I had a conversation with an individual about what they saw as the “greatest conflict” in Christian life.

To them, to be Christian meant to be perfect. They argued that the Bible describes a God who requires sinlessness. Of course they put it in other terms. They said to be Christian was to always be morally good and upright, to follow all the rules, and avoid vices. You know, “don’t drink, smoke, dance or chew… or date girls who do”. They admitted living a life of perfection was impossible, and that the Bible contained far more rules than any one person could ever follow. They called God an unfair judge, who was wickedly waiting for people to mess up to send more sinners to hell. This of course was the point of their frustration, after all they even cited scripture!

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:48

Well, a perfect heavenly father certainly can’t be a wicked and unfair judge. So whats the deal? If you recall, this particular passage is recorded from Jesus sermon on the mount. This fact doesn’t immediately provide any comfort, especially considering another section of verses from the same sermon:

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5

I don’t know any Pharisees, or scribes, but I do know they were basically as perfect as anyone. Also, Paul called himself ‘a member of the Pharisees, who demanded the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.’ (cf. Phillipians 3:5). I know I could never claim to have lived or demanded the strictest obedience to the law.

Jesus continues in his sermon, calling out our anger as murder, feelings of lust as adultery, divorce as sexual immortality, oaths evil and retaliation as unwarranted! Jesus’ command to be perfect according to the law is a parallel to the Old Testament Jewish mandate

“Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

Leviticus 19:2

So my friend was right? We have to be perfect to be Christian? Well, no, not entirely.

All though not “christian” the Pharisees thought the godly life was solely focused on the endless pursuit of holiness. The majority of Jewish teaching and law was enacted and followed in an attempt to prohibit both intentional and unintentional sin. Disciples of various rabbinical schools would learn their teachers way to live as close to perfect as possible. This is essentially what the disciples of John the Baptist, and Jesus were seeking to do as well. They wanted to follow Gods law, and live a life of holiness.

Sometimes I picture John the Baptist as the long haired hippy cousin of Jesus. In this way I typically see them in polar opposite to the stuck up pharisees. There is one story in the Gospel of Mark that shows perhaps they were closer in practice then we usually think. It begins in Chapter 2, verse 18.

¹⁸ Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, “How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. ²⁰ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. ²¹ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. ²² And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Here Johns disciples and the Pharisee are credited with the same pursuit of fasting, a practice that is still used today for the purpose of deepening our spiritual formation and in humility, a means of exposing our vulnerabilities to enter a place of sincere worship.

Yet, if this was good, why didn’t Jesus disciples fast? Well, he states overtly (and prophetically) that the coming global movement that would be called “Christianity” would not only involve fasting (when the bridegroom, Jesus, is taken from them) but also a complete and radical change.

He said, “they pour wine into new wineskins.”

But before we get into wineskins, lets go sideways for a second. After the death, burial and resurccetion of Christ, when the apostle Paul wrote the Church of Colossae, he made four bold distinctions, two of Jesus and two of his disciples:

¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

²¹ Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of^[g] your evil behavior. ²² But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³ if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Colossians 1, NIV

First, he says pretty clearly that Jesus is alone perfect. Second, that because of Jesus perfection (for which God was well pleased) he alone was able to reconcile all things by his blood shed on the cross. Thirdly, that because of our sinfulness we were alienated enemies of God. And last, that because of Jesus perfect blood which was shed for our sake, by which we are reconciled, were are presented holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

Jude wrote in the same manner in his doxology:

 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, without blemish before his glorious presence

Jude 24, NET

This is the bottom line: You can’t make old wineskin perfect. You can try all you want to patch yourself up, but in the end, you will still just be old wineskin. Only Jesus gives new wineskin. No manner of vain attempts at behavior modification, self help, piety, fasting, spirituality or religious works will make you perfect. Despite your best efforts, you can never achieve perfection, perfectionism is a lie.

Thankfully, Christ achieved perfection for us. He knew no sin. He loved God with his whole heart, mind, body and soul. I haven’t even done that for one half of a second today. Yes we need to be perfect, just like our father in Heaven, my friend was right. But we don’t get perfect, we are made perfect in Christ.

For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy.

Hebrews 10:14, NET

So how do you accept this? How do you put your faith in the Perfect Christ? Just like Christ died on the cross, you die to yourself. We all must totality surrender and have faith in his perfect offering. We must stop relying on our works and false attempts at perfection, and instead perfectly affix our eyes on Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. Its not about trying harder, its about getting closer to Him.

This should be a great encouragement to all of us who have labored in vain, who are tired and weary. We only have to lay down our burden on Him, and He will give us rest. For others, who have pridefully fought for personal piety and have been wrecked by guilt and shame time and time over again, this is good news. This is the gospel.

Peace be with you.