Behind the Mask

There’s a quiet town in Germany where once a year the good, hard working people of that town dress up and wear masks. Nothing unusual, you might say, lots of people dress up and wear masks for parties, Halloween, and so on. However, the difference is in their intention.

The inhabitants of this town don’t dress up and wear masks to celebrate some holiday or someone’s special day, they do so to hide who they are from one another. Why? Because once a year the adult inhabitants of this town send the kids off to camp or nearby relatives so that they can spend an entire day doing whatever they fancy with whomever they want. Adultery, gambling, orgies, binge drinking, all is fair game and anything goes, save one thing, murder.

To one extent or another we all wear masks to hide who we really are and what we’re all about. Have you ever met someone in church who you know was not being totally honest and open with you? But ask yourself, were you totally honest and open with them? Maybe in your workplace you have someone who wears one mask around the bosses and then another when they are with the other workers. Maybe that person is you?

One of the main reasons people are turned off by the church, and Christians for that matter, is because they see them as hypocrites. The word hypocrite comes from the ancient Greek word hupocrits which denotes someone who pretends or plays a part, as in an actor. In ancient times actors would often hold a double sided mask, one side representing comedy, the other, tragedy. And they would act with these masks covering their faces. A modern example of this would be an actor who wears prosthetic makeup to hide who they are to play a part, as in the case of Jim Carrey playing The Grinch.

Believers are called out to make a difference, to live the life, to follow after Jesus, and not to compromise their faith. We need to understand that our family, friends, work colleagues, towns, cities, and the world, are watching us to see if we’ll make it or not, to see if we are true to our word.

We say we love Jesus and then forsake those in need. We say we are part of an extended “church family” and then bitch and whine about our so-called brothers and sisters. We point accusing fingers when someone fails, instead of reaching out hands of love and healing. We moan instead of praying. We push away and exist primarily for ourselves, gorging and fattening ourselves on “church-ianity”, instead of getting out into the world and doing what the Word says, and living as Jesus instructed (Matthew 28:18-20).

It may seem that I’m taking a bit of a hard-edged stance against hypocrisy – I am. However, I realize that when I talk about hypocrisy I may have one finger pointed away from me and yet, there are three fingers pointing back at me, “wretched man that I am.” Romans 7:24

So what’s the answer? I think that a true believer desires nothing else than to be conformed into the image of Christ, to become like him in all that they say and do. And I believe that the more we become like Jesus, the less we will need our masks, as we will have nothing left to hide.

Remember the town in Germany. Once a year they gave in to their wicked lusts and desires in a no-holds-barred day of depravity. And yet, every year the Salvation Army, along with the faithful believers of that town, set up a stand right in the middle of town with a banner above it declaring, “God see’s behind the mask.”

God see’s behind the mask, a sobering fact to say the least.

Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
March, 2009

Picture by Claudia Meyer