Masks
Read 2 Corinthians 3:12-18.
 As I write this, Halloween is just days away. It is a day when many dress up, wear masks, and pretend to be something or someone they are not. But we all wear masks every day. We do so mostly out of fear. We think, “If you really knew who I was, you would not like me.” So we wear masks and pretend.
This may date me, but I remember an old episode of Twilight Zone where a dying rich man summons his four heirs for whom he has no affection. Each one has a major character defect – self-pity, greed, vanity and cruelty. In order to receive their inheritance, they are forced to wear masks until midnight. If they fail to do so, they are cut out of his will.
As you might expect in a Twilight Zone, at the end of the night, each person’s face has been changed. Their faces now resemble their true character. Four previously normal looking people are now grotesque. Their inner character now shows on their faces for all to see.
It strikes me that this is very much like the process by which we are transformed into the likeness of Christ. When we “put on” Christ (Gal. 3:27 KJV), when we ask Him into our hearts, we are slowly and painstakingly transformed into His likeness. What is inside of us, that is Christ — increasingly shows on the outside — in our attitudes, in our behaviors, in our relationships, in our love. As in the Zone episode, our true inner character shows through.
But while the process of transformation in the Twilight Zone is similar, the direction is completely opposite. Unlike the Zone episode, the one who summons us does so out of deep love and concern for our welfare. Unlike the Zone episode, we start out grotesqu, but are transformed — inside and out — into something beautiful.
We do not lose ourselves in this transformation. Rather, we become what we were always meant to be. We no longer need to hide behind our masks.
Open yourself to Christ and let Him change you from the inside out.
Prayer: Eternal Father, help me to remember that you know me better than anyone – and you love me anyway. Transform me into the likeness of your Son and let others see Christ in me. In His Name, I pray. Amen
Tod Shook
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Church
Longmont, CO
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