Losing Is Good

When it comes to wrestling, the concept that losing is a good thing, has never been that hard for me to understand. It makes perfect sense. It's not like anyone sets out to lose, but when they do, they can see things they would not see if they won. This is why losing makes you better at wrestling.

It is also easy for me to see how losing or failing in other areas of life can be a good thing. Some of the most successful people in the world have experienced great amounts a failure before achieving great success. We learn from failure.

The hang up for me has come with failing spiritually. Whenever I fail spiritually, my natural reaction is to view myself as worse off than I was before I committed the sin, when in reality the opposite is true. I believe spiritual failure can actually help us grow spiritually, much like failure in wrestling or in other areas of life.

This, in no way means that we should go about sinning as much as we can so that we can grow spiritually. It's just like in wrestling where winning is always the goal, but when failure happens, we can learn from it.

I am going to explain this using a parable Jesus told about a Pharisee and a tax collector. (Luke 18:9-14) The story starts with both, the Pharisee and the tax collector, going to the temple to pray. The Pharisee prayed "God, I thank you that I am not like other people- robbers, evildoers, adulterers- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get."

Then Jesus talks about the tax collector who stood at a distance and would not even look up to heaven. The tax collector beat his chest and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

Then Jesus spoke to the crowd regarding the tax collector, "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

As Christians we should strive to be like the chest beating tax collector. The tax collector knew he was not worthy of God's grace so he begged for mercy. The Pharisee, on the other hand, was also a sinner, but he could not see his sin. He was righteous in his own eyes. Jesus condemns this mentality.

I do not believe I speak only for myself, when I say, I feel much more like the Pharisee in the story when I feel I am "doing well spiritually". On the other hand, when I fail spiritually, I feel much more like the chest beating tax collector.

Here is the part that gets a little confusing so stay with me here. The difference between the tax collector and the Pharisee was never the amount of sin in their lives, but their awareness of sin in their lives. The Pharisee was sinful, but couldn't see his sin. The tax collector was sinful and he knew it. The awareness of sin in our lives is what brings us to God with a humble heart that accepts his grace freely given to us.

So when I say spiritual failure can help us grow spiritually, I really should say spiritual failure that we can see helps us grow spiritually, because we all fail spiritually every single day. It is the sin that we see outwardly expressed in our lives that brings us to the point of humility that says "God, have mercy on me, a sinner".

That being said, we should pray that God reveals to us our sin that we are not aware of, so that we can begin to understand His grace like the tax collector did. Just like in wrestling... when we win it is much harder to see our faults, but if we look closely we will find them.