“The command Be ye perfect is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were “gods” and He is going to make good His words. If we let Him—for we can prevent Him, if we choose—He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said. Those who put themselves in His hands will become perfect, as He is perfect — perfect in love, wisdom, joy, beauty, and immortality. The change will not be completed in this life, for death is an important part of the treatment. How far the change will have gone before death in any particular Christian is uncertain.”
Mere Christianity
C. S. Lewis

This is an absolute gem of a quote! As I read it again and again, I find myself nodding in agreement, actually in anticipation. I want everything Lewis says more than anything. And I also find myself shocked and a bit frightened at the sheer audacity of this claim.

But C.S. Lewis is elaborating on two truths contained in the command to “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48). First, Jesus is the one who commanded this. Therefore, it’s doable. It’s not some unrealistic dream concocted by someone with a sick sense of humor. Jesus said it. Therefore, it must be possible for human beings to  be formed into people that maturely and perfectly reflect God’s nature. Otherwise, if Jesus is telling us to do something that is impossible to do, the core of the Christian faith is based on a cruel practical joke.

Second, obeying Jesus’ command requires a transformation by God. As Lewis states, “He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command.” As I discussed in my last post, this is the art of indirection. We cannot “man up”, “suck it up”, or “push forward” to make this happen. This is not a matter of direct willpower or obedience. In fact, the direct approach only guarantees failure. Instead, obeying Jesus’ command requires indirect, yet cooperative, effort with God through a process. Lewis writes, “The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said. Those who put themselves in His hands will become perfect, as He is perfect.”

Our effort in the process are the doable practices that put ourselves in God’s hands. 

While the process is important, it’s the promise that takes my breath away. I imagine and long for a life where I am “pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness.”

This is such a beautiful vision of a “with God” life!

Here’s the thing about God’s transformation in our lives. It progressively increases as we remain in God’s hands. So, while we may not currently reflect God’s joy, wisdom and love perfectly, we can so to a greater degree than we did 20, 10, or even 5 years ago. What I’m saying is that our apprenticeship to Jesus — our time with him learning to be like him — results in increasing transformation and therefore increasing reflection of his beauty that is experienced right now.

Paul describes this process to the Corinthian apprentices:

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
2Cor 3:18

And here’s the beauty of this progressive transformation. It becomes easier and easier to live in Jesus’ way. As we are changed from the inside-out, obeying his commands becomes easier and more natural and routine to us. As Jesus promised, his way of life truly is an easy yoke and light burden (Matt 11:30). 

Living the way of Jesus is only hard when we are unchanged.

When we are progressively being changed, things like loving others, including our enemies, become second nature. Living in a joyful, thankful, relaxed, unhurried, and unworried way becomes the norm rather than the exception. Patience, compassion, forgiveness, and generosity become almost a natural, unthinking reflex in our relationships, even in times of conflict.

Jesus commands us to be perfect as our Heavenly Father. As we apprentice ourselves to Jesus to learn from him how to be like him, God engages in a cooperative process with us to actually transform us into people who can keep that command. And through that long and occasionally painful process, we discover this transformation makes Jesus’ way of life the light and easy way to live. 

Who would have thought that Jesus’ command to be perfect as our Heavenly Father both is doable and is the light and easy way of life.