Youth Illustrations: The Mask I Wear

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Youth Illustrations:
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 ever-concealing 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 ever-
increasing 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 Illustrations: The Mask I Wear

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