In early dramas, a single actor would often play multiple parts, so he would have to put on a different mask to represent each role that he played. Many of us do the same thing. We wear one mask for our friends, another for our family, and one at church. We even wear a mask for our recovery group. Why? Because we are actors.
The biblical word for “actor” is hypocrisy. A hypocrite was seen as an actor who wore whatever mask served his interests in the moment.
In order to get sober, we must first get real. That means stepping from the familiar waters of hypocrisy into a whole new way of life. Fortunately, God can help. If you are tired of keeping up with your masks, ask God for the wisdom to embrace a new way. I’m talking about the wisdom that James wrote about.
“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).
There’s that word again – hypocrisy.
Recovery Step: Pray for the wisdom to remove your masks.
