in dangerous territory. The LORD wants a humble people, transparent about their struggles with sin and the perfection of our Savior. This doesn’t mean that we are always talking about our sin, but that we are always lifting up the Savior, a Savior that we so desperately need.

          I don’t want to be on the side that declares that the LORD is a liar. I want to be affirming His perspective on life and the world. I might misunderstand what He has said, but I want to be struggling to put what I do know to be true into practice in my life. I don’t need perfect clarity to know sufficiently to live godly in Christ Jesus. And when He does bring greater clarity, I am willing to step up and admit I was wrong. I am a sinner. I am human, limited and broken.

          Have you any ideas about that Mr Perfect nomination?

Too Big for Your Britches

Proverbs 15:12

      Some people feel like they are always right, like nothing is ever their fault. They always seem to escape the consequences of their actions. They point their fingers in every direction away from themselves. Do you know anyone like that? Are you like that?

      When you don’t know your place in the universe you might think you are more important than you really are. We are not in charge. Our word is not the last word. Someone else has say over our lives, over what is right and wrong.

      When someone doesn’t know this, they certainly won’t accept correction. How could correction come from someone who knows less, is not as morally upright, as correct as they are? At least that is how they would see it. So twisted.

      So what do people like that do? They avoid wise people. In fact, they usually gather people around them who think they are the best. But more often than not, people only put up with them, sometimes in hopes of getting something, riding their coattails to the top.

      One thing for certain, they don’t want your opinion about what they are doing wrong. Remember, they never do anything wrong! They are special. It catches up to them eventually. They usually end up alone in the wreckage of the train wreck that was their life. It is such a waste.

      If you are in the middle of a train wreck because you don’t accept other people’s feedback, maybe it is time to take yourself off God’s throne. It isn’t yours to sit on. Learn to listen to others. Of course this will mean you have to close your mouth long enough to let someone else get a word in edgewise. Ouch!

Facebook Narcissist

Proverbs 13:10

There are few things that bother me in life more than someone who thinks they know it all. It is amazing when their opinion is the only one that matters, or that they are right about everything. Now when you get two people like that in the same conversation, look out! Chances are a fight is on the way.

Part of being a person of integrity is recognizing that we don’t know everything, that other people’s opinions matter. For instance, we can’t know how another person feels until they tell us. And they are entitled to feel that way. There is not right or wrong way to feel. The words “You shouldn’t feel that way” just aren’t true, no matter how much the know-it-all insists.

This is one of the reasons we all need to learn to listen well. We all need to learn to see life from the other person’s perspective, from their shoes. Unfortunately, our culture is now breading people who only care about themselves. The think their life is the center of the universe, and that their feelings are the only ones that matter. They post every little detail about their lives on Facebook, as if they were on a reality TV program. They brush their teeth and we read about it on FB. (Or at least that is what they think we do!)

We all need to swallow the humble pill and learn to listen to others. We need advisors, people who will tell us the truth even if we don’t want to hear it. We need to be able to see beyond our own noses in order to make good decisions, ones that will stand the test of time.

There is wisdom in taking advice. It is foolish to think that we have to learn everything for ourselves. We don’t need to be hit by a car to know that streets can be dangerous places. We can listen to what our parents tell us. They have knowledge about cars and people: cars win! Their advice is worth heeding.

When we learn that others know things, then our knowledge can increase exponentially. We now don’t need to learn everything ourselves. We just need to know where to go to get the knowledge we need. We can just ask, or look it up. This is wisdom!

And when we gain wisdom, we don’t feel the need to be on top on every issue. And when that happens, the need to fight to save our image vanishes. Pride has taken a backseat where it belongs.