Cutting through Masks

A business man wears a nice, pressed suit and carries a brief case, chatting over dividends and commissions over a cocktail.  A chef talks about courses and recipes while walking around in his chef jacket holding stockpots and spatulas.  Nearly every profession or sect of humanity has its unique traits and characteristics.  This lingo and dress make people groups recognizable but they can quickly descend into stereotypes.

Unfortunately, Christianity is not without its stereotypes and lingo, making it possible to pretend to be a believer when one's heart may be far away.  For instance, a "churched" person could attend services regularly, say "Amen" when the preacher prompts, offer platitudes for surface relationships, all while keeping real devotion and sincere fellowship just outside of arms length: a mask.  This is the grave reality.  These would-be nominal Christians of the lukewarm variety, akin to the Laodicean Church, are useful only to be spat out by our Lord for their indefinite indifference (Rev. 3:14-22).  

Needless to say, this is a sobering reality that should prompt us to assessment.  Just because you quack and waddle does not make a duck, just like going to church and saying the right things and having bumper-sticker fish doesn't equate to real, transformational faith in Jesus.  God desires so much more than merely going through the motions.  To be sure, God wants everything, body, mind, heart, and soul (Matt. 22:37).  Walking and talking like a Christian is dreadfully easy when in the right crowds, making it difficult to cut through the masks.  The real question to ask then is: who are we when we are alone?

Cutting through the masks that people wear is about understanding that God requires all of a person.  Devotion is a matter of heart content, not externals.  This was the very same issue that plagued the pious first-century religious leaders that crucified Jesus.  They thought that holiness was about the externals to the effect that they neglected the hardness of their own hearts.  Instead, God desires us to love Him from the depths of our being.  In this, we will be in relationship with Him, the only true path to righteousness. This is how we remove the masks in order to be His.

Moreover, Jesus asserts that out of the heart come external defilement (Mark 7:15, 21; 15:19).  It is not enough to say the right things and consistently go to the right building on the right day of the week.  The only thing that makes a Christian a Christian is true and sincere devotion to Christ.  Salvation is a personal ordeal.  We are not born into it and we get no credit for the belief of those around us.  Therefore, let us take off our masks before the Holy Lord so as to be made truly and only His!