Plan of Salvation

Exchanging our Sin for Perfection

Perfection is an All or Nothing Concept

Consider the word perfect.  Use it in a sentence.  “The boy was a perfect little gentleman.”  “Looks like its going to be a perfect day.”  “The perfect gift for a man that has everything.”  “What a perfect vacation.”  “You are the perfect wife.”  “Boise State completed a perfect season in 2006-2007.”

Funny thing about the word perfect; we rarely use the word perfectly!  No boy is a ‘perfect’ gentlemen, every day could be improved, the ‘perfect’ gift rarely is, no vacation goes without at least a little stress, and nobody is a perfect anything; we all have flaws.  Boise State did finish undefeated in the 2006-2007 football season; but other teams did score on them, they didn’t score every time they had the ball and the polls did not crown them the national champions.  Undefeated? – yes; Perfect? – no.  One might argue that Boise State was never given the chance to play for the national championship and so they did the best they could given the circumstances.  But “doing the best you can” is not a synonym for “being perfect”.

This illustrates a curious phenomenon concerning perfection.  Since it is so rare, man likes to lessen the requirements for what he calls perfect.  More often than not when you hear ‘perfect’ what is usually meant is just ‘better than most’.  Even when it is used correctly (as in a perfect season) what is being referred to as 'perfect' is usually very specific (undefeated).

Since perfection is the theme of this Drawer of Gems it is important to define the word properly.  From the American Heritage Dictionary’s definition of Perfect:

1. Lacking nothing essential to the whole; complete of its nature or kind.
2. Being without blemish or defect.

In the New Testament Greek the word is teleios.  Strong’s Enhanced Lexicon defines it as:

1. Brought to its end, finished.
2. Wanting nothing necessary to completeness.

Based on these definitions, here are some defining concepts concerning perfection:

1. Perfect means complete, finished, lacking nothing.
2. Perfect means zero failures/flaws/errors/etc.
3. One failure/flaw/missing attribute or many means the same thing – imperfect, incomplete, unfinished, still lacking something.

Therefore perfection is an absolute; not a relative measure.

1. There is no such thing as ‘almost’ perfect.
2. A thing either is or is not perfect – That is, perfection is a black and white concept.

When we look at what Heavenly Father has to say about perfection, it is important to correctly grasp these concepts.  Unfortunately many people do not.  Many people hear “perfection” and think “performance”.  The student that gets three answers wrong on a test is said to have performed better than a student that gets twelve answers wrong.  She might be awarded an ‘A’ where the other student earns a ‘C’.  But only 100% correct is perfect.  If only a perfect score advances; both of these students fail.  Their performance relative to each other is a moot point.  Their performance relative to their potential is also a moot point.  Even if they put forth their absolute best effort, they fail to meet the requirement of perfection.  The ‘A’ student’s incorrect answers bear testimony that her knowledge of the subject matter is incomplete.  This illustration demonstrates the importance of knowing just what the requirement is; perfection or something less.

In truth, very few requirements in this world actually demand perfection. This is certainly true with gemstones. Almost all gems have flaws or are missing some important attribute.  For example, most gemstone quality diamonds have inclusions or are missing the attribute of colorlessness. The requirement for a stone to be considered a gemstone is not perfection.  Yet in grading gems we assign greater value to gems with fewer flaws. Even flaws not visible to the naked eye may dramatically affect value. But again, grading gemstones is not a measure of perfection; but rather of relative performance. If a customer refuses to buy anything but a perfect gem, she will not care about how many or how few flaws a gem has. She will reject every flawed gem as imperfect.