A Time magazine cover asked, “Is Truth Dead?” The editor pointed to the new president’s aids offering “alternative facts” to insist his inaugural was one of the best attended in history.
Of course, no one believes this president or his staff were the first to play creatively with the truth. Remember the president who argued that the answer to a question might depend on something like the meaning of the word “is.” That same president so narrowly defined “sexual relations” that he could publicly deny having had an affair with an intern. His party offered the infamous—but still used—defense: “Everybody lies about sex.”
William Lutz, in The New Doublespeak: Why No One Knows What Anyone 's Saying Anymore, found three terms being widely used—strategic misrepresentation, reality augmentation, and terminological inexactitude—that all mean "lie".
"A lie is an abomination to the Lord
and
an ever present help in trouble."
-Henry Kissenger
Apparently many Americans see the value of a good lie. James Patterson and Peter Kim, authors of The Day America Told the Truth, present some startling statistics about lying in our culture.
• 91% of us admit to lying regularly.
• 20% of us say we can't make it through the day without a conscious, premeditated lie.
• The young lie more than the old.
• Men lie more than women; though other studies suggest the opposite. In any case, the genders are separated by fewer than ten percentage points.
Among their conclusions, Patterson and Kim say, "There are more serious liars right now (liars who do harm) than at any other time in our nation's past.” I’m not sure how they know this; liars in the past may have just been better liars. All of this leads them so say, “Lying has become a cultural trait in America. Americans lie about everything and usually for no good reason"
So much for “honesty is the best policy.” Interestingly, almost everyone in the first century agreed that lying was wrong. Paul's sentiments in Ephesians 4:25 are echoed in the writings of the non-Christian moralists of the first century. So, it may seem strange that he should mention lying. Of course, believing lying is wrong does not mean there are no liars. More importantly, Paul adds a theological dimension to his arguments. The arguments go something like this.
-- Christians are the people of God. God is the God of truth. Therefore, Christians should be a people of truth.
--The second argument reflects the nature of the community to which Christians belong; the intimate relationship we have with each other as the new people of God should preclude lying to each other.
Still we lie. Such lying is often motivated by the same selfish concerns driving liars outside the church. When such lying is discovered, the liar needs to be confronted and called to repentance.
But sometimes our 'lying' takes place at a deeper level than our mere words.
Make no mistake, Paul was talking about lying with our words, but he might also have been talking about lying with our lives.
Several English translations say we are to put away “falsehood.” The word has an interesting history. It recalls the days when one's profession was announced by the type of headgear or "hood" worn. Persons hoping to swindle the unwary sometimes wore the hood of a profession for which they were not trained. They were said to wear "falsehoods." Persons who practice falsehood expend energy trying to appear to be what they are not.
Larry Richards comments on the verse, "This exhortation calls for far more than a refusal to lie. It is a call to live openly with each other, honestly sharing the reality of our lives rather than attempting to project illusions that make us appear better than we are."
Christians should live authentically.
To understand this we need to look at. . .
THE PROBLEM OF LIVING IN FALSEHOOD
Christians who practice falsehood wear masks so no one can see who they really are. Often, these masked Christians aren't hypocrites who delight in deceit; they are motivated by fear.
They live in fear they won't be accepted. They embody the philosophy expressed in the old Melissa Manchester song: "Don't cry out loud, keep it inside, learn how to hide your feelings.” So they wear their masks wherever they go.
What kind of masks do they wear? The mask of jolly optimism. The mask of unceasing victory. The mask of effortless prayer. The mask of unfailing insight.
Why are masked Christians so prevalent?
The wear masks in church because they have a mistaken notion of Christianity. That mistaken notion might have been supported by preaching that suggests Christians have no problems and the fact some new believers have never known that many mask free Christians in the first place.
Years ago some of the pre-teens from the church I served in Texas attended a church camp. Late one night, a prankster ran through the dorm wearing a Freddy Kreuger mask. It caused panic and confusion.
In many churches panic and confusion would result if Christians removed their masks.
Wearing a mask can be uncomfortable but we don't want to spoil the mood, don’t want to be the one to cast doubt on the “reputation” of the church. To counter this we need to appreciate. . .
THE POWER OF LIFE WITHOUT FALSEHOOD
Open, mask free living is empowering,
Mask free living makes possible the kind of honest fellowship for which God has made us.
We crave a place where we can drop our masks. Long before Cheers invited us to “a place where everybody knows your name,” Bruce Larson described this vision for Christian fellowship.
The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give to his Church. It's an imitation, dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality, but it is a permissive, accepting and inclusive fellowship. It is unshockable, It is democratic. You can tell people secrets and they usually don't tell others or even want to. The bar flourishes not because most people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and be known, to love and be loved, and so many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers. Christ wants his Church to be unshockable, democratic, permissive=a fellowship where people can come in and say'I'm sunk!' 'I'm beat!' 'I've had it!'
