Perfectionism is not healthy.
It can blind us to beauty in the simple. It dulls the taste for the glorious in life that can be found in the flawed. Where scenes can evoke euphoria and lighten the load of life, the aura of perfectionism can rob people of that joy.
In getting rid of perfectionism, however, there is something just as toxic to avoid. This something, however, can manifest itself in respectable garb and is subtle in its corrosive effects.
This something acknowledges that in life you can’t afford to appear a failure. So adopting the school examination mindset it establishes a standard of acceptable quality of living. You just have to hit that golden standard and all is well.
For example, material status should be the measure. You got the clothes? You got the phone? You got the car? As long as you got those you should be fine. How about the job – do you get enough to have those holidays every so often? Is it the sort of job you wouldn’t mind talking about at a social gathering? As long as you got those you should be fine.
It even applies to religious circles. Are you a regular attendee at the church? Do you give the right amount? Is the church of a decent status? Is the music on point? Is the preaching good? Do they serve good coffee? As long as you got those you should be fine.
What helps in certain cases that don’t fit that standard is when we lower the bar to make our way of life the standard. Before too long we accept that standard and begin to view life from that prism. No it might not be as glamorous as others, but it will do for us. Sure we might not feel as if we’re firing on all cylinders, but it will do for us. OK it might not be truly fulfilling and satisfying, but it will do for us. Maybe it doesn’t address some of the deeper issues of the heart we grapple with, but it will do for us. It might not be right on quite a number of things, but it will do for us.
So we settle with that. We content ourselves with that standard. We tolerate it. Even as it gnaws away at the something more to life our heart hints at every so often. Even as we get older and lose joy and enthusiasm replacing that with an acceptance that it is what it is. Even as the love grows colder and our view becomes tainted with doubt, fear and cynicism covered in plastic sentiments of concern.
It is tolerable mediocrity that eats into every fibre of life of our being.
This is why Jesus is an offence to some. Because He has the temerity to roll in and say the days of accepting tolerable mediocrity are over. He uncovers the sham for what it is. He reveals life in its fullness that turns everything we accepted upside down. He unleashes life in its abundance that sends everything we accepted inside out. The Kingdom of God and its righteousness knows nothing about a tolerable mediocrity. It points a massive finger at the lie of this and challenges us to see how life was designed very differently indeed.
This enthuses all of life with a dynamic richness that will not be denied. It sends spiritual adrenaline through the system and beams a ray of hope to erase the gloom of any setting. This is because there is so much more to life than the tepid standard that we accept.
That’s not to say Jesus expected His followers to pursue the best paid jobs and best positions in organisation to reflect the life He gives. Indeed it is often among the seemingly poorest and less academically accomplished that this life is most evident when embraced. That’s why it continues to baffle and confound those who thought life was marked by material prosperity, position, prestige, popularity and power. Jesus shows there is so much more to life than that.
It then acts as a slap in the face the religious types who for all their reading of the Bible have missed the Author. Who for all their desire to feel a spiritual high completely avoid the Most High. It’s a slap in their faces and leaves the stark question – will you ditch your life of a lesser standard to pursue this truly new life in Christ?
When will you see Jesus for who He is and develop the sense that anything other than this life – His life – is simply unacceptable?
When will it get to the point that it becomes intolerable mediocrity?
(Photo by Karsten Würth (@inf1783) on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 