Mask or No Mask

I am sure the title of this devotional caught your eye in a way that it wouldn’t have a year ago.  You see the way we think about things is affected by our life experiences. A year ago in the month of October, you may have been thinking this title of my devotional was about the upcoming outreach event we are having for this season. Although at this moment in time we have all heard the debates around “mask or no mask”.  Don’t worry this devotional is not going to be debating one way or another on this subject, but as I was thinking about all of these discussions I kept coming back to what figurative masks we were all wearing before the ones we could physically see on our faces.

There have been many times in my life where my mask of the day would be self-pride, self-pity, judgment, joy, hopelessness, honesty, love, and many other types of masks.  Many times my mask of the day didn’t fully reflect the grace and love of Christ. Sometimes my mask may have only been put on to give the perception of the grace and love of Christ.

So today we are faced with this physical mask or no mask debate, but I ask you to look beyond that debate for a few moments in order to examine what mask you wear when you begin that conversation, or any conversation in life. I have had many amazing deep spiritual growth conversations in coffee shops during this pandemic and I walk away from each of them looking for my physical mask to put back on to walk out of the coffee shop.  As these conversations have happened over the past months almost every time either a light-hearted comment about masks has come up or even a simple comment like “your mask is cute” or “I like your mask”. Yet I wonder if the comments would be so lighthearted or complimentary if people could see the figurative masks we sometimes put on. Would those whom you interact with call that mask cute or say they like it?

As Christians today we are faced with those deep spiritual conversations, social media posts, and our day-to-day interactions where we have the option to put on a mask that reflects Christ; even in our times where we may not be feeling very Christ-like. What mask will you choose in those moments? If the world can’t see Christ through us during the difficult times in life then why would they choose to run to him? Yes, Christ is there pulling at each human asking them to come to him, but it is his followers who are also called to bring others to him. What is your spiritual mask saying today?  Is it truly reflecting what Christ has called you to say and do?

“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.” (Galatians 5:22-24, The Message)

Blessings Upon You Today,

Pastor Hope Terhaar