Masks: Excerpt

Why do we wear masks? In general, in most cultures, throughout the ages, people have worn masks primarily for 2 reasons: protection and entertainment.

Ancient Roman tournament soldiers wore masks on their helmets to protect themselves against physical dangers during the fight. Doctors, nurses, dentists, and others in the medical field wear masks to protect themselves from breathing in airborne germs that cause disease. Firefighters wear gas masks to avoid inhaling poisonous smoke and gases. My son wears a face mask when he goes snowboarding to keep his face warm. All of these are means of protecting the face and body from harm. And throughout history the protection factor has bled into the spiritual or superstitious elements of culture when people make protective masks in the form of some evil or grotesque form to ward off evil influences as well as physical danger.

But masks have also been worn for entertainment purposes for generations. As far back as the 6^th century in Greece, actors have been wearing masks to hide the actor’s identity and portray emotions. In the oversized Greek amphitheaters it was hard to see the actors’ faces, so large and exaggerated masks were used to let the audience know which character was speaking.

In 14^th century Japan, Noh theatre was popular, with some common archetypes emerging that are still in use today. To this day one can find examples of Noh theatre being performed and Noh masks are rarely even available to collectors, they’re so rare and valuable.

In many cultures masks are used to disguise emotions and present a specific identity to an audience so the pressure is taken off the individual to portray that emotion. If I’m wearing a mask that is a permanent grin, I no longer need to convince the audience that I’m happy – they see me on stage and know, “Oh, she’s the happy one.” It creates simple, one-dimensional characters that were practical in theatre productions that had more characters than actors, so one actor might need to portray several characters. Easier to hold up or wear a different mask instead of changing everything – costume, voice, etc.

So practically speaking, masks can protect us or create a false persona that we present to others. The same is true for us figuratively speaking, isn’t it? We wear masks to protect ourselves and we wear masks to present a certain aspect of ourselves and hide others. When is it appropriate to play a role and when are we being emotionally dishonest? What are the masks we wear in relationships? The prepared, safe, rigid, or careful portrayals of ourselves. In what ways do we pretend to be something or someone we’re not? And why do we do it? What are we protecting ourselves from? What are we afraid of? Most importantly, if it’s not the wisest or healthiest way to interact with each other, how can we change?

Because we can't even begin to contemplate removing our protective masks from each other without a firm foundation of our identity in God's truth, let's start with what God says about Himself and about us in His Word.

Let’s begin with our main character in the dramedy called life. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not us. J It’s God. There’s a word used to describe this idea that because God is eternal – He has always existed – and He is preeminent – superior and surpassing all others – all of history is HIS story. The word is metanarrative, or the big story that tells the story. God’s creation and redemption of humanity is the story of the Bible. And the story of life. God started it and God determines when it ends. We enter HIS story, not the other way around. We like to think of things in terms of when Christ came into our lives – or when HE entered OUR story. A subtle but important shift happens when we realize and remember that we entered the story that had already begun and that will continue long after we’re gone. And in that story – a story in which we have a role, to be sure – God is the main character.

So what does God say about Himself? Our theology is very important because it determines so much of our worldview, including how we see and interact in relationships. So theology, or the study of God, matters. And since the Bible is God’s Word to us about Himself and us, let’s look there for some theological foundations.

1. God is a relationship. The Trinity is introduced in Genesis 1:26 – “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…” From before the moment mankind was introduced, God’s relationship with Himself was complete. Father, Son and Holy Spirit co-existed eternally when mankind was introduced.

2. God values relationship. In countless Bible stories, God takes the initiative to communicate with His creation. He made covenants with Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses. He saved a whole family with Noah when the earth was flooded. He gave Joseph sons in captivity in Egypt. He let Moses take his brother with him to speak to Pharaoh. Paul had Timothy and Silas. Ours is a relational God.

3. God is love. “…as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him…” (Psalm 103:11) “God is love.” (1 John 4:16) God is love, values love, and makes love possible. The Bible is replete with commands to love, examples of love, and stories of love. Jesus Himself said that the 2 most important commands were to LOVE the Lord our God with all our strength, mind and soul and to LOVE our neighbors as ourselves. Everything else hinges on these 2 LOVE commands, He says. And it is only possible to love others when we understand the God of love and rely on Him to teach us how to love each other.

4. God is holy. “I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy…therefore be holy, because I am holy.” (Lev. 11:44-45) “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” (Rev. 4:8) Holiness is a characteristic that only God possesses. He is completely other. He is separate from us and perfect in this attribute. In all the Throne Room Scenes in Scripture, God is high and lifted up, above and superior to His creation in every way. And because He is holy, He can judge perfectly the attitudes of our hearts and the actions in our lives.

5. God is truth and light. “You are resplendent with light…” (Psalm 76:4)“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5) Like Impressionistic art, God’s light often casts shadows that reveal sin or secrets. He desires truth in our inmost parts and in Him there is no darkness. Therefore our lives and relationships should be characterized by truth and light as well. And we learn and assimilate those as values in our lives by looking to Him as our perfect example and as the only source of those attributes in our lives.

Why does this all matter? Why does it matter what we believe about God? And what does it have to do with relationships?

