We all wear masks. We take what’s on the inside, put a mask on it, and pretend it’s something else altogether.

I’m great at this, even though I don’t want to be.

Sometimes I wear masks at home, with my kids. Last week was busy and by the weekend I was feeling guilty for the limited time I’d spent with my boys. As I left the house for yet another evening away, I told the kids they would wake up the next morning to a wonderful surprise from their daddy. Because, as you know, cheap toys from the Target $1 bin can totally fill the void left by an absentee father.

As you probably guessed, I forgot the surprise. The next morning came, and my boys asked about it. Caught off guard, I started looking for my super dad mask. You know the one I use to try to cover my failures as a father. As I was putting it on, my oldest son, who’s played this game before, said, “You haven’t bought it yet, have you?” Busted…and before I could even put on my mask.

We all wear masks.

We hide our insecurity behind bravado.

We hide our financial struggles behind “stuff”.

We hide our failures as parents behind cheap trinkets from Target.

There is the side of us everyone sees, and then there is the real us.

It’s exhausting to keep track of the masks. The good news is – we don’t have to.

As followers of Jesus, we serve a God who knows and understands what it is to be human. He created us, and 2,000 years ago, lived and died as one of us. He never wore masks; He didn’t have to, and because of Him, neither do we.

¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV

Wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever you are, God can handle it. He already knows. He just wants you to be vulnerable with Him.

But He doesn’t want you to stop there. He gives you a no-risk start with Him and then asks you to take a risk with others. That’s what church should be, a safe place to stop hiding. Go ahead, let your weakness show.

Say it with me, “No more masks!” We cannot be who God wants us to be; we cannot do all God wants us to do wearing our stupid masks.