The problem of perfectionism

I wasn’t always a perfectionist; I was trained to become one. As a teenager, I was pretty laidback: I wondered why anyone would expect perfection from life. Surely they’ll just end up disappointed. However, my first job upon finishing a degree in Visual Communications was in graphic design—typesetting investor communications. The projects required a lot of attention to detail, so it didn’t take long for my laidback attitude to get me into trouble. I soon learned that these mistakes were irreversible and costly. Four years with this company left me a trained perfectionist.

When I started my ministry apprenticeship, I thought about perfectionism many times, and I noticed four effects—some positive and some negative—that perfectionism has on ministry:

1. Perfectionism professionalizes ministry

It’s easy to get puffed up in ministry—especially in upfront roles with a watching congregation. Your focus ends up being on performance and meeting the congregation’s expectations. As you lead music, a service or a Bible study, or as you give a talk, your preparation can become an exercise in perfectionism. How you speak and appear, or what words and visuals you use, can become the focus. You can also become hungry for feedback, looking to validate all the work you’ve put into preparing.

The danger here isn’t in preparing thoughtfully for your ministry, but thinking that your efforts, creativity and skills are what causes people to change, be compelled and challenged to live Christian lives.

2. Perfectionism distrusts others’ abilities to reach high standards

Pride affects your trust in others’ capacity to serve. Have you ever stopped asking people to help out of fear of ending up with something imperfect? Instead of helping them to grow, you avoid asking them again.

This isn’t to say that competence is unimportant; you need to consider other people’s gifts. However, the danger here is when someone particularly invested in a ministry (like the pastor of a Sunday church service) wants to achieve a high standard at the cost of enabling others to serve.

Such standards need to be weighed up with the purpose of the ministry. Asking questions like “Why do we do a Sunday church service?” and answering this biblically can realign our thinking so that everyone is included in serving and is built up in the process, not made to feel useless.

3. Perfectionism’s opposite can confuse humility with incompetence

My ministry apprenticeship has been a great opportunity for testing my capacity, using my gifts, learning new things and being trained in a variety of unfamiliar ministries. However, sometimes I’ve felt that not knowing something is the same as being humble. Yes, our incompetencies highlight that we aren’t superheroes. But we shouldn’t desire to stay at the same level; we should want to get better at things. Dwelling too much in the realm of the laidback should not give us a license for making careless mistakes.

4. Perfectionism loves to do things well

Tendencies towards perfectionism can come from good desires. If you love people, you will work at communicating the gospel well. Whether spoken or visual, communication needs to be thought through, prepared, and presented in a way that’s helpful for a particular audience. Considering your hearers and making an effort to be clear and concise is an act of service.

I’ve been designing various visuals for church, and I’ve learned not to spend too much time perfecting them. At the same time, I still aim to help the audience stay engaged and understand the message. My MTS trainer has been instrumental in helping me work out what to prioritize—for example, practising my Bible talks for youth group out loud before I start working on an amazing PowerPoint slideshow to accompany it. When short on the time, we can compromise on some things, but not on preaching God’s word.

Focus on Jesus

The most valuable lesson I’ve learned during MTS has been to focus on Jesus. 2 Timothy 1:9 says he has “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began”. Remember that we’re sinners, saved through the death of Jesus on a cross. Remember that we are no longer slaves to sin, but instead we serve our enthroned king. Focusing on Jesus is difficult when ministry can easily puff you up. But seeking to perfect our focus on him is our most important task as Christians—a task that humbles us as we carry out our ministries and give him all the glory.