Welcome once more. Sometimes we walk through life and we find ourselves in the place of being an observer. Life is not a spectator sport, not in the least☺️. Even people who have debilitating illness or maybe paralysis , still engage in life in some compacity. It may be on an elementary level of blood flowing through their veins or the ability to draw air into their lungs and yes sometimes that can be a great challenge.☺️ I sometimes wonder what kind of things do we observe, when we people watch. I think that it is very normal for us to past judgment on people based on our standards, which is often about things that we can or cannot see ourselves doing or engaging in.
Based on that , we can either dress people up or down, but the more common path may be to dress them down to see ourselves as somehow better than or superior. There is always the other side of the coin as well, which may place us In a place of jealousy or envy. I want to be on the record that both of these are the incorrect response. It’s really hard to get around or away from human nature. So we will make these snap judgments without often giving the least bit of thought to what someone may be walking through. They may be having the worse day of their life, possibly just got the worse news ever, something that you wouldn’t wish on your worse enemy, but we proceed without grace. I will double back to this.
When we look at or think about a Masquerade, there are so many different directions that we can go with that. In general a Masquerade is to some how disguise * or mask who we really are. There is a level of intrigue or mystery around anything that has to do with a Masquerade. People have all kinds of reasons why people want you to see them through a different lens or in a different light. I’m not going to say that there is absolutely zero reasons to never be completely genuine, however honesty is generally the best policy, and I get sometimes that there may be concerns over safety.
I don’t believe that anyone talks to or lies to us more than we do to ourselves.☺️ We have a tendency to think more highly of ourselves than we probably should. It’s not always a matter of being conceited or arrogant, it’s just that most operate better with a positive self esteem image of themselves. Most people like to think of themselves as being a good person, the problem is we all have different ideas as to what being a good person is all about. When you take in so many interpretations as to what constitutes a good person, it’s easy to see why the bar will fluctuate up and down and from person to person. It’s actually funny that all of the data points to our moods and whether we feel safe or not in any given situation as to whether we will take some kind of action or not. Plainly put, one day we could step up and be a hero or intercede in any given circumstance and the very next day, not so much! Think about it in these terms, if you have ever given money to a person who panhandle , but you probably don’t do it every single time that you see someone standing on a corner with a sign. There are different thought processes that come into play, and our grace and compassion can also fluctuate.
One of my biggest observations has been how people can often imitate chameleons and often blend in to their surroundings, depending on the setting. We like to scream foul and hypocrisy when we see it in politicians, but very often fail to see it in ourselves. ☺️☺️Think about people who identify as social drinkers or social smokers, which implies that in certain situations that they adjust and modify their behavior to fit in or to be more acceptable . We live in a day age when people push against what would be considered to be social norms and as they try to redefine the culture, they still want to be included within the society. I mentioned how we all seek acceptance and some go to great links to be some how different or unique. Regardless of the body ink, piercings, hair styles, clothing or anything else that we wrap ourselves in to be different, it has all been done before. ☺️☺️
This is also true of actions and behaviors. We have had serial killers before, glamorous movie stars, and everything in between. There have been people who we would classify as saints and also people who are shrouded in evil. Most of us are familiar with the phrase of wolves in sheep’s clothing and I think this is one of the grandest disguises* of all. So, we have these two animals or categories, one being a sheep and the other a wolf. Let’s deal with the wolf first. They are known for their pack mentality and to be ravenous*. Sheep on the other hand are one of the few animals that has no natural self defense. They aren’t the brightest animals in the animal kingdom, they have a tendency to wander off, get loss and become prey for the wolf and other predators. They have no camouflage or anything else that would keep them from becoming a tasty treat ☺️☺️. They aren’t super fast, so they aren’t going to outrun something attempting to turn them into a snack☺️. Oddly enough this is one of the names and descriptions that Jesus gives to His followers. They are people who need leading and protecting , and they are prone to wander off and to get lost.
I don’t know what to call this role reversal in the world, other than a Masquerade. Wolves are acting and behaving like sheep and Sheep are doing their best impressions of being a good wolf. Are you confused?☺️☺️ , good, so am I, and let me explain . Jesus said that you would be able to tell His followers by the way that they ❤️ love. I have observed sheep not being very loving and actually being out done in the love department ,by the Wolves. ☺️
There are two different power dynamics at play here. It’s probably offensive to call one the people of light and the other people of darkness, however followers of Christ are called to have an eternal perspective, which is loss or unavailable to the team on the other side of the ball. There is a higher expectation here , that is often just not met. I constantly observe people who have no religious affiliation what so ever, stepping up and out shinning the other team. You will see them going the figuratively extra mile. They are often clothed in kindness and compassion. There non-religious status is not an assumption on my part, but from the very words from their own mouths. We live in this unwritten world of reciprocity, where we are good to those who are good to us. We still believe in the eye for an eye thing, so if we are some how crossed, then expect that evil to be returned to the transgressors, and possibly in spades ☺️☺️. Some people call this Karma and then we have the golden rule of treat people the way that you want to be treated. So, what is going on here? Sheep as wolves and visa versa. God has a higher standard and its not treat people the way that you want to be treated, but treat them the way that God treats you, a whole different perspective. There is this huge elephant in the corner and it’s demanding to be heard. There is just a large segment of the population who believe in if their good out weighs their bad then they are good or somehow ” golden “. Again!, who keeps up with all of that and who decides if the scale is up or down on that? I kind of get and understand the mentality and if I’m completely honest I use to live under that shroud of uncertainty myself. There is just something so comforting about being in the driver’s seat ☺️☺️. This really feeds into the mindset that I’m a good person. It reinforces the flimsy claim of being good. As long as we are in control, then that means that No one else is. It’s like being the king or queen of your castle, or master of your universe. It all boils down to self. In case you missed that, it’s more of or another way of saying ME!, ME! ME!☺️☺️☺️. So while you are doing your compassionate deeds, it’s really self serving as in making sure that the good out ways the bad. Think about it like this. Someone is in a codependent relationship. When you see yourself helping the other person, it’s just as much about helping yourself as it is them. There is something in it for both of you. As you continue to enable them, you are also satisfying a deep need of your own. It may look like compassion, but it’s just another layer to the disguise leading to the Masquerade. ☺️
