Permission to Serve God Imperfectly

One of the things you’ll discover about Joan C. Webb is her authenticity and the desire to live make intentional choices. In this Attitude UPGRADE, she invites us to choose to relax in our service.

“I remember the day my shoulders relaxed and I gained permission to serve God in spite of my humanness and nagging imperfection,” Joan says. “I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time; it was such a grace-filled release.”

Did you get that? Isn’t that what you want—to serve God in “grace-filled release”? I know I (Dawn) do; and I need the peace that comes with grace too.

Joan continues . . .

Every person in the packed hotel lobby stared at me as I banged my head against the glass door and fell to the concrete floor. The manager hurried to my side.

“That was dumb,” I whispered.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I thought it was an open door,” I mumbled. All I wanted was to pick up the morning’s newspaper on the other side of the room. Instead, I walked forcefully into a recently cleaned picture window.

“I’ll be fine, thanks,” I responded as I walked away, blurry-eyed.

How could you have done that, Joan? You know better.

 Then remarkably, my thoughts shifted. Hey, it was a mistake!

 And just as quickly shifted again. Yeah sure, JC. Not only was it a mistake, but a very public example of imperfection. Wonder if they all think you’re tipsy this early in the day.

Yet I couldn’t stifle an internal chuckle, because I was at the hotel to write another chapter in my book, The Relief of Imperfection. Right before I walked into the floor-to-ceiling glass window, I wrote the following words in my journal:

You know what? I don’t think there is a single biblical character (spiritual giant or not) who was consistently pure, good, or wise. Not one!

• Abram lied about his relationship with wife Sarai (Genesis 12:10-20). Twice.
• Sarah shamed and ridiculed her employee Hagar (Genesis 16:6).
• Paul and John Mark had a public ministry split (Acts 15:36-40).
• Peter impetuously cut off a soldier’s ear in defense of His friend Jesus and then denied even knowing Him (John 18:10,26).
• James and John jockeyed for higher status, disregarding the others on Jesus’ team (Mark 10:35-41).

 Each had unique flaws, limitations, imperfect relationships, quirky habits or faulty reasoning. Yet…

• God proclaimed Abraham a faithful friend (James 2:23).
• Sarah received her deepest desire—a miracle pregnancy (Genesis 24:36).
• God blessed both the ministries of Paul and John Mark (Acts 15:39-41; 2 Timothy 4:11).
• Jesus built His entire New Testament Church on Peter’s leadership (Matthew 16:18).
• And He kept brothers James and John on His executive staff (Matthew 17:1-3).

Over the years, I have studied and received spiritual direction from these and other biblical servants. But perhaps I had not honestly examined the cumulative picture.

On this particular morning, God lovingly splashed His grace into my “trying too hard to serve Him just right” mentality and I saw the truth:

There is not one totally perfect human role model in the entire Bible.

(Well, except Jesus—who was 100-percent God and 100-percent man.)

I experienced a relief-producing paradigm shift that day as God assured me that: 

1. He says “yes” to partnering with sinful, flawed, limited human beings (like me!) who choose to accept His Son Jesus Christ’s work on the cross and follow Him.
2. Jesus surrounded Himself with perfectly imperfect people who decided to admit their needs, take risks, make mistakes and grow.
3. He loves me—not merely what I can do. He wants me to grow. And since I want that, also, we’re on the same page with this desire. God doesn’t expect me to be, do or make it all just right all the time. That’s His job.

Now, I’m inviting you to re-read that last point with yourself in mind. God loves you – not merely what you can do. He loves watching you courageously serve Him without being overly-concerned about doing it all perfectly.

Are your shoulders relaxing yet? 

Joan C. Webb is a speaker and author who has written thirteen books including The Intentional Woman (co-authored with Carol Travilla), The Relief of Imperfection: For Women Who Try Too Hard to Make It Just Right and a four-book devotional series for children. As a Life Coach who specializes in working with writers and communicators, Joan helps set people free to become who they were designed to be and from what holds them back. For more information about becoming an intentional woman, visit Joan’s website.