Take off the Mask

I am the next to the youngest of five children, by the time my younger brother and I came along our oldest brother and sister were not living at home and if they were it wasn't long before they moved out. I recall a particular Sunday morning where everything that could go wrong, went wrong. It was total chaos and my dad was not a happy man. As we pulled in the parking lot of the church my mom turned to him and said, "You may want to reach up under the seat and get your sack." Dad replied, "What ___________ sack are you talking about, I don't need a sack." To which my mom sarcastically said, "Sure you do, it's the one you keep your religion in."

Over the years I have thought about that incident and frankly I've needed the blunt honesty of my mother on numerous occasions. In Matthew 23:25-28, Jesus was giving the scribes and Pharisees a serious tongue lashing. These scribes and Pharisees were good about putting on a masquerade. Too often, I find myself doing just as they did. Especially when I'm around brothers and sisters in Christ. It is so easy to keep the outside real nice and pretty but just like Jesus could see right through the religious types of his day, He also sees right through my masquerade.

Not only does God see right through us, the world often sees right through us as well. I don’t think that it bothers the world that we sin. I think it bothers the world that we act like we don’t. We are often indifferent or angry throughout the week or even on our way to church or a church function. When our “church friends” aren’t watching, we may be struggling spiritually causing us to fall short. On the other hand, we may be wailing about others, gossiping, mean, just plain sinful without even a care. But as soon as we pull up and exit our vehicle we put on those smiles like the homecoming queen in the parade. On Sunday we are a Saint, on Monday we ain’t. No wonder it’s so hard to teach the word to those who need it most, when we put on a masquerade for the entire world to see.

Why do we put on these masquerades? Obviously it is what Satan wants. The saddest part is we are at the one place where honesty should be encouraged, where our shortcomings ought to be accepted, a place where we can say without fear or judgment, “I am struggling, I hurt, or I need help.” More often than not the opposite happens. For example, consider this conversation that happens every week. These people may be hurting or struggling but you would never know it.

“How are you doing Sue?”

(Good, always well.)

“Good. It’s great to see you.”

Sadly, this is a frequent occurrence and the majority of us have enough on our plates without having to deal or even care about someone else’s problems. So we put on the smile and give the ceremonious reply.

As soon as Sue walks off we breathe a sigh of relief, hoping that she didn’t see the act and thankful that she didn’t dump any of her problems on us. I’m not saying we have to share all our problems with everyone. Nevertheless, there is nothing wrong with being transparent with our brothers and sisters if things aren’t just dandy. All of us struggle. The biggest problem is that the world has convinced us that something is wrong with us if we are hurting or if we are in need. We tell ourselves that we must be doing something wrong spiritually if we are struggling. The fact that God created us with a desire to be together tells me that part of his plan is for us to be helped by other members of His body. “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Unfortunately, many of us sit in the pew every week but would never dream of being transparent within the church. We may have tried being transparent at one time, only to be burnt by gossip or harsh judgment. So we decide that it is good for us to be here but it isn’t safe. We’ve heard brothers and sisters (and yes even our pastors) that we view as “strong Christians” look down or criticize a “weaker Christian” that may have had a different viewpoint on things. Romans 14:1-15 explains how these situations should be handled. All too often we judge as if we have no shortcomings or that our way is the only way. While some judging is required we need to avoid harsh criticism and fault-finding (Matthew 7:1-6).

It can be painful being transparent. There is so much more available to us in the body of Christ if we can overcome our fear and drop the act. It can only bless the body if they see the love of Jesus pouring out on those that may be struggling instead of just seeing the same old act. If we really believe that as a body we are to care for another and bear one another’s burdens, we need to drop the act, stop the judgment and pursue being transparent with one another. It’s not an act, so let’s close the curtain on our stained glass masquerade!