Okay guys, I (me being Brina) just wanted to explain a few things: if you're a JB bible study-er than you should've gotten an email inviting you to contribute to this blog. There should be a link and if you follow it, you will be brought to your Blogger dashboard. (It will be different if you don't have a Blogger account, but they're super easy to make.) Under "Manage Blogs" you should be able to easily click New Post under the heading Heart of Worship and BAM - you're a blogger!
Also, on the topic of clarification... We've been having a little bit of trouble with the word "Masks". Yeah, you probably just groaned, but after reading Paul's definition of a mask I thought I'd share my own thoughts on the matter.
1 Thessalonians 2:4-6 says "We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. 5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. 6 We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else."
The original definition of masks was, I believe, this same thing, when you try to change who you are and what God's made you in order to get praise from people. A mask is something we use to make men praise us. Sometimes we are blind to our own sin, but this isn't necessarily a 'mask', persay, because its deeper than wanting others to like us; its wanting to like ourselves.
It's like living in the dark, which Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians 5:5-6 as something we should NOT do. "You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled." So we have to be alert and self-controlled, which implies we are paying attention, staying from temptation but also fully realizing our sins.
So now we have two different things: "masks" and those who "live in darkness". This is really just my interpretation and thoughts on the confusion of masks. What do you guys think? Comment any disagreements, questions, continuations...
Love you all, Brina :)
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ReplyDeleteI have been researching this topic the past week, because God had really put it on my heart. There are many different definitions of masks, but basically, what I find them to be (tell me if I am wrong) is a covering that people use fit in to a group of people or to hide a hurt. Jesus, who is our role model, did not wear masks. When He was sad Jesus cried (John 11:35), when He needed others, he asked for help,(Matthew 26:38) and when Jesus saw people who needed help, He helped them.(Luke 5:29-32)When we hide behind masks we are more focused on pleasing people, then pleasing God. The longer you have your masks the more comfortable they become. It is not easy to remove them. If you do some people will admire and follow you, while others may hate you, but our purpose is to worship God, not to please people. I am really praying about this, and I hope that you are too.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you. And as Alexandria said, when we go and try to fit into a group, we're are trying to achieve praise for ourselves and to like ourselves as Brina said. I also really liked what Alexandria said, "The longer you have your masks the more comfortable they become." That really is true and can be seen through out our lives and the lives of others.
ReplyDeleteI found this great article about masks that should be read.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.reapteam.org/what-jesus-teaches-us-about-masks
Great article. Jesus really HATED masks, actually, and you can tell that through the way he preaches. He doesn't dumb it down, he says it straight up because he's not interested in making lukewarm Christians who pretend to be on fire for God (which is wearing a false mask). And in Mark 11:13-14 he destroys a fig tree that has leaves but no fruit, because he hates the false mask it wears. (That may seem like a bit of a stretch, but it does make sense. The tree wasn't in fruit but it looked as if it should be. Jesus is hungry and goes to the tree... no fruit.)
ReplyDeleteAmen!
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