When We Try Too Hard...
Colin spoke about us Christians putting on masks in CF’s ‘Masquerade’ yesterday. Yes, we all have masks. And I have been struggling with mine too... inconsistencies in my character. Do I treat certain people differently compared to others? I think I do. But I think we wear one of the biggest masks when we meet non-Christian friends and colleagues. In our sincere efforts to try to reach out to them, we try to portray what we call a ‘good testimony’ by attempting to show them a good image of ourselves. We believe that by holding on to high moral standards, treating others exceptionally well, and putting on an I-am-happy-and-I-have-no-problems-because-I-am-a-Christian face, others will be amazed at how good we Christians are and how Jesus has changed our life. Well, I have no doubt that as Christians, we must obey the command of Jesus to love, and that we have a reason to be joyful… but I think sometimes ‘we try too hard’ (a phrase Colin used in the sermon). We are afraid to show others that we Christians also get angry; that we go through disappointments too; that we often fail to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves; that we are humans too. And because of this, we feel pressurized, to try to be as ‘perfect’ as possible. We have been freed from the guilt of sin, only to be enslaved by the fear of being a ‘bad testimony’.
This has resulted in us losing authenticity. Worse, some of our friends are beginning to have the impression that Christianity is for super-holy people and that they will never be able to become a Christian. On the other hand, there are also those who criticize Christians because we did something wrong or made a mistake, as if Christians will never sin. But I do wonder if it is our fault that these people are looking at us fallible Christians instead of looking at Christ. Have we, in our attempt to be a reflection of Christ, led people to ourselves and our ‘testimony’ rather than to Jesus the Christ?
Instead of trying to act perfect, can we just be ourselves? Can we accept that even though we are Christians, we are just sinners saved by grace? As we stumble along this journey of life, trying to follow Jesus in loving God and people (with God’s help), to be a beacon of hope in this world, can we admit that we sometimes fail miserably? As a new creation in Christ, can we admit that we are yet to be consummated? As the Spirit of God continues to mold us in His image, can we also have the humility to recognize that He is not done with us yet, that we are not there yet? Instead of showing others how good we are after we became Christians (because we will never be good enough for some people), can we just show others how wonderful Jesus is, in that he accepts us hypocrites, failures, sinners and imperfect people just as we are? Will this help to lead others to Jesus rather than to ourselves? I just wonder…
"Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within." ~ James Arthur Baldwin (American essayist, novelist, and playwright, 1924-1987)
This has resulted in us losing authenticity. Worse, some of our friends are beginning to have the impression that Christianity is for super-holy people and that they will never be able to become a Christian. On the other hand, there are also those who criticize Christians because we did something wrong or made a mistake, as if Christians will never sin. But I do wonder if it is our fault that these people are looking at us fallible Christians instead of looking at Christ. Have we, in our attempt to be a reflection of Christ, led people to ourselves and our ‘testimony’ rather than to Jesus the Christ?
Instead of trying to act perfect, can we just be ourselves? Can we accept that even though we are Christians, we are just sinners saved by grace? As we stumble along this journey of life, trying to follow Jesus in loving God and people (with God’s help), to be a beacon of hope in this world, can we admit that we sometimes fail miserably? As a new creation in Christ, can we admit that we are yet to be consummated? As the Spirit of God continues to mold us in His image, can we also have the humility to recognize that He is not done with us yet, that we are not there yet? Instead of showing others how good we are after we became Christians (because we will never be good enough for some people), can we just show others how wonderful Jesus is, in that he accepts us hypocrites, failures, sinners and imperfect people just as we are? Will this help to lead others to Jesus rather than to ourselves? I just wonder…
"Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within." ~ James Arthur Baldwin (American essayist, novelist, and playwright, 1924-1987)
posted by sojourner @ Wednesday, July 27, 2005
2 comments
2 Comments:
I wonder.....because everyone has masks and most masks that we wear are usually better than our real self, wouldn't it be great if we could blend our masks into ourselves? Which means, the mask we wear no longer is a mask but is who we really are. Hmmmm......
hmmm... interesting. Thomas Merton did say something about this in his book 'New Seeds of Contemplation'. Perhaps, he says, our selfish, human selves are the real masks, and the 'better masks' are who we were really created to be by God. :)
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