I’m sure all of us can remember growing up and, more often around Halloween, putting on a costume with a mask. Superheroes or a fairy princess or maybe even something more sinister.
Or maybe you were like me and your class did an art project when you were in 5th grade where you created a mask of your face and then painted it. Amazingly, I still have that today these many, many years later.
However, those are just physical masks. As adults, we tend to wear hidden masks throughout the day and that is something that I think we all do whether we realize it or not.
There are many different types of masks that we wear. Here are just a few.
The Perfection Mask – designed to make us seem like we have it all together. Everything is perfect in our life and nothing is awry. That we have the perfect family, we are the perfect spouse, the best friend anyone could ask for, etc. Can’t let others know that things are about to snap and nothing is in order.
The Financially Stable Mask – one that shows we are well to do. We are doing well for ourselves and have prestige. Get the best cars, have the latest and greatest clothes, an incredible house but can’t let anyone know that you are drowning in debt.
The Busy Mask – always running from one thing to another, but can’t let anyone know how lonely you truly are.
The Happy Mask – nothing ever gets you down. Always have a smile on your face because you can’t let anyone know that you have any heartache.
We put on these masks so that we can hide things within us that we don’t want the world, or sometimes even those close to us, to see.
Why?
Let’s take a look at the beginning. Like way back in Genesis. You know the story. The snake deceived Eve with a “chocolate covered” fruit (okay, so we don’t know for a fact it was chocolate covered but how else could she have been so easily deceived?) and then she gave it to Adam as well. Then what happened next?
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
Genesis 3:8-10
Why did they hide? Adam hid from God because he was naked and afraid. Why do we hide behind a mask?
Two reasons, first because we would then be naked (vulnerable). We don’t want to show the hurt, the heartache that we carry deep inside us. We don’t want to be open because we don’t want people to think less of us. Then we get upset because no one truly understands us because we never let anyone in to truly know us. We put up this wall, this mask, that hides us from others. We only show them what we want them to see, not all the vulnerable, authentic pieces of our lives.
Now, I am not saying we should be open with everyone. But we do need people that we can shed the mask with. We need to find a circle, a tribe I like to call it, where we can lay out anything and they will be there to build you up, encourage you, and keep you accountable in Christ. Because when we do this, our lives will be so much richer and more fulfilling and our relationships would be so much deeper IF we allow the people that love us, the ones in our circle, to truly see more of us and who we are.
Adam said that he hid. Now, doesn’t that just sound ridiculous? I mean, could he really hide from God? God may have asked where Adam was, but do you really honestly think that God didn’t know where Adam was? But, don’t many of us do the same thing? We put on a mask even with God! We think that putting on the mask will fool the one that created us.
Umm…yeah…good luck with that.
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him….
Hebrews 4:13
Why do we hide from the God who know us? The One who created us?
That brings us to that second part. We are afraid. Afraid of being caught as a fraud. Afraid of people seeing the real us and then not wanting anything to do with us. I think that we often fear that God wouldn’t love us if He knew (which He already does) everything we had done. We can get insecure and think that God can’t possibly love us enough, but He hasn’t stopped.
Masks don’t work with Christ. He sees every part of you right down to your innermost thoughts and He still went to the cross with you on His mind. So deep is His love for you!
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Ephesians 2:4-9
The safest place in the world is at the foot of the cross. In the arms of Jesus. God isn’t surprised by anything you’ve done or thought. He still looks at you and says He loves you. You can take off the mask. It isn’t needed with Him. It won’t change His love for you.
True Christianity requires authenticity. There are enough fake Christians out there. We need to get into the Word and become more Christ-like. Not just in church, but within our homes, at our work, at the grocery store. Everywhere we go we are called to to be the light of Christ and let others see the difference within you. You may be the only way others can be introduced to Jesus.
Jesus paid too big of a price for us to not be real. That means my mask has to come down, even when sharing my faith. I can’t shy away from being who He has called me to be. To proclaim who He is. Show true Christianity, not perfection. Because I am not better than anyone else.
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
Romans 12:3
I am not perfect by any stretch. I have plenty of struggles and hardships. Not meaning that I am going to share everything on my sleeve, but still be real to those around me. Again, this is where we need to find a circle of tight knit friends that we can trust with our issues, our struggles, and keep us accountable. Those that we can remove that mask for.
Will it be scary?
Definitely.
Will it be hard?
Yes.
It may even be painful. But having others surround you and encourage you and know the real you, it is worth it. Because we are not made to live this life alone. We were not made to hide behind a mask.
A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire;
He rages against all wise judgment.
Proverbs 18:1
Having people know the real you will help you grow in your relationships with God and with others. Let’s start ditching the mask.
Love others well, and don’t hide behind a mask; love authentically. Despise evil; pursue what is good as if your life depends on it.
Romans 12:9 The Voice
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