I want to introduce you to one of my favorite items, his name is Captain. I will think of a better name, but this will do. I make daily offerings to him, and he responds in kind by faithfully holding onto the nectar I provide. It is a symbiotic relationship, we enjoy our mornings together quite a bit.
Captain came to me a few years ago when I walked by a pottery shop and saw him and knew we would be best friends. He was not cheap, but he has proven time and time again a faithful companion. He is hand made and as tough as a pirate should be. In two years he has not changed a bit. One day my grandchildren may inherit him if I continue to be good to him.
The thing about the Captain, is that as perfect as he is for me, he is imperfect. Like all hand made items you can see along the inner rim that his base is not perfectly round, his handle is a little bit weak, but his pirate stare has not changed in all the time I have had him. He continues to look back at me with that one eye as if to remind me that I must make daily sacrifice to his gnarled and awesome soul.
As I sat with him today God opened a thought to me about imperfection. He reminded me that nothing in this world is perfect, and nothing worth keeping is ever going to have absolute perfection. We can and should see the imperfections as a gift, not a curse. (Sorry captain, no curses and invectives towards my soul today)
I have been watching a church I know bust open at the seems over doctrinal statements and creeds. It is as if, overnight, some people who have an alternative vision for what following Christ looks like have cracked the cup of their church. I am sad to see this because the church is, and always will be, the open vessel of grace to be poured out on the world and the people of the world. I am also glad to see this, because the words of prophets are never going to be easy. The words of the prophets speak life to the dead, and crack open the vessels of death that are thrusting themselves upon the rocks of the world.
What if we saw imperfections not as flaws or opportunities, but as the mark of a creator who knew what he was doing, and still does? The captain and I have a long history together and I can imagine that the creator sitting at the pottery wheel imagining what he would one day look like had the same vision for him. The creator created him, even if he does not pass a microscopic examination of his imperfections. For me, he is perfect.
Every man woman and child that enters this life has an inherent imperfection. You can call it the flesh, or the culture, or the way they were brought up. It all means the same thing, glorious imperfections. It is because of the imperfections that I see in the cup that I can see the work of the creator building upon the pottery wheel. It is because of this that I can see the creator. I may not know his name, where exactly he was when he built it, but he built it with being used as the end goal. He was never meant to sit on a shelf somewhere sneering at those who pass by. He was meant to be used, enjoyed, and cherished. It was also built so that when the molding was done it could pass through a fire for hours upon hours and come out not destroyed, but rather imbued with the soul of the person who created it.
As I sit with my captain and consume the nectar he offers back to me, I realize that it is better than when I poured it in. The glorious thing about the coffee I make is that as it sits, the beans that I carefully hand selected continue to release the oils and the substances that make the coffee so powerful for me. It continues to imbue the flavors and aromas that make it so darn tempting and enjoyable. All this is present in this perfectly imperfect vessel.
Imperfection is the mark of the creator. Imperfection means that you are hand woven and hand delivered into a world that while imperfect, holds perfection in it's hands and makes certain that the thing which it holds ages and creates a thing of absolute beauty. You are the wine in the chalice of God's design.
As a society we look for perfection. We are actually imbued with the drive in our souls and minds to see perfection and to strive to attain it. The often annoying thing that happens though is we strive for perfection and look at that which is not symmetrical and perfect and say "this is flawed" and then toss it to the side. We need to stop looking at imperfections as problems, and start looking at them as places that remind us that God made us on the lathe of his choosing, and that the fire we can and will go through does not create an imperfect thing - it creates a beautiful thing of worth that will endure and continue to provide substance for generations to come.
My challenge to myself, and to anyone who listens to me is to see the imperfections as a sign you are created, not that you are flawed. As we realize this and we work together for the kingdom we can see the flaws as places of God's design as we work towards the perfection we are spiritually attuned to seek.
May this bring peace to the house, may this bring joy to the broken, and may this bring courage to those who see themselves as imperfect and thus not able to see God. Do not worry, God sees you. God knows you, and he is head over heels in love with what you are, who you are, and what you are going to become. You are HIS creation and you are part of HIS story being written in the cosmos. You are God's victory lap.
~Selah
