In my mother’s generation there was a common expression that was used as a term of endearment or completion of a task. When someone did something good they would reply, “That’s swell!” This expression was used by upwardly mobile youth and was communicated as a proof of relevance by the person that used it. It also reflected the nation’s heart about people’s desire to see their fellow man succeed in the midst of the rise of very negative and oppressive movements.
Then, in my generation there came the expression, “That’s cool!” You would say the word “cool” and it meant approval, completion, or the task is done. This word was also used by upwardly mobile youth that desired to show their relevance as concerning the time. But it also represented a view held by those around the world that they were not a part of the anti-movements (so prevalent in areas of their culture) that were attempting to remove perceived oppression by rebellion.
I remember once being on the stage at a very conservative religious conference, where twenty thousand people were in attendance, when I said the word, “That’s cool!” The vast majority of the audience gave absolutely no response to the word because they did not understand what I meant. But after the meeting, as I walked through the convention center, I received numerous accolades and responses by people who also used the same expression, “Cool!”
The performance I had done on the stage has been far less remembered than that simple expression, which said much more and has linked me invisibly to the thousands of today’s forward-thinking leaders who were present at that conference. They still remember that expression. That event happened almost 30 years ago but its effects are still ongoing today.
Over this last year I have heard a new expression, and have just now realized that it is being used by the upwardly mobile young people of today. I heard it used by a receptionist at a five-star hotel, a waitress in a first-class restaurant, ~ and a barista at a Starbucks espresso machine ~ when she made me an exquisite grande misto, Jamaican Blue Mountain medium roast, specialty drink. When the barista finished her meticulous task of mixing the coffee, milk and cream in precise proportions. she exclaimed, “Perfect!”
It was then I realized, in that one exact expressive moment, ~ and what I had heard coming out of the mouths of so many successful people, ~ was their spirit. It was desiring perfection and was aligning each person verbally with the will of the Spirit. For does not the Word say, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh?”
In the past, too many young people never sought after perfection because they thought they were expected to reach a predetermined standard. This was very unsettling because obeying such rules only led to young people being placed under the power of condemnation. For this reason, many Christian young people today have rejected the religious rules of the church but have still maintained a private and very personal relationship with Jesus.
This is what I believe God is revealing to me. That there is a massive generation of young people who have discovered a new and Biblically-correct idea of perfection, ~ and it has nothing to do with rules or predetermined standards ~ but has everything to do with obedience. Obedience to the daily instructions of God, that He gives you personally, and results in a daily conclusion of satisfaction because you feel, “Perfect!”
This is what happened when our family went to a five-star hotel and the official representative selected a suite which matched the exact needs of all six of us. She had made sure it had been luxuriously prepared, right down to the expensive chocolates placed perfectly on the pillows, so she could present it to us with a triumphant, “Perfect!”
As the expression came out of her mouth I knew she was responding to what her employers had instructed her in their extensive training courses. And since she had obeyed their exact instructions, her exclamation of the word “Perfect!” expressed volumes more than a simple English definition.
At the Cheesecake Factory Restaurant in San Francisco, the waitress and her assistants placed all of the artistically-designed dishes in one dramatic presentation of eight settings. She then stood back, after having made sure all the drinking cups had been topped off, folded her hands with a smile, and exulted, “Perfect!”
At a first-class rent-a-car counter, the young beautiful woman who was filling out my rental form asked me what type of car I wanted. When I told her the make and the model, she located the exact car I requested and said elatedly, “Perfect!”
Without a doubt, experiences similar to what I have described have happened to all of you who are reading this, but did you fully recognize what was occurring? Out of their mouths their hearts were speaking, as almost a reflex, their secret desire to be in sync. This means that people around the world are beginning to release an inner hunger for what Jesus desires in all of us: “I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and has loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.”
As you can see through these examples, upwardly mobile people around the globe are starting to express the desire that Jesus prayed to the Father when He prayed in the garden the night He was crucified. This is so profound because it means that the world is aligning themselves with Jesus’ prayers for unity.
I am now discovering what a perfect day is like. A perfect day is where I do exactly what the Lord instructs me to do, intends me to do, and desires me to do. It is listening to the smallest breath of the wind and will of the Spirit that is directing me to align my course to lead me to ever more prosperous ports of destinations. What an incredible journey, this mysterious adventure of exploration and discovery, ~ that is being revealed by the Father in heaven who created us and designed us with all the curiosity that is going to be satisfied by His pleasures forevermore!
A Place To Meet Jesus 