Article about the counter-productive goal of perfection on Mockingbird blog recounts how Philip Humber, a US baseball pitcher who pitched a perfect major league game (retired 27 batters in a row, three up and three down, every inning for nine innings. No walks, no hits) and yet found himself cut from his team’s roster at year’s end.
What happened?
Humber expected that perfect standard from himself and his game fell apart.
The ladder of perfection has no top rung. There is no platform upon which we can finally rest. Whether our goal is to be a good father, a good Christian, or a good pitcher, each exemplary act carries with it the expectation (the requirement) of another. And another. “Being like Christ” is not like throwing a perfect game. Living up to the Sermon on the Mount is not like throwing a perfect game. Being a caring husband is not like throwing a perfect game. They are like throwing perfect games every day of your life…while never being proud of the fact that you’re throwing perfect games! Remember, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing (Matt 6:3). A perfect game in the game of life is impossible, but is required nonetheless (Matt 5:48). So we buckle down.
What to do?
Die to our own sense of wanting to prove ourselves by perfection and…
Let’s remind ourselves daily, hourly, and by the minute, that we can let perfection go, because it is a mantle that Christ has taken up for us.
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