The Evil behind the Masks
The mask that covered the Glory of God.
I knew that for some unknown reason I was against the mask mandates that swept the globe during 2020 and 2021, but I did not know really why it so important to me until reading a book last week by one of my favorite authors. I had read the book before a couple of years ago, but did not remember this particular chapter at all. The book is “Just Like Jesus” by Max Lacado and the chapter that floored me this time when I read it was chapter 6, “A Changed Face and a Set of Wings”.
Lacado meantioned in this chapter that we are to be the reflect of Jesus and his glory. He led me to ask the question where does God’s Glory most often appear? He answered the question in a section he titled “REFLECTING HIS GLORY”.
Lacado asks us to, “Come to worship prepared to worship.”, and goes on to explain the following:
As you do, you’ll discover the purpose of worship — to change the face of the worshiper. This is exactly what happened to Christ on the mountain. Jesus’ appearance changed: “His face became bright like the new sun” (Matt 17:2)
The connection between the face and worship is more than conincidental. Our face is the most public part of our bodies, covered less than any other area. It is also the most recognizable part of our bodies. We don’t fill a school annual with photos of people’s feet but rather with photos of faces. God desires to take out faces, this exposed and memorable part of our bodies, and use them to reflect his goodness. Paul writes: “Our faces, then, are not to be covered. We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. The change in us brings ever greater glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).
God invites us to see his face so he can change ours. He uses our uncovered faces to display hus glory. The transformation isn’t easy The sculptor of Mount Rushmore faced a lesser challenge than does God. But our Lord is up to the task. He lover to change the faces of his children. By his fingers, wrinkles of worry ar rubbed away. Shadows of shame and doubt become portraits of grace and trust. He relfaxes clenched jaws and smooths furrowed brows. His touch can remove the bags of exhaustion from beneath the eyes and turn tears of despair into tears of peace.
Max Lacado – “Just Like Jesus”, page 81-82 Copyright 1998 by Max Lacado
You see the enemy of our souls wanted to hide the most important aspect of our bodies in order to stop the spreading of the Holy Spirit. If he is able to hide our faces, he can effectively hide the glory of God. The masks were never about protecting us from disease, but rather to prevent the spread of the gospel of peace. Covering our faces was just one aspect of Satan’s agenda over the last two years. The other mandates that were put into place were also designed to stop the advance of God’s kingdom.
We were separated from our elders as nursing homes were made off limits to friends and family in an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease to the most vulnerable. At the same time it prevented many elders of the faith from sharing their dying thoughts with those closest to them. It was a very sad time for many families. I was fortunate enough to not have relatives in nursing homes during the pandemic, but I was aware of several families in our church facing those sad circumstances.
The third impact was in the gathering together of the saints as churches were forced to close their doors and gathering in large groups was prohibited in most of the world. This made it difficult to remain focused on our relationships with God as we were separated from the body. We are commanded several times in the Bible not to stop meeting together, especially as the end draws near, and yet most of us allowed Satan to close the doors of our churches and stop meeting together, at least face to face. This is one part of Satan’s plan that I feel backfired a little as now nearly every church, even in our rural communities are live streaming and recording their services. Facebook and YouTube became an untapped mission field that become flooded with the gospel in a matter of weeks.
The final attack of the enemy in the last few years was the social distancing mandates. Nearly every time Jesus healed someone it was by a touch of his hands. We are commanded to lay hands on the sick and they will recover, but during the supposed worst pandemic since the 1918 flu pandemic, touching the sick was not permitted. I’m not saying that God cannot heal without a touch, but sometimes the touch is the most comforting part of the healing process.
I found it interesting that nearly every mandate that was passed and enforced during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic seemed designed to prevent the Christian from fulfilling their God given assignment to spread the gospel to the lost. They hid the glory of God by hiding our faces. They stopped the encouragement of the saints by closing the churches. They stopped the honoring of the elders by closing them off from society. And they stopped the laying on of hands to heal the sick through the social distancing requirements. It seems that not only was the disease designed to kill physically, but also spiritually. Thus the title of the post, “The Evil behind the Masks”.
