Now that our youngest son is in college, my wife Ruthie has been refreshing his room. One of her key tasks has been patching and painting the walls. We didn’t have the original paint, so my wife took a sample to the local home center to see if they could match it. When they found out that she needed just enough to touch up the patched places on the wall, they let her have a few sample amounts for free (which we appreciated).
Hours after Ruthie was done painting, she asked me to go upstairs and look at her paint work, because it didn’t look quite right. It didn't seem to blend in with the paint already on the wall. At first glance I couldn’t tell much of a difference, but as soon as I looked at it from a slightly different angle, letting the light reflect on it, the contrast was unmistakeable. The new paint had a gloss to it, whereas the existing paint had virtually no sheen at all.
This feature is known as a paint’s finish — the measure of a paint’s reflectivity when dry. Paints come in a variety of finishes: flat, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, and high-gloss (in order of lowest to highest reflectivity). Two of the most popular interior paint finishes are eggshell and satin.
Home improvement expert Bob Vila explains the primary differences between the two:
Satin reflects slightly more light than eggshell, which sharpens the contours of walls to add depth, whereas eggshell looks more one-dimensional.
Satin is more durable — an advantage in high-traffic spaces. Eggshell paint is more easily damaged by impacts and abrasions.
Satin is easier to clean, whereas eggshell requires more elbow grease due to its rougher surface.
Eggshell conceals surface flaws better than satin.
Regarding that last point, home improvement expert Bob Vila explains,
Although satin can fend off scratches, dents, and scuffs better than eggshell, if your painting surface already has these marks, eggshell will conceal them better. That’s because the lower reflectivity dulls the appearance of damages, making the surface look clean and flawless. (www.bobvila.com/articles/eggshell-vs-satin/)
As I considered the contrast between eggshell and satin, along with their respective advantages and disadvantages, it occurred to me that we see a similar contrast in the spiritual realm among Christians.
Many professing believers are “eggshell Christians,” whose primary aim is to conceal their flaws so that they look impressive to others, having no discernible blemishes or short-comings. But such people also tend to be one-dimensional and more easily damaged by other people’s words and actions.
“Satin Christians,” however, are not concerned about concealing their flaws but about reflecting the light of Christ. Consequently, they are more durable and able to handle the “high traffic areas” of Christian living without getting so easily damaged by other people’s words and actions. Satin Christians are also easier to clean because they don’t allow sin to work its way into the texture of their lives. Far from being one-dimensional, they display a gospel-depth that is real and beautifying.
Those are the kind of people I admire. That’s the kind of Christian I want to be.
The luster of our lives should always be Christ — his glory, his truth, his love.