Lookahead: Since birth I was constantly comparing myself to some imposed standard of perfection–and then driving toward it. Once Jesus set up residence in my heart, I became perfect in God’s eyes. That knowledge gave me incomparable joy! But I soon discovered that there were always joy-killers out there who would try to interfere and define human standards of Christian perfection for me. Just today, I “happened across” comments from arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks ever (not sure who authored wiki page’s claim 🙂 ). His remarks indicate that he unfortunately slammed into a Legalistic Wall in his Christian experience: …’Religion can be a crutch. It can be something that people have to have to make themselves feel better. And because it’s sort of binary, it’s us and them. It’s saved and unsaved. It’s heaven and hell. It’s enlightened and heathen. It’s holy and righteous and sinner and filthy’…Born in Chico, California, Rodgers was raised a Christian by his parents…he began questioning religion as he grew older, however, shifting his religious beliefs…’Ultimately, it was that rules and regulations and binary systems don’t really resonate with me’…” he said in the interview.
…whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. James 2:10,11 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom. For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:12,13
…whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
This should settle it for us–sin is sin. So that little white lie…about how many pounds I benched or how great someone’s outfit looks, or reason why I can’t attend that function…gets me the same label as a heinous serial killer. And that label is, “sinner in need of a Savior.”
Plus James clarifies further that “sinner” in this context means lawbreaker. What is a law breaker?
parabátēs, παραβάτης, a transgressor: a lawbreaker, someone who steps over (walks contrary to) God’s line, a deliberate violator (transgressor) of God’s law. Etymology–From παραβαίνω: properly, to go by the side of (of one who stands by another’s side in a war-chariot); to go past or to pass over without touching a thing; metaphorically, to overstep, neglect, violate, transgress …i. e. who does not hold to the true doctrine…to go past as to turn aside from…of one who abandons his trust…fell away.
Basically–I’m driving down a local 4-lane highway tracking with Jesus in the lane next to His when I suddenly decide to pull ahead and make a quick U-turn and/or take an exit. Also, even my tiniest course deviation = getting so lost that I wind up in Canada or Mexico. In contemplating the sin issue and the associated state of “uncleanness” that God always seems to be trying to rectify in us, I have wondered why He is always pointing us in the perfection direction: Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect… Matt 5:48
But Christians aren’t the only ones who are trying to be perfect. Recent web forum traffic discussed that, in addition to attending the most expensive/elite colleges, graduates are obsessed with having good résumé photos and interview presentation–to the extent of undergoing appearance enhancing procedures, makeovers, cosmetic surgery, etc. This “perfection obsession” was attributed to “human instinct which craves…recognition, acceptance and validation.”1
So there is something in us, apart from divine programming, that causes us to seek perfection–and to perform everything flawlessly? I Googled “most retakes for one movie scene” and discovered there’s a Guinness Worldbook record category for “Most retakes for one scene with dialogue” (127) 2…and most retakes without = 342 🙂 Also, it took an amazing max of 2900 takes (and who knows how many countless hours of editing) to make one action scene look perfect. Plus informal web dialogue indicates that these numbers are probably higher. Bottom line, this should convince us that the state-of-perfection is an illusion; nevertheless, we are constantly grading people on the perfection scale.
And anyone (100% of humanity) who is not perfect is judged and penalized according to degree of imperfection. I.e., if we don’t have the perfect résumé, we won’t get the job. And if we have too many movie do-overs, we’ll be ridiculed in wiki. Tried searching on “worst sports blunders in history” with about 2M results. And isn’t that what sports is all about? — billions of people deriving entertainment from watching other people trying as hard as they can to avoid mistakes–or drastically falling short in embarrassing ways that will amplify the Armchair Quarterbacking experience.
Is this perfection obsession due to human instinct, or did God create us to constantly be seeking perfection? That begs the question — if perfection is so important to God, why is His finest creation so drastically imperfect? Perhaps God’s definition of perfection differs from ours. I believe that the primary requirement in the design specification was not that the creation behave perfectly and never make a mistake. The design requirement was that the creation have the ability, on a femtosecond basis, to choose a perfect God over a myriad of imperfect options. Then once we choose God (and life), we allow Him to make us perfectly clean, instead of relying on our own feeble attempts. In my view, that’s ultimate design perfection.
