Romans 7:21-25

In Guatemala are the ruins of Tikal in the rain forests of the Peten. This city of 50,000 people of the Maya lived here for 500 years ending in the 13^th century. The Maya were the discoverers of corn and one of the great civilizations of the Americas. The Maya developed calendar systems. The Long Count calendar provides an ending date for the world of December 21, 2012. The Maya could predict lunar and solar eclipses.

 The temples and stones at Tikal were built to illustrate the perfection of the stars. The shadows of each building were calculated so that they fall correctly on the markers and determine the date. The Maya believed that the perfection of the stars was the basis of life and faith. It is incredible but these monuments still reflect accurately today the days of solstice and other events from the shadow of the ancient stones.

 The Maya have long ago retreated from the glory of those days, but the human search continues for perfection. Each of us wish that we were better than we are. The Christians have a comforting message that we serve a perfect God and there is a way open to us to connect our lives with God’s. It is not the path of astronomy, but it is found in the words of Paul in the Book of Romans in the Bible. If you have never felt guilt over doing wrong, perhaps this message will not help all that much. But if you struggle to be a better person that you are now, then let us give our hearts to worship, because I know that God has some truths for you today.

 I want to talk to you about perfectionism this morning. I want to talk to you about trying to be that perfect person. One guy said his wife was a perfectionist. And he explained, "When I get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I come back, my side of the bed is made." He went on to say that she was so fussy and didn't want any kind of mess that she literally put a newspaper under the coo-coo clock. That's going a little far, don't you think?

 Christianity is not obtaining perfection, but Christianity is the process of living with God. And in that process there are going to be times when we get frustrated.  There are going to be times when we fall short, not only of God's expectations, but there are going to be times when we fall short of the expectations that we have. Paul expresses our frustration in Romans chapter 7.

'It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. In my mind, I want to be God's willing servant, but instead, I find myself still enslaved to sin.'" "Oh, what a terrible predicament I'm in. Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank God it has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord, He has set me free."

 This passion to be a really good person and make commitments and stick with them is as old as humanity. It drove the Maya to make the towering monuments and calculate precisely how to build them to illustrate perfection. But perfection has eluded people world over and Paul has some ideas on how we can find what we seek.

What is the law of God and does that help? The law is perfect.  And that is why imperfect people can not keep it.  That's why every time we try to keep the law, we get highly frustrated. We are never going to measure up.  The law is holy.  That's why sinners are condemned by it. Every time we look at the law, all we can see is our unholiness.  And the law is just, and because the law is just, it can not show grace or mercy to us. It stands on its own.  No favors are ever granted. In the book of Habakkuk, his last question to God is ‘if we ask for justice, will we also find mercy?’ The Maya realized in later centuries that the perfect mathematics of astronomy only displayed their own imperfections and they added blood sacrifices to the rituals of the monuments.

There are problems in trying to be perfect. If you are a perfectionist spiritually, how do you know if you've ever done enough ? In other words, if you are the type of person that you receive your gratification through things that are accomplished and through a long list of things, how do you know when the list is long enough? How do you know when you've ever done enough and how do you know that you've done it well enough? Now where this hurts us spiritually is when we begin to make our life a list of rules and regulations and we begin to spiritually develop a relationship with God, which is dependent upon us jumping through a certain amount of hoops.  It's at that moment that instead of a vibrant, giving relationship, we begin to check off things and we don't get our joy from Jesus, we get our joy from a list.

Do you see the terrible rat race that you begin to develop when you begin to have this perfectionist mind-set about God and the relationship you have with God? It's somehow based on how many things that we do. That's not healthy.  It sets us up for some real disappointments in our walk with God.

It only lasts as long as our willpower. the moment we run out of gas, if we think our relationship with God is dependent upon that, then all of a sudden you realize that when we get tired, God doesn't love us as much as when we're healthy.  Do you realize that when we get worn out that if we really think that God loves us because of all the things that we do, then all of a sudden our relationship is going to weaken? Not true at all...

 You know, it's kind of like going on a diet.  I’m fighting to keep my cholesterol and blood sugar down. You know how it is.  You get your willpower going and so you crash and you lose.  It is wrong to get on a diet for two weeks successfully and then buy a box of doughnuts to celebrate.

 The only time people ever achieve perfection I think is on a job application. Job applications are momentary displays of willpower. Its who I could be if I could focus. I read job applications, I say, "Now, there's the perfect staff member." God Almighty would hire this guy. In fact, I think this is God.

That same willpower is what we bring to spiritual things. Let me pray for an hour and read the Bible for an hour so God will love me. And then we get to day three and its too much.

God’s love is a relationship, not a list of rules and regulations. We need to try for the prayer and the Bible Study. Paul says, I’m like an athlete who pushes my body to do more. But if you have a relationship to God this morning, it is the relationship of a son or daughter to the heavenly father. We expect our human fathers and mothers to overlook our failures. God’s love is the same way.

Perfectionism hinders relationships. And when I say perfectionism hinders relationships, it hinders relationships with God and it hinders relationships with other people.  Let's talk about God for a moment.  In fact, do you know what? If your life is a bunch of legalistic do's and don'ts, after a while, you can get this Christianity down to a place where you don't even need God.  You've already got your list.

