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Taking Off The Mask
Brian Mashburn
August 31, 2014
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Shameless Living
Paul, Silas, and Timothy were grounded enough in the gospel that they were able to say: "You know we never put on a mask - God is our witness."
(1 Thessalonians 1:5)
It is how we should all live -mask-less, fearless. No matter who we are around - honest, genuine. No matter what circumstance we are in, no matter how sinful we've been, we should be deception-less, full of truth and grace.
We should never put on masks, God as our witness, ever.
But we do. Things didn't start this way, however.
In the beginning, "the man and the woman were both naked, and they felt no shame." (Genesis 2:25) But then something happened. A rebellion against the freedom and life that God had provided was waged, they were wooed by an Enemy into pursuing something other than God, and suddenly, "they realized they were naked, so they made coverings for themselves." (Genesis 3:7) It was just after the beginning that the need for masks was born.
Alas! A rebellion against that rebellion arose! Powered by truth and led by a great King that will not be defeated, he comes to seek and save that which was lost, and to give full life and freedom from shame back!
We are the people of that King, the people of that rebellion, the people who defy the principalities and powers that would keep us enlisted in our own enslavement. We are those who take off the mask once again, those who are learning to live as God always intended. As people with only one identity, whole and complete, with no need for covering or shame.
This is a big part of "that thing we do" at Southwest. We take off the mask. Next to our belief in Jesus, it is a central skill we are learning to develop here. We want to be able to say what Paul, Silas, and Timothy said.