I wrote the post that is below back some time last year about how we wear masks to cover up who we really are. Yesterday Brian spoke on masks and how if we wear masks we truly can not experience God-Likeness because we aren’t true to ourselves or others. We put on a mask to cover up who we are, maybe something we’ve done or are ashamed of. I know in the past I have worn masks, trying to not let people in and get to know me. Over the last couple of years, I have slowly taken those masks off and thrown them away, I’ve learned that this is who I am and who God created me to be, so why should I cover it up and hide it. I’m comfortable with how God made me and who he created me to be. I listen to this song by Casting Crowns and it just makes me think of exactly what Brian was talking about yesterday. We need to take the masks off so we can be more Christ like and become closer to those we come in contact with, at church, work, school or wherever it may be.
From November 2006:
Stained Glass Masquerade
by: Casting Crowns
Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin’ so small
Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they’ll soon discover
That I don’t belong
So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the heart again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them
Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation’s open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade
Is there anyone who’s been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who’s traded
In the altar for a stage
The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart
But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be
Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay
I was listening to this song today on the way to work and I always sing along with it but never really listened to the lyrics. It’s a powerful message and all too real. I don’t know about you, but there are many times that I’ve felt like this, just wanting to hide how I feel and putting on a good face for everyone. Putting on this act is just what the song says a “masqueradeâ€, you put on a mask to cover your true feelings and in doing that you never really let anyone in. On the flip side, we are so used to people asking how we are out of a basic courtesy but not truly meaning it so we just say “good†and both go on our way…this has taught us to keep our feelings inside and hide them. We think to ourselves, “They don’t want to actually know how we feel, so why tell them. We might scare them off.†For me, it’s not that, okay maybe sometimes, but mainly its just the fact that I don’t want to burden anyone. But that’s why we have family, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ. They are there for us no matter what and let us know we can be ourself and take off the mask. Are you the type of friend whose friends know they don’t need to wear a mask around you? I think I am and I hope my friends know they don’t need any kind of mask around me, ever! We need to get off the stage, put up the masks and just be ourselves.
