The past few days I’ve been re-staining my front deck.  The pickets, rails, and posts are white while the decking is a darker stain.  Before I stained, I attempted to pressure wash all the dirt and pollen off the pickets and posts.  I must confess it had been a few years since I really cleaned it, and it looked good after washing it (well, most of it).  I then began the tedious process of applying stain to the pickets, posts, and handrails only to discover the spots I had missed with the pressure washer.  And I bet you can guess what I did.  I covered up the blackness, dirt, and pollen with the white stain.  And it looks great and clean!

However, with nearly every brush stroke of white stain over every crevice filled with black dirt, I was reminded of Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees in Matthew 23:27-28.  In these two verses Jesus called them “whitewashed tombs” clean on the outside, but full of dead bones and uncleanness on the inside.  As I “whitewashed” the dirt missed by the pressure washer  I thought of my own hypocrisy, self-righteousness, and sinfulness.  I wondered, “Am I just ‘whitewashing’ my own sin?  Am I just covering up the inward depravity with an outward display of righteousness?”  I think we all sometimes display outwardly what is not genuinely true of us inwardly.

But then God reminded me that He did not cover the blackness of my sin with a white stain bought from Lowes.  He covered the blackness of my sin with the blood stains of His precious Son, Jesus Christ.  His blood stain is permanent, not temporary.  When God stains us it is not to “whitewash” the outside, but to “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).  He has made us new on the inside and outside (2 Corinthians 5:17).  It is now my responsibility to walk in Spirit’s new life and in the righteousness God has given me (Galatians 5:16).  In other words, by God’s grace, I’m not “whitewashed,” I’m “bloodwashed.”

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• White Wash (lucnia.wordpress.com)

While running this afternoon, I was watching a news segment debating the merits of declaring every child a winner. It seems ever more prevalent to give each child in a sporting event a trophy, not just the winners. Or note the example of a new mercy rule fining a football team for winning by more than 35 points. Are these good things? Should all kids be declared winners?

I think not. How can we really know what success is if we don’t understand failure? Is it really possible to excel unless we know what it is to not be good at something? Can we truly be a winner if we can never lose?

I can remember my dad letting me win games and also beating me at games growing up. I happen to remember though, that losing, not winning motivated me more. When I failed, I wanted to succeed. When I failed consistently, I either tried that much harder or finally gave up to discover some activity I was better at. I’m afraid telling our children they’re good at everything will “fail” to motivate them. It appears to me that only a decent dose of “failure” adequately motivates one to succeed. Losing can actually teach us to become winners.