By Andrea Goebel, God’s Way
It was time for my daughter to create her First Communion banner, and I was so excited. She had already sketched out a design, and now it was time to put everything together. I laid the banner and materials on the table, and she pulled out a piece of felt and began to draw a rainbow.
“Do you want to trace a picture before you put it on your banner?” I asked.
“Why would I do that?” my daughter questioned.
What could I say? That I was afraid that her homemade banner would look plain compared to the elaborate examples we had seen?
“It might be easier to cut out the shapes if you trace them first.”
“I want to do it myself,” my daughter insisted.
As she finished one section of the rainbow, she held it up so I could see. Then, she pulled out another piece of felt and drew the next part.
“See, I’m tracing this piece around the other part of my rainbow so they fit together.” She was so proud of her ingenuity.
Internally, my insecurity waged a war against my heart. All of the examples we had seen for the banner project looked perfect. I wanted my daughter’s to be the same. Yet, as I tried to persuade her to trace images for her banner, I knew my intentions were misaligned.
I was behaving like the scribes and Pharisees. On the outside, they followed the rules of religious conduct, but Jesus knew they were more worried about appearing righteous than doing what was right.
In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus commands his disciples not to follow the scribes and Pharisees, “for they preach but they do not practice” (Matthew 23:3), and “all their works are performed to be seen” (5).
What was I teaching my daughter if my actions showed I thought it was more important for her work to look perfect than to be authentic? She was using her God-given talents to create something for him; why would I take that opportunity away from her?
I decided to stop telling her what to do. It was her banner; she should design it herself.
Thankfully, my daughter knew what was important. After completing the rainbow, she drew a host and chalice, and she even cut out a cross to place on the host.
I felt so proud.
God wants pure hearts, not perfect appearances. Our goal is to be like Christ and share him with others. Following Jesus wholeheartedly is the only perfection we should seek.