Clothing by Saracino Michele

Author:Saracino, Michele [Michele Saracino]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4514-2441-6
Publisher: Fortress Press

Perfectionism: The Eighth Deadly Sin?

From the early church forward, Christians have believed there are certain acts that destroy who we are and our capacity for charity. These mortal sins, at times referred to as the seven deadly sins, include wrath, greed, laziness, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. In this section, I somewhat playfully and somewhat seriously suggest that we might think of perfectionism as the eighth deadly sin. To be sure, the unchecked drive to be perfect and godlike overlaps with greed, gluttony, and of course, pride, but in a consumerist global culture, in the hyped-up world of celebrity and computer-enhanced supermodels, and in a culture that some thinkers categorize as narcissistic, perfectionism manifests uniquely as the sin of our time.

It is somewhat awkward to propose that perfectionism is sinful, particularly when spiritual perfection is an important component of Christian life. From an early age, Christian leaders, educators, and caregivers teach children to practice their faith, to struggle against temptations, and to “press on” toward the goal of salvation (Philippians 3:12-14). The gospel story about Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, after he was alone for forty days with no food, offers a powerful example for believers to remain steadfast on the quest for perfection. The lives of the saints replicate Jesus’ desert experience; in particular, Athanasius’s St. Antony of the Desert concretizes the importance of perfecting one’s soul through rigorous disciplines of bodily denial, including fasting and isolation.[4] For many mainstream Christians, the extreme mortification practices upheld by the narratives of the desert fathers are a thing of the past. Instead, fasting today is often limited to holy days as a reminder of one’s devotion to God and the commitment to Christian discipleship. Still, there is a thread in the tradition that upholds extreme practices of bodily denial as a way to spiritual perfection, and those potentially damaging practices are the ones that need to be questioned both in Christian communities and in secular life.

Anne Lamott captures the more toxic and damaging effects of perfectionism in her inspirational work Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. She writes, “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life . . . [and] is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die.”[5] There is a paradox to perfectionism in that it promises immortality, but you practically have to kill yourself to obtain it. Just think of how multiple plastic surgeries take their toll on the human body, or how extreme dieting and weight training including steroid use harm one’s health. Testing cosmetics in the lab poses harmful effects to animals. The path to perfection is the road to destruction.

Also poignant is Lamott’s implicit critique of how perfectionism impedes human freedom. Christians believe first and foremost that God creates humans to be free, social, and with a sacred end. Perfectionism restricts our freedom to be creative, imaginative, and open to genuine relationships based on vulnerability.

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