When our son Soren was a child, he had an intense fear of anyone wearing a mask. I’ve since learned that this is actually a clinically diagnosed phobia called masklophobia in which (primarily) toddlers and young children have an extreme fear of seeing others in masks. This phobia is defined as irrational, but to me this fear is understandable because a child might subconsciously wonder, “why is this person wearing a mask?” “Who or what is actually behind the mask?”
In a world where trust is fragile, masks heighten the challenge of earning trust.
And yet we wear them all the time. The little boy slips on a Spider Man mask because he wants to pretend that he can climb walls and detect danger with his “spidey-sense.” The little girl puts on a crown because she wants to imagine that she is powerful and of royalty.
Throughout life, we never stop putting on masks. Driven by fear, shame, jealousy, and misplaced desires, we put on masks to protect ourselves from a dangerous world and the condemnation of our inner-critic.
In high school, we might try on the mask of “choir kid” or “jock.” We exchange those masks for the mask of our sexual identity or political activism in college. And then, later in adulthood, trade these in for our vocation, marriage, or parenthood. The choices are manifold, and every path is its own. But each path of self-discovery not led by the Good Shepherd will lead one to the same destination: anxiety, emptiness, and shame.
The Good Shepherd has another path of discovery for us: the path of discovering our true face in light of the gospel. We are his sheep, those made in his image, saints, ambassadors, and stewards. This is the journey that leads us to lie down in green pastures and beside still waters.
This Christmas, Angel and I invite you to self-examine what masks you have worn or might be wearing in this season of your life. Perhaps you might also consider inviting others on this journey of knowing their identity in Christ more fully. We would be honored to walk alongside you on this journey through our book Trading Faces: Removing the Masks that Hide Your God-Given Identity.
If you’ve already read and been blessed by Trading Faces, would you consider leaving a review on Amazon (and Goodreads, if you have an account)? This tremendously helps unknown authors like ourselves to get the word out. We would love to return the blessing to you! If you leave a review by December 20, send us an email including a screenshot of the posted review. We will be doing a drawing for two winners to get free signed copies of the book on December 21 (perhaps a great Christmas present for a friend).
We feel blessed to have had opportunities to share our book on various podcasts and radio shows. Here is an appearance we had on Hope Today that we pray blesses you.
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Photo by Ahmed Zayan on Unsplash