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How Can I Be Perfect? By David Wright         From various sources Christians often receive assurances that “God doesn't expect us to be perfect.” Of course, his people must be humble, must repent of their sins and confess them. “He does not deal with us according to our sins,” writes the psalmist, “nor requite us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” (Ps. 103:10-14). However, Jesus makes a statement that seems to contradict this. In the Sermon on the Mount, he says that a disciple “must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48).         How can anyone even hope to comply with this impossibly high standard? The context, as usual, clarifies the meaning of Jesus' difficult words. In the final paragraph of Matthew 5 (vs. 43-48), the Lord is urging his disciples to love and pray for their enemies. He says that even “tax collectors” (at the time notoriously dishonest) love those who love them, and even “Gentiles” (idol worshipers) are friendly with their brothers (vs. 46-47). In other words, almost everyone is capable of reciprocating love. The heavenly Father, though, embodies a much higher standard of love. God “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (v. 45).           Thus, “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” is merely a challenge to have compassion for others--even when they fail to deserve it: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:44-45). The parallel in Luke's Gospel, worded differently, supports this explanation. Jesus says that his Father “is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36).