Yesterday in chapel, the speaker talked about a very relevant subject for BFA students: wearing masks. TCKs are very good at blending in and acting in a way that will allow them to fit in; they’ve learned to adapt to various cultures, including “Christian” culture. They’re not always so good at being themselves or being honest about who they really are. It’s a problem of humanity; we try to look good for the people around us. It is difficult to share our struggles because we start to think that if the people around us knew how creepy we really are, they wouldn’t like us any more.
The chapel speaker challenged everyone to tell at least one close friend about a struggle in our life. He said we don’t need to tell the whole world all of our personal struggles, but it is a weight lifted if we can share a burden with a trusted friend. Then he said if you are the friend that someone goes to, you should do 2 things to encourage your friend who just shared something difficult: 1. Admit – You’re a lot worse than I could see from the outside, and 2. God’s grace and love are a lot bigger than you think.
Church, or a fellowshipping community like BFA, should be a welcoming place where people are free to take off their masks. How can we make it more like that? That’s a question I’ll be pondering. What can I do to allow others to share their struggles openly and honestly with me? Maybe if I take the first step and share my own struggles with others, they will find the freedom to share their own with me.
In guitar class, we played “Eleanor Rigby” – I asked “What does the line mean ‘wearing the face that she keeps in the jar by the door?'” They figured it out – She puts on a happy face when she goes outside, even though she’s lonely. She wears a mask. Then we started talking about chapel. One student said BFA is harder than public school to be who you really are, because if you have problems, they’re not accepted. Another student said BFA is a lot easier than public school. Perhaps for those who already live Christian lives, it’s easier to act like a Christian at BFA because everyone else does, whereas living like a Christian in a secular setting (public school) is difficult because your morals and faith are often mocked. But some of our students are either not Christians or struggle more with significant sin issues; these kids find that they have to wear a mask of “Christian look-alike” to fit in at BFA.
Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners. Do we really accept and love people who have problems? Don’t we all have problems? Does it help at all to cover them up? What if we all took off our masks?
