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Behind the Mask

February 28, 2018 by DoneWithReligion

by Jim Gordon

Growing up in christianity, I found myself always wearing a mask when I went to church. I always wore a smile on my face and I always acted like everything was good. When people would ask me how I was doing I would always say ‘I’m doing great’.

WearingMasks

The problem was I did not always feel like smiling. I was not always doing great.

So often in our christian walk we get the idea that we cannot be ourselves. We have to always be upbeat and positive and we cannot let people see we are human and have bad days.

I am not sure where that whole idea came from, but it is not wrong for our human emotions be seen. We are not always going to be happy or in a good mood, and there will be times when we are mad, aggravated or depressed. That is just being a normal human being.

I think we need to come to the point where we are not afraid to be the real us. We need to take off the mask and just be human.

That certainly does not mean we go around grumbling and complaining to everyone we meet all the time. We do not yell and take our frustrations out on everyone every time we see them. Yet we should not hide who we really are or how we really feel.

When we have those days of frustration and depression, it is then our brothers and sisters and those who care about us can be a help and encouragement and can lift us up.

As followers of Christ we have a deep-down sense of spiritual peace and joy that passes comprehension. That does not mean there are times when our humanity is just not in a good mood.

PeacethatPassesUnderstanding

That is why we need one another, why we need fellow believers and friends who care about us. None of us are always in a good mood. When we are down, our friends can help lift us up. When they are down, we can help lift them up.

Friendship, whether it is between fellow believers or people who see things completely opposite, is important to our well-being.

Being friends does not have to be with people of the same faith or with similar views. Jesus said to love God and love your neighbor. Our neighbor, whether a fellow believer or not, can be a good friend when we look past the differences and love one another.

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Posted in Acceptance of Others, christian living, Community, Love of God, Scoop.it | Tagged Christ follower, Christianity, church, depression, faith, friends, friendship, humanity, masks, peace | 6 Comments

6 Responses

  1. on March 5, 2018 at 7:25 AM Norm Mitchell

    Great point. I have found that authenticity is far easier to maintain in an organic setting than in a more formal setting.

    LikeLike


    • on March 5, 2018 at 11:31 AM DoneWithReligion

      I get it. Seems everyone in the organic setting are just as tired of all the masks in the religious system. Thanks Norm.

      LikeLike


  2. on March 1, 2018 at 8:18 AM Saved From Myself

    Excellent post!

    LikeLike


    • on March 1, 2018 at 8:58 AM DoneWithReligion

      Thank you. I appreciate you reading my articles.

      LikeLiked by 1 person


  3. on February 28, 2018 at 8:17 PM Matthew Winters (The Comeback Pastor)

    God designed us for community. No two people will agree on everything, yet they can still live in unity.

    LikeLiked by 1 person


    • on February 28, 2018 at 10:10 PM DoneWithReligion

      So true Matthew. So many people miss it because they refuse to accept the differences. Yet it is possible with the love of God. Thanks for the comment.

      LikeLiked by 1 person



Comments are closed.

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