Masks: Keeping Them On – Part 2 of 3

This post is part two of a three part series on masks. Part one was about why we wear masks. Part three is about taking our masks off.

Scripture

“You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
–Mark 7:8 (NIV)

 

Thoughts

Putting on a mask is easy. Over time, it can become part of who we are. If we’re not careful, taking off the mask becomes what is needed for us to move forward in life and thrive…yet taking off the mask becomes seemingly impossible to do.

We become jaded.

With the mask, we hold onto our own views, even at the expense of ourselves or others. We become inwardly grown, wanting to believe what we already think or feel compared to allowing others to speak life into us. We would rather believe the lie within us than accept the truth presented to us. Being jaded, people can become afraid of you. They see what you don’t, yet they learn that you don’t care to see what’s right in front of you. Your mask starts to repel people. Those that stick around are conditioned to treat you based on your mask. If you’re really effective – you’ll even help others become jaded, too.

We become self-inflated.

If you put too much air in your tires, what happens? If you over-inflate a balloon, what happens? If you inflate yourself with too much hot air – or the things that don’t really matter – you’re head, your heart, your emotions and your sanity will explode. When you’re self-inflated, you can begin to live in constant fear of your bubble being burst. You start to fear that if “anyone finds out,” your whole life can explode in an instant.

We create a different sense of reality.

By wearing a mask, your reality exists in only one place – your mind.  True reality takes a backseat to the one you’ve created.  The false reality that you stare into when you look in the mirror day after day will get you in more trouble than just about anything else.  Your mask will compel you to believe, think, act and behave in order to protect the mask above everything else.  It will cause you to do things you wouldn’t normally do.  An extreme case is the Newtown shooting.  Most of us never go this far, but living a false reality will inevitably lead to harm.

We become more comfortable in the mask.

Your mask becomes a false safe haven.  This is where you’re comfortable.  When the lights go out, cockroaches run all over the house.  When the lights come on, they scatter.  Like cockroaches, you can become more comfortable keeping things in darkness than exposing them to the light.  The danger here is this – If you’re more comfortable in the dark, you’ll never know what else is lurking right around you.  It will remain hidden from you until it overtakes you!  Do you really want to take this chance?

So – what do we plan on doing about the masks we wear?  We can either keep them on and experience what the mask brings, or we can begin the journey of taking them off.  This is where we’ll pick things up with part 3.

Imagery

Aerosmith sings about being jaded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw5C63blrMg

When we become overly self-inflated, only one thing can happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKQKE0JfXtA

“So you think you can tell heaven from hell, blue skies from pain…” –Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd

Can you really tell what’s real or what’s not through the eyes of the mask? Listen to this and let me know what you think.