All of us in some capacity have to wear masks to hide different aspects of ourselves. If you are truly honest with yourself you’d admit that you do wear some form of a mask or masks to shield the real you from being found out by those around you. This is not to say that you are a phony or that you are living a lie. There are various reasons that we wear masks, but the undergirding motivation that holds all these reasons in place is none other than that four letter word - “fear”. We fear that if people saw the real us, they would be disappointed or in some cases disgusted. We fear that if people saw us for who we actually are we would lose their respects. We fear that if people knew the truth about the things that preoccupy our thoughts, the emotions that we feel, we would be exposing ourselves to criticism and condemnation. We fear that we would lose friends & family if we removed our masks, hence we go through our whole lives cleverly disguised and only in the darkness of solitude do we remove these guises and find our release.
The levels of self masking differ in different folks. If you are a pubic figure you have to be better at masking yourself then the average person. I think the people who mask themselves the most are public and religious leaders. There is a pressure on you, especially the religious leaders, to live a life that is above reproach and on another level. You are expected to always have things together and never make mistakes let alone grave ones. We have seen over the years men and women of God, even outside the Christian circle “stumble” as people would like to call it but in truth they did not stumble but were merely seen or caught without their masks on and as a result all hell breaks lose as these men and women are dragged through the dirt by the hounds of the media.
Being a pastor I know and understand the need for masks and to be honest, like all mortals, I too wear them. I have my struggles that I don’t want everyone to know about and rightly so because there are people who look to me for strength and encouragement in their struggles and being unmasked would hinder that. Yes I have bad days, and I can guarantee you that all pastors on this planet do as well, despite their “I have it all together” and “I’m on the top of the world” facebook status updates. Yes there are times when I feel like punching someone in the face or screaming a cuss word. The are times when I feel like going to someone’s status update and typing an upper cased, “WHO GIVES A $#!%” J. Hows that for an unmasked moment! My point is, we are all humans after all, and being human, none of us are perfect. I don’t expect people to be, regardless of whether they are pastors, priests or public figures or even the Dalai Lama. Their personal battles, if exposed won’t shock me because I know that as long as we are in this mortal bodies we will struggle with things like lust, anger, greed, jealousy, etc, and the fact that we struggle with these things do not make us criminals, it makes us human and no human can be perfect.
So, is wearing a mask a bad thing? Not necessarily. Maybe the term “masks” by itself paints a negative picture. If I could use a different metaphor to describe what I am getting at it would be this, as a human being, I am like a multi-faceted diamond. There are many facets to me and different people see different facets of me. My wife see’s the most of my many facets yet because of how I am made it is impossible for her to see all facets of me. There are friends who see many facets of me as well yet there are others who see a single facet of me, simply because of the type of relationship I have with these people. It is not essential that people see all my facets but it is essential that all my facets are seen by someone and that there is never a facet that is totally hidden. There are facets of me that are unpolished and these facets are seen by those who I can come clean with, those whom I trust and allow to mentor me and help me polish up these areas. We all need those people. Recently a major public figure was exposed and got into trouble and it was later revealed that there were facets of his life that no one knew about, he had struggles that he never spoke to anyone about and kept hidden because of fear and never sought any help until it was unwillingly revealed. The importance of having someone whom we can be honest and accountable to is crucial in enabling us to finish the race well. I need people whom I can be honest with, whom I can share my struggles and weaknesses with, who will pray with me and for me and help me get to the other side of it, and I strongly believe that everyone needs someone like that.
Ultimately there’s only one person that can see us in our multi-faceted glory, whom we must go to daily as we are, knowing that we are loved and accepted for our true selves. Our weaknesses however severe do not diminish our worth to Him, all we have to do is be surrendered and allow Him to finish the work that He began in us. This is none other than God our creator who is always at work in us and with us to see us ultimately reflecting His glory through all our facets.
Yes you wear a mask or masks, and the truth is you’re not the only one. Start to see yourself as you truly are, a multi-faceted diamond, and like a diamond not all of it's facets can be viewed at the same time. Bring every facet of yourself under the light, be it through friends, family, leaders, mentors and ultimately God, for it is in the light that you will discover and achieve your best.
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