In Defense of Idealism

Loads of people in the college-educated class describe themselves as “perfectionists.” The smart ones claim they were perfectionists and are in the process of recovering. It is a crippling disease. Despite what the name implies, many a perfectionist lives in an unclean house amid suffocating, materialistic squalor. In a first-world country, it is possible to be both wealthy and poor; wealthy in the stuff we fill our homes with, poor in the practical virtues necessary to manage daily life.

The trouble with perfectionism is the astonishing amount of time it takes to not do things. Fretting about which task would be most appropriate and how to dispatch it most efficiently can consume mental and physical reserves without ever lifting a finger.

The source of perfectionism, some will say, is idealism. The thinking goes that the abstract ideal haunts us and paralyzes us from taking a step, any step, that might sully the perfection of our work. Better to do nothing than to try and fall pathetically short.

But is this really the source of perfectionism? It’s true that an ideal is an encapsulation of some perfection, a model and standard of total excellence. In the presence of such a pedestal, perhaps perfectionism would be the logical response.

However, Christians know that the ideal is not merely an abstraction but a real, ever-present person. What does that have to do with housekeeping? Well, cleanliness is next to godliness, after all. But back to the main point, idealism is not mere abstraction.

When ideals do become purely abstract, then they are unattainable and lead to the crippling perfectionism with which we began. Maintaining a true idealism, though, is not a bad thing. Idealism considered within our embodied nature is one that is lived in action. Rather than timidly shrinking from some imagined ideal, we can come to know the ideal through our imperfections and shortcomings. When we make a sincere effort and still fall so woefully short of being cheerful, tidy, and kind, we come to a greater understanding of what ultimate happiness, order, and love must be.

The mess and struggle of trying to fix an old house or care for a fussy baby can never be the arena of perfectionism. Action is required when the wood is rotting and the helpless baby is soiled. The confrontation with these imperfections should inspire action. What is the action if not reaching for an ideal? By straining to align the fractured pieces around us, we must tap into a sense of what order and harmony must be.

In Matthew 5:48, Jesus says, “Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.” But wasn’t perfectionism verboten? Evidently, not quite. When idealism is considered not as an abstraction but as a reality toward which we strive, our lives become a trajectory toward that ideal.

Perfectionism, the crippling disease, is then perhaps a premature desire to achieve union with the ideal. Our lot in this world is not to attain but continually seek. Idealism is not the problem, but rather the wellspring of hope and consolation on the journey. Perfectionism as so many experience it today presents a mirage in the desert, a promise of respite on the journey, when, in fact, full restoration, resting in the ideal, will continue to elude us. This is not a reason to strop striving.