Imperfect

I'm going to provide like most weeks, an imperfect blurb. I hope you’re okay with that? I’m living proof imperfection is so fundamental to human life. The Church in fact is a place where nobody is perfect. It's a little ironic to me, when people are interviewing for a job, and they're asked, what is your biggest flaw? They very rarely actually name a flaw.

I'm going to provide like most weeks, an imperfect blurb. I hope you’re okay with that? I’m living proof imperfection is so fundamental to human life. The Church in fact is a place where nobody is perfect. It's a little ironic to me, when people are interviewing for a job, and they're asked, what is your biggest flaw? They very rarely actually name a flaw. Rarely does somebody say, I'm incredibly lazy, or I'm fundamentally dishonest, when they're interviewing for a job. The number one fault people admit to in a job interview is, I'm just a perfectionist. My standards are just too high. I just push myself to excel and contribute to humanity more than other people. That's my biggest problem. Often, people say it's a flaw, but they're secretly proud of their nit-picking, but the reality is perfectionism actually is a flaw, and it's not pushing yourself to excel for a goal; perfectionism is the desire to appear perfect. It's a hidden self-that’s often trapped in anxiety, trapped in fear of failure, comparing myself to other people, trying to hide my real flaws, and trying to protect my image. That's really what perfectionism is about.
To say, I'm a perfectionist, is to say, I'm a fear-filled, self-obsessed, failure- avoiding, envious, insecure, pathological liar. That's what perfectionism really is about. Ironically, perfectionism would actually hinder or destroy a child's growth. The only way to learn how to walk well is to start by walking badly or to talk or to ride or to draw or to play an instrument or even serve each other. You have to begin by doing it badly and by failing.  God knows that.
As A Church, we're not perfect, but we're not stuck. We can grow. We can change. We can become. We can devote ourselves to this. Jesus gave to his followers’ practices through which God can give us the power to change and grow in ways we couldn't grow ourselves. God actually does have a plan for how his church is to be organized. It's not about bureaucracies or rules or power or human control; it is, in fact, I believe, the greatest organizational structure in human history. It was thought up by God himself. It has endured for 2,000 years. It has made for remarkable communities in every culture on every continent in every civilization. It's unbelievably flexible. It's all about humility and servanthood and joyful contribution. It is the key to your fulfillment and growth as an individual and to our being able to serve God and the people around us where we are.
This is Paul's writings to the church at Corinth and have you kind of fill in the blank mentally. Paul says, "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with... We might think he would say...so it is with the church, but he doesn't. He says, "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. In other words, somehow the church (you and me) is the body of Christ, the hands and feet of Jesus in this world. For everybody who follows Jesus and is part of our church, to identify and serve with your spiritual gift is absolutely indispensable, you are the body. The church, gang, it is God's idea. It is God's project, and it matters. You are in fact love in human form, and I'm so grateful for you! If at first you fail, then love, love, love again.
 The Word became flesh… So, let’s get some skin in the game.
Timmy B