Who is that masked man?

2 Corinthians 4 1-7

Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up.  We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this.

 If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing.  Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

 You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

"We miss Jesus' point entirely when we use His words as weapons against others" 

Brennan Manning

" A counterfeit gospel promotes mask wearing and fills churches with phonies but the true gospel promotes transparency & fills churches with stories of radical transformation"

Unkown

"Many Christians feel broken and angry but don't think they can express these real feelings around others--or to God. So we put on a mask to hide our identity. Feelings of embarrassment and shame make us hide from the One who truly loves us"

Brennan Manning

You have worn a mask for so long, you forgot who you were beneath it.

I do not have it all together. I DO NOT. I believe with out a doubt I am Blessed and Highly favored but it took a long time for me to get to that point. Maturity perhaps. I have gotten to the point when people speak to me about life. Their life. I can hear and see their body language, tones of voice and know that they have their mask on. I know because I have been there. I have sit through sermons on Sunday nodding in approval and yet deep down I was screaming because I did not believe what was being said. I have said no to prayer requests when asked because I was embarrassed as a 'grown' Christian to admit I was struggling.  I have come off 'holier than thou' when discussing a topic purely because I know the Bible. But had not allowed my self to be transformed by it. So when people talk about how they are and start throwing the B.S. I know it is B.S. As a Christian we want to seem we have it ALL TOGETHER but when it comes down to it. We have skeletons in our closets, sin we struggle with, doctrine we can't wrap our heads around and so we slip on a mask to cover our true self. And this is not what He intended for us to do. He intended on us to be transparent and letting HIS light shine through us. To live without fear. To express His love and mercy to others. To transform each others lives with HIS teachings. And we lost it my friends. The evil one has caused shame and fear. Blinded us to the hope we have.  What are we to do?

pull the mask off. admit when we dont have it together. Share with one another. Yoke with Christ and allow him to radically transform us. We are not perfect people. Which is why we need a PERFECT SAVIOR. And what is completely awesome. .HE KNEW WE WOULD NEED HIM!! 

We can't continue to wear a mask. NOT if we want to not only change this world but change ourselves for the great mission our Savior set our feet to.

Take off your mask Beloved. 

Be who God intended.

Love one another and lets walk together to transparent living in Christ