Alcoholics Anonymous has this quality. Our churches too often miss it.
Mask free living frees you from the awesome burden of being perfect and helps you free others to accept themselves.
Dr. Jeff Ray was a professor of preaching at Southwestern Seminary for many years before his retirement. Several years after he retired Ray was asked to speak to a class at the seminary about some of the issues pastors face. During the Q&A session following Ray's lecture, a seminarian asked, "Dr. Ray, tell me, when do you stop finding yourself attracted to women?" Dr. Ray thought a moment and then answered, "Son, I don't know but it's after seventy-one. "
That must have been a liberating moment for that young student. Of course, it didn’t give him license to lust; but he did learn his struggles were normal, that he wasn't a freak.
Mask free living is essential if you would win a hearing for your witness.
We sometimes think that we must hide the fact we face trouble and have doubts if we ever hope to persuade people to trust Christ. Years ago I had a chat with the director of a college choir, a choir that travelled throughout the midwest attempting to attract students to the Christian school. I told the director, “Your singers smile so much you’d almost believe they never have any problems.” “It wouldn’t matter if they did,” he responded, “I insist they smile so their witness won’t be spoiled.” I had nothing to say to that.
Wendy Zoba probably would have. In an essay she wrote for Christianity Today she listed the characteristics of "the millennials", those born about 1980. One is particularly relevant. She says of this sub-generation of young people: "Their BS detectors are always on."
That agrees with what Dr. Joseph Stowell says of the entire "baby buster" generation, "They can spot a phony a mile away."
Those who never acknowledge experiencing a “dark night of the soul” don't end up appearing more saintly, just less human.
Mask free living enables you to display your true identity. It reminds us, God doesn't make Christians with a cookie-cutter.
With the value of authentic living in mind, we appreciate seeing . . .
THE POSSIBILITY OF LIVING WITHOUT FALSEHOOD
Paul, who knew so much about the riches of Christian fellowship, couldn't avoid speaking about the possibility of mask free Christianity.
He sometimes reveals himself as a living example. In I Cor. 2:3, he told the Corinthians, “I came to you in a state of weakness and fear and great trembling.” He wouldn’t have embraced the motto, “never let them see you sweat.” Later, when he wrote to Timothy he acknowledged he had needs beyond just having the churches pray for him. He asked Timothy to bring him his coat because he had physical needs and the jail cell was cold, he ask that Timothy bring the “books and parchments” because he needed to focus his mind on something other than his immediate situation, and he asked that his friend hurry and join him because he had social needs.
Paul could remove his mask because his ultimate faith was in God. It was a reflection of being justified by faith. His acceptance didn’t depend upon his efforts. He accepted the fact he was accepted.
Paul would have us know that the dream God had in creating one new people in Christ cannot become a reality until we remove our masks.
Such mask free living is a natural expression of the miracle God worked in us when we trusted Christ. (2: 10 "you are God's work of art")
Now, there is a note of caution: Mask free living isn't a license to gripe or grouse; it is freedom to be your self, to declare your hopes and your fears, to proclaim your victories and admit your defeats, to affirm your certainties to ask your questions--knowing that you are accepted in Christ warts and all.
Poet Kate Wilkins Woolley wrote
Free to be me, God, I really am free;
Free to become what you want me to be.
Free to live fully, to follow your way,
Give myself wholly, to die every day;
Free to be real, God, to strip off my mask,
Be your creation, it's all that I ask.
Facing life without that mask may be tough at first. You may be alienated and misunderstood. You may be passed over for someone “spiritual.” You may make others feel uncomfortable.
On the other hand, you may discover depths of fellowship you thought impossible, you may discover that God's creative work within you can take place more rapidly now that you're rid of the mask.
Taking off your mask is an act of faith. In some cases, you may be the only one who takes off your mask. But you may also discover there were others just waiting for someone to be the first to rip off their mask.
Above all, you will discover the reality of the freedom Christ gives.
*******
Many Christians who would never tell a lie will live a lie.
It's hard for us to take off our masks. But it is the only way we can breathe free.
Mask free living in the church will help us see the rich variety of God's grace. It will help us see we are not all at the same place in our pilgrimage. It will help us see those who need help and encouragement.
When Jesus confronted people he unmasked them. He didn't save you to wear another mask!
What about you? Are you wearing a mask? Do you sing "It is Well with My Soul" while you feel as if your about to fall apart on the inside, that your soul can't take one more blow? Do you feel there is no one you can go to because it would mean taking off your mask, letting them see the real you?
There's a reason why so many Christians can remember the old hymn “Just as I Am” playing when they first trusted Christ. It's because they saw in Him one who would love them without their masks, love them in their barefaced being. He hasn't changed. Trust him to accept you without your mask.