A wrong view of God taints everything in our lives. If we don’t believe God is holy, there will be no motivation to eradicate sin from our lives. It won’t matter and we will perpetuate a distant, dishonest relationship with God because we won’t deal with our sin. If we don’t believe that HIS brand of love is the only way to have relationships, we will spend our lives spinning our wheels in friendships, marriages, etc. trying to figure out what went wrong and fighting for our rights instead of loving and serving the way we were created to. And if we don’t believe that God really wants us to be completely honest with Him, ourselves and each other, we’ll continue to live in denial of our character and relationship issues, never addressing the things He wants most to change in us. In short, we are stuck with an incomplete or erroneous world view and we will never connect with God and have the full and abundant lives in the way He designed us to.

So, what’s true about us? Not what do we believe about ourselves, but what is eternally, universally true about us as God’s creations?

1. We are unique and wonderful. (Psalm 139) Scripture tells us that we are knit together in our mother’s womb and we are fashioned specifically and beautifully according to God’s plan. Anyone who has struggled with infertility or known someone who has been very careful and gotten pregnant anyway, realizes that God alone is in control of that process. When the magic happens that creates a child, it is a miracle every time. My husband comes from a family of 11 kids and several of his siblings also have large families. When we first got married we talked about having 2 or 3. Our son Charlie came easily and quickly when we started the process of having a family. And since then, I describe us as every teenager’s dream: lots of unprotected sex and no consequences. We’ve each been to doctors who have said to wait and it would happen. It never has. To me, that makes every chromosome and blood cell that came together in our son’s body while he was still in me even more amazing. From conception we were meant to be and God had a plan for us even then. We got here on purpose.

2. We are chosen and we belong to God. (1 Peter 2:9) There are multiple places in the Bible where there is a contrast between what we were before we came to God and what we are once we enter that relationship. We were objects of wrath and enemies of God. Now we are objects of mercy and friends of God. (Colossians 1:21; 1 Pet. 2:10) We were in darkness; now we’re in light. (Eph. 5:8) We were alone; now we’re part of God’s family. And this is not because of anything we’ve done. Only because of what Jesus did – sacrificed His perfect life for us to pay for our sin and usher us into God’s Presence, assuring our place in eternity. We are His children.

3. We are loved. (1 John 3:1) Just like any of us who are parents love our children just because they’re ours, God loves us just because we’re His. He chose us, adopted us and loves us unconditionally simply because He wants to. And His affections aren’t capricious so He will continue to love us regardless of our attitudes and behaviors. There is nothing we can do to make Him love us more and there is nothing we can do that will make Him love us less. It is complete and secure.

4. We are redeemed. (Galatians 3:12-14; Colossians 1:14; Ephesians 1:7, 14) This is done. And all original Greek forms of this work carry with them the connotation of being released. Delivered. It indicates the payment or ransom given to free a slave. We could never have paid for our own sin and worked our way into God’s favor. We don’t have to. It is done. Completed by Jesus, who chose submission and obedience so that we could be free from the burden of our sin and free to live, walk and breathe fully and freely the life and identity He created us to live.

God has done everything to bring us into right relationship with Him. We have done nothing. He is perfect. We are completely in His debt.

So…if there’s nothing we can do to pay Him back or make Him love us more or less, what is standing in the way of us living our lives as we were meant to?

We will live out the identity we believe most strongly. If I believe my identity, worth, and significance is in my reputation or being competent, I will wear a mask to hide my insecurities or weaknesses from others and try with all my strength to put forward the mask that depicts a put-together woman. If I believe my identity, worth, and significance is in my appearance, I will criticize and judge others who threaten my position as “the pretty one”, wearing a mask that is beautiful but cold and suspicious. If I believe my identity lies in the strength of my friendships or the image of my family or home, my mask will change accordingly.

We are daughters of a king and have inestimable value in His sight. Just because we’re His. Because of Jesus I can come to God’s throne with confidence and approach Him as my Father. From there, He reveals Himself and His plan for me so I can hear and surrender and be transformed.

When my son Charlie was a toddler, I used to ask him, “Charlie, do I love you because you’re handsome?” “Do I love you because you’re smart?” “Do I love you because you have blue eyes?” The answer to all these questions was, of course, “no”. Then I’d ask him, “Why do I love you?” He would answer sheepishly, “You love me because I’m Charlie”.

Now that Charlie is 14, I still ask the questions once in a while. When his report card comes I ask, "Do I love you just because you're smart?" He still has the blue eyes and good looks to love, and now we also have a burgeoning teenage attitude. Good times. He’s getting good grades, he’s passionate about snowboarding, running and mountain biking. And really, he’s a very good kid.

When Charlie was about two months into his treatment for leukemia, it was very important for me to reiterate the game we played when he was a toddler – to remind him that I didn’t love him for any external qualities he possessed. Because in this phase he didn’t look like Charlie, he didn’t smell like Charlie with all the chemo pulsing through his system, and he was having trouble in school because he missed so much being sick and because the chemo was doing a number on certain parts of his brain. And he didn’t act like Charlie, either, because steroids will jack you up. So it was very important for both of us to be reminded that I love Charlie simply because He’s mine. Period.

That’s the message I believe God wants us to hear loud and clear before we can even contemplate removing our masks with each other. There are times we don’t look or act the way He designed us to, but He loves us because we’re His. Everything else comes from that. So hear your Father when He says to you today:

I love you because you’re mine.