What You See May Not Be What You Get

Matthew 7: 1-2 NIV 1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

So many times I've heard or said - "What you see is what you get".  In other words the person or thing is exactly on the inside as you see on the outside.  That is so not true.  We all wear masks.  Masks that allow people to see what we want them to see.  We don't want people to know who or what we really are, so we put on our mask.  Maybe it's our - happy, go lucky mask - or our don't mess with me I'm tough mask or look at me I'm the perfect Christian mask.  Whatever the mask, it hides the truth.  The truth of who and what we are and how we came to be that person.

My kids love the Phantom of the Opera and have for a very long time.  They fell in love with the music and drama.  It is such a great story of how a mask can hide what is truly inside.  Sometimes our mask is to cover the physical flaws we perceive we have.  The things that we feel make us less than.  Sometimes are masks hide what we have experienced in life.

Our culture dwells in the land of judgment.  We judge what we see and often our first perception of someone is based on what we see rather than who they are.  If they don't look like us or talk like us or act like us we consider them in one or two ways - as less than or more than us.  Why? Because we fear what we do not understand and we compare ourselves to one another rather than trying to just be the child God made us to be.

Sometimes we need to really stop ourselves and get out of our comfort zone in order to reach people who are living behind their masks.  We don't know what path anyone else has been called to walk.  Maybe those tattoos mean more than just a rebellious phase, or those piercings mean they find beauty in things we don't.  Maybe the perfect makeup and clothes hide a heart that is broken and lost because of abuse or neglect and a desire to maintain control.  Until we know each story we don't really know anyone. 

God doesn't call us to judge - He calls us to love.  He walked with people that were unlovely and broken.  The woman at the well and the tax collectors and the people that society overlooked.  How often do we judge someone as different so therefore we can't love them.  Now I do know that we still have to maintain boundaries.  There are people who are very good at manipulating what you see to hide a very ugly interior.  Those people can be toxic and damaging so loving them is a little more challenging.  But with God even difficult people need love - you just may need to be wise in how you give that love.  My life has been an ongoing struggle with not judging and not allowing what others think to shape me.  I am by nature a people pleaser and that can lead to me being judgmental as well as feeling judged when in reality the people that I worry about what they think about me, probably don't really think about me. 

So when you see a quiet person or someone who looks different - refrain from that first initial judgment based on appearance - see if the book is deeper than the cover.  You may find a very dear friend or someone who needs your experience to help them overcome their mask.

Don't be afraid to take off your mask - only when we are transparent will those around us also be transparent.