“Masquerade! Paper faces on parade . . .Masquerade! Hide your face, so the world will never find you!”
Perhaps not one of the most well-known songs from the Phantom of the Opera, but when someone brings up this musical favorite of mine, “Masquerade” is invariably the first song to come to my mind. The artist in me loves the swirling colors of the costumes and masks in the scene, the musician in me loves the energy and spirit of the song, but the writer in me is rather fascinated by the underlying message of the lyrics.
It seems as though society encourages, and almost demands, that we all wear a mask to hide our true selves.
“How are you?” “Fine. Thank you. And you? I’m fine. Thank you for asking.”
As my grandmother would say, “Hogwash!” On many days, that reply is nothing more than a polite lie.
Recently a friend shared that there was no one in her church that she could be real with and pour her heart out to without being judged, or without that person turning around and sharing her secret feelings with anyone that would listen. What a shame! Sometimes things are just too personal to share, but I have to wonder…
How many people would be willing to share if they knew that there was someone that could be trusted to help them, pray with them, or just listen to them in confidence?
It has been said that church is for sinners, but do we church-going people really believe that? We modern American churches have dressed ourselves up in our Sunday dresses and our suits and ties, painted our faces with our Sunday-go-to-meeting masks and convinced ourselves that we are better than those around us. Shame on us!
1 Peter 5:5 says,
All of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
Rather than walking around with our Christian facades firmly in place, we are to be clothed with humility.
We are to submit ourselves to each other, just as Christ showed us by example when He washed the disciples feet.
Only one time in my life have I witnessed a pastor not only preach on this passage, but physically demonstrate it by choosing a complete stranger from the crowd and kneeling before him with a towel and a basin of water, remove the strangers shoes and wash his feet while speaking over him the love of Christ. It was a powerful moment and many eyes in the room that day were moist with tears of understanding how Christ truly loves and serves us despite of our sinfulness.
I can’t imagine humbling myself enough to bow before a person that I loved, much less a total stranger, and take their foot in my hand to cleanse it. But that is exactly what Christ has called us to do. He wants each of us to submit ourselves to each other, and in humility realize that unlike Christ, we are no better than the person before standing before us.
The second part of that verse is equally as powerful as the first, if not more so. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary, that word “resist” is incredibly sobering. It means He “sets Himself against” those that are proud. He wants nothing to do with our pious, church facades. God gives grace to the humble.
Those that are willing to look at someone of a different social class or education status or religion right in the eyes, take them by the hand and show them the love of Christ receive a “well done” from our Lord. Maybe they aren’t dressed very nice, maybe they don’t smell that good and maybe they just got out of jail…these are the ones Christ walked with day by day as He ministered on this earth. What makes us any better than Him?
When you pass someone in the hall that has an obvious look of pain or grief on their face, do you stop and talk to them? Do you even notice them? Jesus left the comforts of Heaven to spend 33 years on this sin-ridden planet to get torn to shreds and nailed on a cross for us. The least we can do is show a little of that love to one of His beloved. Don’t you agree?
I’m preaching to myself as much as to any of you that are gracious enough to read my spoutings. My favorite excuse is “I don’t know what to say.” I am the queen of awkward social moments. Truly. But my introverted awkwardness is not an excuse to look the other way when someone is in need. To do that is to invite the wrath of God upon my life, and that terrifies me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. – Matthew 25:37-40
This was personal to Jesus and it should be personal to us too. What one thing can you do today or this week to extend Christ’s love to someone in need?
Photo Credit: Venetian Mask photo taken by Sorina Bindea, Romania
Masquerade lyrics source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/p/thephantomoftheoperalyrics/masqueradelyrics.html
Great post Donya! This is an area that I have preached on and have done my best to accomplish. I understand though that it can be so difficult in the aspect of time especially when being on church staff and people are your life, but so is spending time as a family in church, it often becomes a difficult balance.
One verse that comes to my mind is Galatians 6:1-2. It is natural to hide faults. The biggest reason is fear of judgement. Often because we ourselves were the judges of the fault and now find ourselves in the same mess. “Overtaken” is how Galatians says it. I really believe the masks would come off if we simply realized that the idea here is to restore in the spirit of meekness. Its not a sin to judge. It is a sin to judge, gossip, take pride in ourselves, gossip more, and finally FAIL TO RESTORE, which by my understanding is a BIBLICAL mandate. There are to many judges and not enough restorers. Thanks for the fantastic reminder!
That is so true Beau! Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I think we would all go so much farther in our Christian walks if we linked arms and helped each other instead of leaving the struggling to fend for themselves. Especially since we are all struggling in one way or another most of the time. I really appreciate you taking the time to post your own experiences in this area.
I loved this post, Donya! Thanks so much for sharing your heart and thoughts; the Lord has been working in my heart regarding this very thing. It’s so easy to focus on our own lives, hurts, or disappointments when there are so many others facing similar–or even worse–but often without the hope we know! I’ve been asking the Lord to open my eyes to the needs of others around me, and I pray that I can demonstrate HIS love and compassion to them.
Thanks again for sharing this challenging reminder.
I’m so glad it was helpful to you Rachel! Thank you so much for commenting. It really means a lot to me to hear from my readers. I rarely post anything that God hasn’t been working in my own heart about so it is nice to hear how He is working in other hearts as well.
This is so important and truly what our churches desperately need. It has often grieved me that most Christians put on a show and forget what it really means to be a follower of Christ. We need to see others through the eyes of Christ and love them with the love we were given when we received the fruit of the Spirit.
That is so true Tiffany! I just wish I could erase all the times I’ve judged or ignored others myself. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
* “How are you?” “Fine. Thank you. And you? I’m fine. Thank you for asking.”
* When you pass someone in the hall that has an obvious look of pain or grief on their face, do you stop and talk to them?
My life was changed by someone who didn’t do the former, and did do the latter. I didn’t “mean to,” but I definitely lied to her–just one of many acquaintances–at church back in December, when she passed me on a Sunday morning and asked me how I was. “OK,” I rotely replied, but she stopped and looked intently at me for what felt like 5 years (but was probably 5 seconds). I really don’t remember if she said anything out loud at the end of it, but I knew she knew. Thankfully, after that morning’s service, I turned to her and told her the unpleasant truth about how I was. Since then, she’s become one of my best friends … each being “that person” we call, text, or e-mail when we just really need a friend who will let us be real.
But the reality is, she was a functional stranger, and for the one of her, there were 15+ who could’ve, should’ve known, and were content with “I’m OK” lie. There are times that I still answer that one friend (and others) with an “I’m OK,” out of habit, but by God’s grace, I’m learning to quickly backtrack and say, “Ya know, I’m NOT OK,” and be transparent. It takes practice, and humility.
I’m still not–and I doubt ever will be–one of those who posts juicy details of my life & hurts on Facebook, who invites every single person I know to share in my pain. But I’m extremely thankful for the grace shown to me by another, and thankful for the occasional opportunity to reach out in similar ways. (Hahaha . . . there’s a select handful of people who have invited me into their trials, and I’m never hesitant to ask them outright if they’re lying to me when they say they’re fine or OK.)
Thanks for posting this.
I’m so thankful for the few friends that I can be truly honest with. I’m so thankful you have that too! Sometimes we need to be able to let our guards down and say that we are struggling and have someone just be there while we work through it. No preachy-everything-is-going-to-be-fine sermons. Just hey…I’m sorry you are struggling. Can I pray with you about that? Do you want to grab coffee and chat? Sometimes even just a silent hug is all that’s needed. If we could all just get past our own issues to connect with someone once in a while I believe the world would be a better place. I know our churches would be!