First Blog

Wise Imperfection

“This discussion (see part one here) reminds me of two separate but related stories. One comes from a noted sociologist (from the University of Notre Dame); the other from a social media “guru” famous for giving out helpful advice on how to, well, become famous on social media. First, the sociologist: During my doctoral studies, I once attended an informal dinner with several friends, most all of whom were pursuing their graduate degrees as well. This scholar was the guest of honor at our friend’s place (who himself was a scientist at the University of Oxford). My friend, the host, asked a question to the guest about how he is able to produce so much scholarship and research—to which the sociologist replied: ‘I aim at ninety-five percent. I used to go for one hundred; until I realized it was impossible. Now, I work in a way that I know I could improve the manuscript by five more percent to make it ‘perfect,’ but then quickly hand it off the publishers to see if they want to fix it further; because the time it would take me to shore up that last five percent is time I should be spending on my next project—which is exactly what I do.’ Almost exactly this same thought is what the famous YouTube-er expressed (which I paragraph here): ‘It is better to put out three more pieces of content [videos] than to work to make one piece of content ten percent better.’

Excellence Not Perfection

To conclude this thought: not only is perfectionism unproductive and unhealthy; it’s downright dangerous when it comes to calling. It could turn one’s calling—a beautiful and honorable act of worship—from a ‘grateful stewardship of our gifts’ into what Timothy Keller calls a ‘neurotic fabrication of our self-worth.’ Perfectionism takes potential worship and makes it into idolatry; for, after all, making idols is simply ‘turning a good thing [excellence] into an ultimate thing [perfectionism].'”*

Excerpt taken from Ch.1 of Calling: God’s Blueprint for Your Life by Richard S. Park