Matthew 5:48

This is the verse that reads "Be ye therefore perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect." If you go to church more often than Christmas and Easter, you've heard it. Sounds like a high standard, doesn't it?

It's worse than you think.

First, it comes at the end of the section which I'll paraphrase as:

Everyone knows that you're supposed to love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I'm telling you, love your enemy. Do good things for the people who're working against you. The woman who got you fired so she could get the promotion you wanted? Be nice to her. The couple across the street who're afraid of you because you're a pervert? Yeah, go out of your way to be nice to them. The foul-mouthed guy down the block who keyed your car? He's the guy you have to bless. The sister who's not on speaking terms with you? Call her. The people who are voting to mortgage your children's future, or take away your civil rights, or bankrupt the country, or deny health care, or ...yeah, those are the people you have to show love to.

Yeah, you can just look out for your buddies; you can be nice to the people who're nice to you. So what? Even traitors and criminals do that. Living up to that standard gets you nothing. Therefore, you need to be perfect ....

Wait a minute, we hit the really rough part there. The "you" Our Lord was talking to wasn't some "them" out there that I can ignore, that I can point at and say "Hey, you're not measuring up!" He was talking to me. I'm the one who has to be perfect. I don't get to tell other people that they need to live up to this standard; I have to live up to it myself. 

And the mind-blowing part? That verse finishes--again, slightly amplified:

Just the same way that our Father in heaven--who is constantly getting slandered and reviled and cursed and opposed--is perfect.