I said two power dynamics, so let’s just briefly look at the other side, which I will just refer to as ” cheap grace”. These are the people who have been sealed by God’s Holy Spirit. These are the very one’s who should be leading the charge. What charge? The charge of righteousness. Not that they themselves are righteous, but sometimes often come across as self righteous. ☺️☺️ These are the one’s that God has trusted with His message of salvation for all. They should be demonstrating compassion, and not compassion as the world sees it and offers it. How is that? They do it to get back in return as in hoping that their good is really out weighing their not so good ☺️☺️. Believers are supposed to represent God, and it’s supposed to be something attractive so that others will want to posses it as well, that opportunity to represent God. The charge is to fight homelessness, human trafficking, hunger, loneliness, various abuses and anything else that would be considered to be an offense to God. We are suppose to be God’s hands and feet in the world and if we aren’t being somehow paralyzed, then we are way more interested in being served than serving others. I wonder how often someone is in traffic and the see a car with a fish on it a bumper sticker, or something else that may signify them as a Christ follower, and they are rude and discourteous , blowing their horn and even worse making certain hand gestures…yikes!! If they don’t think that they want no part of that, then they are thinking they are no different from me, so why bother with the whole higher power thing because it’s obviously not making a difference in their day or their life.☺️☺️. Sometimes it’s like some kind of race and we want to see if we can somehow beat the world at its own game by doing a much better job of being like them . Let’s just chase after the temporal, and somehow pretend that it’s so much more valuable than the eternal ☺️☺️. Maybe we need a perspective shift and remember that our cheap grace, wasn’t cheap to God, when He gave His son in exchange for us. Who are we?, we are the dirty, broken, often disgusting and lost souls, that God loves and wants to have a relationship with. We are but meager dust and He treats us as a precious jewel or like gold. We need to have the proper context and be about God’s business and not trying to establish our own little kingdoms here on the earth.
So how do we reconcile this or make sense of it all, wolves being sheep and Sheep being wolves. Well!, It’s like a lot of things in life, we make it way more complicated than it has to be. We want it to be hard or some how challenging, so that we get that sense of worth, we want to be somehow worthy☺️☺️, but we just covered that we aren’t ☺️☺️. When you get down to the bottom line it boils down to ” Tense” . Tense? , yes tense. Which tense are you operating from? This is also true for “ALL” world religions. They all operate from a position of “Do”, as in do this or do that, so then of course we have to have the don’t do this or don’t do that☺️☺️. It’s all performance based, which gives us that all important sense of worthiness, so I checked that box☺️☺️….yes a level of ludicrousness ☺️. Christianity on the other hand operates from the position of ” Done”. It’s very power comes from a relationship with Christ, which He made possible on the cross and His words ” IT IS FINISHED ” . No more striving to appease God, which you couldn’t do in the first place. Again it’s about perspective, are your good deeds done as proof positive that you are somehow worthy, as you attempt to work your way into God’s good graces or is it done out of gratitude for all that God has already done for you?
There is this verse in the Bible that should absolutely quake fear into your heart and souls, and yes, I’m going to make you work for it . It is Mathew 7, 21-23, this should be more frightening than anything that Hollywood has ever attempted to put on the silver screen ☺️☺️. Remember earlier I said that we like to lie to ourselves and one of those lies is that I’m ok with God, I’m in good standings because I do, do and then I do even more, good luck with all of your doing ☺️☺️. Maybe I’m not being clear, so let me see if I can make it just a little less murky for you. It’s not about how much money you give. It’s not about if your name is on a church roll somewhere, or how much you attend church. It’s not about how much you fast or any other religious or none religious activity that you engage in, without that relationship, the scale thing is going to work out very badly for you☺️. When you are done or tired of all of your striving to be good enough or somehow worthy, you can rest in and trust that God has taken care of it for you.
I will end with this, only You and God truly know your heart and that’s what He wants and that’s what it is all about. Does He have your heart? I put party with a question mark, because some carry on as if we don’t all have an expiration date on us.☺️☺️ God tells us In the book of Revelation that there will indeed be a party at the end of time and I want to know if you have your invitation? This is not about judging anyone, think of me as a Paul Revere type, I wouldn’t dream of comparing myself to John the Baptist. ☺️Earlier on I mentioned about proceeding without grace and I said that I would get back to that , so here we go. This is a shameful confession and probably something from my legalistic phase of my journey, don’t be fooled or dismayed, most of us have been there at one time or the other ☺️☺️. Many years ago I use to attend an eight A.M worship service and there was this young woman who use to come in with this really short short skirt that made me think, straight from the club to the church ☺️☺️. God really slapped me around about that one. He said, what if that is all that she had to wear? She wasn’t there for me in the first place and it never was and never will be about me. It’s not a fashion show and God doesn’t care what you are wearing, He just wants you to show up and spend time with him and that doesn’t have to take place in a church. Whoa to me and my judgmental ways. I’m not who I’m supposed to be, but thank God that I’m not who I use to be. Can you say that? That is what I want you to think about today. If we are sheep and brought with the blood of the Lamb, then let’s stop Masquerading as wolves.
