What does "a work in progress" mean?

He's a work in progress ...

When we say this about someone, it can mean a whole lot of things.

It can be pejorative: The guy is basically a loser.

Or it can be encouraging: Don't give up on him; there's a lot of good qualities waiting to bust out!

Often it is neither of the above. When we say "he's a work in progress," it simply means we need to put up with the way he is; he's always going to be that way.

This is particularly true when "he's a work in progress" is used in reference to adults. Valerie used it the other day to describe a friend in his 50s, someone well-established in society, with a great job, a great family, respected in his neighborhood, a man of good works, a church-going man. He even loves his pets as far as I can tell.

But ... his quirkiness and idiosyncrasies led Valerie to say: "Oh ... he's a work in progress."

I'm thinking: what do we want him to progress to? Do we really want him to lose his idiosyncrasies? Would that be progress? But would he even be the same person we love -- and roll our eyeballs over when he's not looking?

Wouldn't he be less spice in our lives if he was denuded of his quirks?

What did she mean that he's "a work in progress?"

Can it be that there's some things about him that just don't strike our fancy? Can that be all "he's a work in progress" means?

But what makes our fancy a measure of other people's need for "progress?"

Logos2Go

Blaise Pascal, Pensees #196: Some fancy makes me dislike people who croak or who puff while eating. Fancy carries a lot of weight. What good will that do us? That we indulge it (fancy) because it is natural? No, rather that we resist it. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), Pensees, translated by A.J. Krailsheimer (London and New York: Penguin, 1995), 58

Colossians 3.13 You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

Galatians 5.15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Ephesians 4.12-13 ... prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith...