Admittedly I find the mask comparison with how we hide ourselves and conform to the world to be incredibly cliche. I did a mime using this idea with my youth group in 6th grade. Perhaps this is where my frustration with the analogy originates. What 13 year old wants to paint their faces white and parade around playing with masks? Sure I understand the analogy. We, as Christians, use some things to hide amongst the evil that is the world that surrounds us to bring our wounded hearts security. Or, at least I think thats what it means…clearly I am no expert so perhaps some introspection is needed. I find I use confidence as a mask. By that I mean I act confident in situations that I might not necessarily be completely sure of my skills being able to handle. But is that that really a bad thing? I don’t think so. If you do let me know. There are times that I use sarcasm as a mask. If I feel insecure I will create security for myself by being sarcastic towards those around me creating a more positive image of myself in my own mind.
Masks are known for hiding something. I guess I feel like we use the mask analogy as a cop out…I see the significance but I feel it lacks depth. Sure, I probably fit the analogy quite often, but I like to explain it in terms of greater insight.
