Perfect Imperfection

I have witnessed a miracle and still cannot define what it is. I had the joy of watching some brothers be baptized, and among them was a man with below-normal intellectual capacity, what we call "mentally retarded."

While the others remained calm, waiting for the pastor to ask them so they could say yes, this man was not still for a single second and stirred up a whirlwind, especially among those of us who remained as spectators.

This person, imperfect according to us—at least according to our studied and sophisticated notion of perfection—demonstrated before our eyes what sincere worship and the most genuine emotion we could ever know truly were. This “imperfection” poured out his soul so perfectly that he made us, the “perfect” ones, feel ashamed. It was like watching a child rejoice over the best gift his father could possibly give him, and indeed, that was exactly what it was: his Father had given him the best gift—Salvation, Eternal Life. It cannot be described in words; quite simply, we lost the words that could describe it along the road of life, when we lost our innocence, when we left behind the child within us at some bend in the road.

What, then, was the miracle? What was unexpected? That a person with mental challenges, who functions with the innocence of a child, would give his life to Christ? The miracle was not in the “imperfect” one; even before saying Yes, he was already perfect in God’s eyes. His sincere worship was like pleasing incense before the altar, like a drink offering fragrant with genuine innocence. The miracle was in the others who were being baptized, those who, as self-aware sinners, had embarked upon a struggle against the Goliath that stalks them daily and had decided to choose a better life.

Imperfection? As if we knew how to distinguish between what is perfect and what is not!

I have witnessed a miracle.

I have seen someone who was perfect in God’s eyes be baptized.

I have seen many imperfect people publicly acknowledge that they were imperfect.

I have seen the miracle of Salvation and the choice to transform lives.

I have seen God.