Youth Ideas - The Mask I Wear

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Youth Ideas The Mask I
Wear
This Halloween mask related
study encourages youth to
take a look at the masks we
wear everyday, not just on
Halloween and to expose
what is underneath to God so
that he can transform us so
that we reveal his glory!

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Read the Poem “The mask I wear”
Author unknown
Don’t be fooled by me.
Don’t be fooled by the face I wear
for I wear a mask. I wear a thousand
masks
masks that I’m afraid to take off
and none of them are me.
Pretending is an art that’s second
nature with me
But don’t be fooled, don’t be fooled.
I give you the impression that I’m
secure


That all is sunny and unruffled with
me
within as well as without,
that confidence is my name
and coolness my game,
that the water’s calm
and I’m in command,
and that I need no one.
But don’t believe me. Please!
My surface may be smooth but my
surface is my mask,
My ever-varying and everconcealing mask.
Beneath lies no smugness, no
complacence.


Beneath dwells the real me in
confusion, in fear, in aloneness.
But I hide this.
I don’t want anybody to know it.
I panic at the thought of my
weaknesses
and fear exposing them.
That’s why I frantically create my
masks to hide behind.
They’re nonchalant, sophisticated
facades to help me pretend,
To shield me from the glance that
knows.
But such a glance is precisely my
salvation,
my only salvation,
and I know it.


That is, if it’s followed by
acceptance,
and if it’s followed by love.
It’s the only thing that can liberate
me from myself
from my own self-built prison
walls.
I dislike hiding, honestly
I dislike the superficial game I’m
playing,
the superficial phony game.
I’d really like to be genuine and
me.
But I need your help, your hand to
hold



Even though my masks would tell
you otherwise
That glance from you is the only
thing that assures me
of what I can’t assure myself,
that I’m really worth something.
But I don’t tell you this.
I don’t dare.
I’m afraid to.
I’m afraid you’ll think less of me, that
you’ll laugh
and your laugh would kill me.
I’m afraid that deep-down I’m
nothing, that I’m just no good
and you will see this and reject me.


So I play my game, my
desperate, pretending game
With a facade of assurance without
And a trembling child within.
So begins the parade of masks,
The glittering but empty parade of
masks,
and my life becomes a front.
I idly chatter to you in suave tones of
surface talk.
I tell you everything that’s nothing
and nothing of what’s everything,
of what’s crying within me.
So when I’m going through my routine
do not be fooled by what I’m saying
Please listen carefully and try to hear
what I’m not saying
Hear what I’d like to say
but what I cannot say.


It will not be easy for you,
long felt inadequacies make my
defenses strong.
The nearer you approach me
the blinder I may strike back.
Despite what books say of men, I am
irrational;
I fight against the very thing that I cry
out for.
you wonder who I am
you shouldn’t
for I am everyman
and everywoman
who wears a mask.
Don’t be fooled by me.
At least not by the face I wear.



Take it to the Next Level
• At Halloween, children often
wear obvious masks. But the
truth is people of all ages are
wearing masks every day, not
just on Halloween. What are
some of the masks that adults
often wear? What are some of
the masks that youth wear?
• Have you ever pretended to hide
your true feelings? Why did you
hide your real feelings? How is
hiding your feelings like wearing
a mask?



• Have you ever pretended to
be something that you
weren’t? To go along with
the crowd? To gain
acceptance from other
youth? Because you were
afraid someone might not
like the true you? Because
you feared rejection if they
saw the real you? What are
some other reasons youth
might wear masks?



Taking off the Masks
Wearing a mask brings certain
comforts, but it also may hinder
our personal growth. As long as we
wear the mask we don’t have to
deal with the underlying problem.
But when we are truly able to
confront the truth about ourselves
we will find true freedom. We can
find healing. We can find an answer
to the weaknesses that plague us.


Scripture
2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we, who with
unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s
glory, are being transformed into his
likeness with ever increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord, who is the
Spirit.”
Some key truths from this verse and
the Life of Paul:
•

Paul did not need to hear kind
words from his friends. His life
and ministry was already
reflecting God’s glory.


• Paul revealed his weaknesses. And
in doing so, he also revealed the
reality and the power of Jesus. Paul
was weak, but the Spirit of God was
constantly at work in him. Jesus is
not revealed in a person by their
human perfection but rather by
God transforming us into His image.
• Paul’s life was not one of “see how
good I am.” On the contrary, his life
was “see what God is doing in a
sinner (Paul referred to himself as
the chief of sinners).” We are all
sinners with all the ugliness of
sin, bent and twisted out of
shape, far from being the persons
we want to be, or that God intends
us to be (Romans 3:23).


• Our transformation comes
from the Holy Spirit. God is
in the process of working
His transformation in us.
“We are being transformed
into His likeness with everincreasing glory” (2
Corinthians 3:18).


The truth is, when we take of the
masks and are honest with
ourselves and God he takes our
fears, our weaknesses, our sinful
ugliness and transforms us to look
like Him. When we fail to do so we
put on a mask and we no longer
reflect the love, grace and joy of
Christ. One of the names that
Jesus called the pharisees was that
of a hypocrite, or a whitewashed
tombstone. The word comes from
the Greek word “hypokrites” and
was a technical term for a stage
actor who usually wore a mask and
acted a part.



Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs which on
the outside appear beautiful,
but inside they are full of dead
men’s bones and all
uncleanness.”



Making It Personal
What are some of the masks you
wear? Why? How would things
change if you were to take off this
mask and let God deal with the true
fears and issues that lie
underneath? What is a real way that
you can take off this mask? Is there
someone you can talk in honesty
that can help keep you accountable?
Say a prayer to God to help you to
deal with the underlying issue so
that you can more fully reveal his
likeness and glory in your life!



Variation
Provide Halloween masks or
carnival masks for the entire group
of youth. If possible, you can give
youth some heavy paper (paper
plates work well) and rubber
bands and ask them to create a
mask before the lesson. Later at
the “Making it personal” stage of
the lesson, have youth add a
symbol or some words to indicate
the mask that they want to
remove so that God can work on
that area of their life.



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Youth Ideas - The Mask I Wear

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