Masquerade

When thinking of a topic to talk about for one my speeches this semester, I started thinking about Masquerades and how we often treat life like it's a giant Masquerade party. Just like participants in a Masquerade party  wear masks to conceal their identity, we go through life wearing an assortment of different masks.  We have the masks we wear at work.  There's the masks we wear when we're at school.  We have masks we wear with our family.  There's the masks we wear even with our friends.  We have all these different masks that we wear in different settings in life.

We wear these masks in order to protect ourselves from getting hurt. We wear them in order to avoid pain and vulnerability.....because vulnerability is scary. Letting people see the nitty gritty parts of our hearts is risky......and leaves us feeling exposed and feeling out of control. And that's a scary feeling. We don't like to be exposed to people. We don't like to feel out of control.

But what I've been realizing and coming to understand lately is that, as Christians, we need to take our masks off and be open and honest with one another, in order to grow and heal.

We need to take our masks off with one another....in order to grow and heal.

In the book of James, chapter 5, verse 16, it says - “Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.”  It is in the openness of confessing to one another and praying for one another that the Lord brings healing and growth. God works in and through people to bring healing and growth into our lives. This is how He chooses to work in our lives...through community with other believers.

We conceal what we're going through, the hurt and the struggles in our hearts, in order to avoid pain,, but in the end, we're just adding to our hurt and our pain because we're not dealing with it. Instead, we just shove it deep down into our hearts, layer upon layer upon layer......and so we remain stagnant and we're not growing and we're not healing....

Not that long ago, I was struggling with a particular sin in my life. And it had become a cycle in my life....I would seek God, and beg for forgiveness, and vow to never go back to that sin, and then after a little while, I would fall back into that sin again....and it just kept repeating, over and over and over again. And....I didn't want to tell anyone about the sin. I was too ashamed of it. Too disgusted by myself for struggling with that sin. So I kept telling myself it was just between me and God and I didn't need to tell anyone about it anyways...that I didn't need to bring anyone else into the situation.  And..I remember when God finally broke me down and made me realize that I can't fight this sin on my own....and that I need other people...that it is through other people that God brings healing and growth. It was like God was saying, “Cara, I want to bring you healing and growth in this area of your life....but I want to do it through other people...I want to do it with MY people...so I need you to go open up to someone about this”. So, I finally went to a close friend and I opened up them about what was going on. And after we talked.....I remember feeling like such a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. It was so freeing and I just felt like God was finally bringing the growth and healing that I needed in that area in my life.

We need open, honest relationships in order to grow. If we truly want to grow and if we truly want to heal, then we need to take off our masks. You can't grow and you can't heal when you're wearing a mask and concealing the hurt, the pain, the struggles. We need to stop shoving the hurt and the pain and the sin in our lives deep down inside our hearts.

When we finally take our masks off and let that hurt and pain rise to the surface....it's not going to be fun.  It's not going to feel good.  It's going to hurt. It's going to be hard. Because then we have to deal with it...and that's hard. But that kind of pain, it's a good kind of pain. It is pain that produces growth. It's the kind of pain that produces healing. And when we allow ourselves to be open and honest and vulnerable with one another, we find such a beautiful freedom.

There's a song by Francesca Battistelli that I really like, and it talks about this idea of openness and honesty with one another. It says:

Truth is harder than a lie

The dark seems safer than the light

And everyone has a heart that loves to hide

I'm a mess and so are you

We've built walls nobody can get through

Yeah, it may be hard, but the best thing we could ever do,

Bring your brokenness, and I'll bring mine

'Cause love can heal what hurt divides

And mercy's waiting on the other side

If we're honest

So I challenge you to take your masks off with one another.  I'm not saying reveal every deep, dark, hidden, intimate secret you hold to anyone and everyone.  But, find a safe group of people or a safe person who won't condemn or shame you but rather offer you grace and love, the grace and love that God bestows on us every day. And then when you find that group or that one person who will be a safe place to open up to, open up to them. Take your mask off. Let the pain and the hurt that you've pushed down into the corners of your heart come to the surface....for the sake of growth and healing. Whether it be the pain you're experiencing because of something someone did to hurt you.  Whether it be the pain and hurt that you've been pushing aside and trying to avoid over the loss of a loved one, or the hurt over the loss of a loved one. Or whether it be that deep, dark sin that you've struggled with in the past or maybe you're still struggling with...the sin that you're so disgusted by and too ashamed to let anyone know about....whatever it is that you've been concealing and pushing deep down in your heart, let it out. Open up to other believers about it.

In 2 Corinthians 6: 11-13, Paul says “We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.” Our hearts need to be open to one another. We need to take off our masks and be open and honest with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, because when we do, that's where we find healing and growth.