Perfect Love

"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union..." So begins the preamble of our nation's Constitution. It's a lofty and noble goal: a more perfect union, a better experiment in liberty than had ever been seen before on the earth, a union that would last. Historians will have to decide whether the union we have in the twenty-first century is more perfect than before, and of course much of their determination will hinge on a definition of the word "perfect."

Perhaps every one of us reading these words has an idea about what perfection might be. For some, it might be a "perfect" day, a day in which we are able to accomplish much or rest well. For others, perfection comes in a bodily image that conforms to some sort of external norm. Students often feel that parents believe in perfection when it comes to their school work—that is, producing all "A's" and no mistakes on their homework or tests. What does it mean to be perfect?

In the Bible, there are repeated calls to perfection, but it's never perfection in action. There was only one person who could ever live that out. No, the perfection called for in the Scriptures is perfection in love. John puts it this way: "This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love" (1 John 4:17-18). What does he mean by that?

"Complete" or "perfect" is the same word in the original text. It has the sense of being complete, fully discharged, fully developed. In other words, the call here is not to get it right every single time, but to give it all we've got when we seek to love others. We leave nothing on the table; we give it our all. John defines complete love this way: we are like Jesus, who held nothing back, who gave it all on the cross, who literally gave everything he had to prove how much he loves us.

Let's be honest: that's not easy. There are people who are difficult to love, and sometimes those "people" are even us. Some folks seem to try to do whatever they can to repel the love you offer, or they want to live in such a way that they keep you at arm's length. John, and the other Biblical writers, give us direction in situations like those: love them anyway. That's what Jesus did, and perfect love looks like him. We're to live like he did. We love the unloveable, even when it's hard, even when they don't want to receive it, even when they speak ill of us. And while maybe that doesn't make it any easier, it does take some of the responsibility off of us. We're not responsible to make them accept the love that is offered; we're only responsible to offer it.

"We the people, gathered in Jesus' name to offer a more perfect love, do so by living like him..." And history will judge how well we do. They'll know we are Christians by our...