 Juan Carlos Ortez talked about the fact of how the law kills. And he said, "Just suppose in prayer one morning, God said, 'Eat an orange.'  So you ate an orange. And the next morning in prayer God said, 'eat an orange.'  So you ate an orange. The next morning in prayer God said 'eat an orange.'"  He said, "Most of us by about the fourth or fifth morning, we would just get up and eat an orange. Because we would assume God would wanted me to eat an orange yesterday, today, and so I just eat oranges, one orange a day for the rest of my life."  He says, "What happens on Friday if God says, 'eat an apple?'"  Law and relationship are different.

 Two types of individuals:1) Perfectionist peopleRemember when they used to tell you that smoking would stunt your grow? Perfectionism will.  I want to say this just in passing: First of all, it will stunt your professional growth and your income growth.  There was a survey that was taken recently that said perfectionist make $15,000 less a year than non-perfectionist, because they want to do things so right that they lose their priorities after a while and spend an inordinate amount of time on things that will bring no return to them.  I believe that.

 2) Process peopleBut I'm talking now spiritually as far as it stunting our growth.  You see, God is interested in us being processed, not perfect. He wants us to go through a process in our life. And process people, people that are process oriented will make attempts.  They'll try.  People that are perfection oriented won't make attempts because they don't think they can do it right.  So a perfectionist says, I know I ought to do this, but I don't think I've got it down right so I'll study it a little bit more and spend more time in Bible studies.  Basically, perfectionists are not application oriented because it is never going to be good enough or right enough so therefore; they just stay away from it. And God wants you and me to attempt. It's in our attempts that we grow. It's in our trying that we grow. You see, we want to have trophies and God just wants us to try. It's through that trying and that experience that we begin to grow in Him. Perfectionists want to change everything around them.  They want to make it perfect before they do it.  God doesn't want you to change things around you folks. He wants to change you. He wants to change me. That's what He wants to change.

Perfectionists never can establish and keep long-term relationships. Do you know why? Nobody ever measures up. They'll start a relationship and pretty soon that person isn't what they thought they were going to be.  They'll go to church and pretty soon, that church isn't what they thought it would be.   They just go from church to church because they never find the church that measures up.  Well, the Sunday school isn't the quality it needs to be. Well, the preaching isn't what it should be. I can guarantee you, they sit there and they just niche it off ¾ this is not right, no this isn't right. Read my lips.  There's nothing more arrogant than a perfectionistic attitude about people and about God's people. It will make your spirit become critical.  It will make your attitude become bitter.  And it will cause you to live a life of lies and hypocrisy yourself.  Because, you'll have a judgment that not only others cannot obtain, but you cannot obtain. And you'll sit there and say, "Why can't I develop deep, long lasting relationships?" And it can be summed up in one word. You haven't understood grace and forgiveness and the fact that it's a human world and human things happen in a human world and things don't always come out exactly like we want them to come out.

 We lack understanding of God's grace. I think that's what I want to close and wrap up with today. Helping us to understand God and His grace.  And I don't think I have the total answer but I think I have three simple words or phrases that will help you begin to open up in understanding God and His grace.

Obey God In fact, I want to tell you something.  Focus on obedience, not perfection. Just obey Him. Do you remember when Jesus called His disciples? Remember when He called His disciples and He said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." You see, He said, "If you will just obey me, if you will just follow me, I will make you what you need to be."  You see the perfectionist insists that we should make ourselves what we need to be so we strive. Jesus said, "You just follow me." 

 I hope you have noticed in my preaching who in Jackson Heights should be in church. I want everyone who wants to ask about spiritual things and might follow God. I know that I have changed things. But the changes were simply to tell people that you don’t have to wear anything special to hear about God. You don’t have to speak a special language. You can come after a night on the town. The important thing to do is to come and follow Jesus.

Jesus disciples were certainly far from being perfect. In fact, what's interesting, after three years with Him, they were still far from being perfect.  "Follow me," He said, "and I will make you fishers of men."  You follow Him and let Him begin to do that work in your life. You don't need to do it yourself, let Him do it.

  (2) Get to know God Get to know God in a real, intimate, personal way. Jeremiah 9:23-24.  Let me just read it to you.  This is what the Lord says, "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom or the strong man boast in his strength or the rich man boast in riches, but let him who boast, boast that he understand me and he knows me." That's where our boasting should come in. I know God.  I know the ways of God. I understand God.  God understands me.

 (3) Trust Him I sometimes think that we believe that God cannot do something unless we help Him.  And I just want you to learn to trust Him.  God loves me and God wants me but God's kingdom is not dependent upon me nor is it dependent upon you. God is God.

 The Bible is filled with a group of people who didn’t even get to first base on being perfect. The disciples had their problems and in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was closest to Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration. Then James and John fought over who would be first in the kingdom and Peter denied Christ. If they could keep going and have peace with God and experience the love and blessing of God, then you and I can do this too. Let’s do it.

 In your program it says,  When we experience God's grace, when we struggle, when we really understand grace, the result is:

When I struggle, I seek His advice. When I fail, I seek God's forgiveness. When things look hopeless, I trust in His timing.

When I'm blessed, I praise Him for His goodness. When I'm exhausted, I rely on His power. I can be vulnerable, I can admit weakness. I NEVER HAVE TO PRETEND.