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Is this letter for real? Did Jesus really want the members of the church in Sardis to produce nothing but “perfect works”? If that’s the case, then maybe it’s true that very few people indeed will make it to heaven. After all, who among us can confess to having done everything perfectly?
Perhaps we would do well to examine what it means to be perfect—at least according to the Scriptures. We’re all pretty familiar with a modern-day definition of perfection: absolute freedom from any error, complete purity, and flawlessness in every way. The superlatives flow without ceasing, each one convicting us more and more of our own imperfection. But this isn’t really how the Scriptures define perfection—or at least not how Jesus defines it. In one of the most often-quoted passages from the gospels, he does tell us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). Yes, that does sound just as intimidating—and unattainable—as the other definitions described above. But that is simply the way Matthew’s Gospel presents Jesus’ command. If we look at Luke, we find another dimension of Jesus’ teaching that gives us a broader perspective—one that…
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