Since birth I was constantly comparing myself to some imposed standard of perfection–and then driving toward it. Once Jesus set up residence in my heart, I became perfect in God’s eyes. That knowledge gave me incomparable joy! But I soon discovered that there were always joy-killers out there who would try to interfere and define human standards of Christian perfection for me. Just today, I “happened across” comments from arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks ever (not sure who authored wiki page’s claim 🙂 ). His remarks indicate that he unfortunately slammed into a Legalistic Wall in his Christian experience:
The Super Bowl winner, three-time MVP, 10-time Pro Bowl selection and “king of the hail mary” (who) is looked at as a god in Wisconsin as he’ll undoubtedly end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (said in an interview)…’Religion can be a crutch. It can be something that people have to have to make themselves feel better. And because it’s sort of binary, it’s us and them. It’s saved and unsaved. It’s heaven and hell. It’s enlightened and heathen. It’s holy and righteous and sinner and filthy’…Born in Chico, California, Rodgers was raised a Christian by his parents…he began questioning religion as he grew older, however, shifting his religious beliefs…’Ultimately, it was that rules and regulations and binary systems don’t really resonate with me’…” he said in the interview. 3
I believe that every nascent or uninitiated Christian should be given an advisory: It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1 And this is supplemented by Unpacking #18’s scripture and James’ recommendation to “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom.”
How can a system of Old and New Testament laws give freedom versus tying us up with all kinds of restraints–how is that freeing? As intimated in Unpacking #14 Post, the “Law that gives freedom” is embodied in Jesus Christ. James is saying, “Speak and act with the knowledge that Jesus is our judge.” I would add, then be sure to get the incomparably liberating revelation that, in addition to being our judge, He is also our lawyer and advocate…and our scapegoat. When we accept Jesus’ gift, He pays (forward and backwards) the price for all our mistakes/sins.
Until ~one week ago, I equated “scapegoat” with “whipping boy,” i.e., someone who takes your punishment in your place. “A whipping boy was a boy educated alongside a prince (or boy monarch) in early modern Europe, who supposedly received corporal punishment for the prince’s transgressions in his presence. The prince was not punished himself because his royal status exceeded that of his tutor…” 4 I additionally remembered that the term “scapegoat” originated in the Book of Leviticus, but when I ran this to ground, I discovered that it didn’t line up 100% with the concept of whipping boy. The scapegoat was actually the goat that got away. 🙂
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org synonymizes scapegoat with Azazel (Heb. עֲזָאזֵל)…”There is a great deal of confusion regarding the exact meaning of the word (azazel). The name appears in Leviticus (16:8–10): ‘And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for the Lord and offer (i.e., slaughter) him for a sin-offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before the Lord, to make atonement over him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness.’…From the actual verses themselves it is not even certain whether the (Azazel) was killed…(but) the goat of Azazel was sent into the wilderness…the goat was loaded with the sins of Israel (then it) was dispatched to carry the sins of Israel into the wilderness…”
My personal theory, the azazel’s situation was potentially much more disastrous than the goat that was “offered” by slaughtering it probably according to Kosher Laws (which resulted in a highly quick and painless process). The probability that the unwitting azazel would be brutally devoured by some wilderness predator after its release was conceivably 100%.
For that reason, I, and many others, believe that the concept of scapegoat typifies Christ. Jesus took both the punishment and the sins in our place!! Furthermore, as the One who passes judgment over our compliance with this law of freedom, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
Knowing this fact transforms Rodgers’ concept of “binary.” It’s not about whether we are holy/righteous or sinner/filthy. It’s all about, “Do we want to accept the matchless gift of relationship that Jesus offers?” or “Do we want to skip it?” It ceases to be about us, and becomes all about Him–our judge, our defense attorney, our punishment-bearing/sin-eradicating scapegoat, and the One Who does NOT want us to constantly strive for sinlessness and perfection…the One who fervently desires that we just let go and let God.
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2https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/69807-most-retakes-for-one-scene
Cross-Denominational Bible Study 
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