Removing the Mask or Showing Our True Colors

Back in 1986 Cyndi Lauper sang the song, “True Colors” for which she received a Grammy Award. I heard the song and reflected on the title. At first, I thought of the tall ships with flags flying from their topmast. During times of war, a false flag would be flown to get close to the enemy and then the true flag, the true colors, would be raised before the battle. The concept of true colors goes back even further to the time of Hippocrates who identified four different temperaments of humans: Sanguine, Choleric, Phlegmatic, and the Melancholic. These ideas were similar to Plato’s Theory of Personality. The concept of showing our true personality, our true self, asks an underlying question – when are we showing our false self?

Instead of flying a false flag I think it is clearer to say wearing a false mask. Our masks can protect us, shield us from having people know what we truly think and feel. Our masks are like chameleons, they have the ability to change colors and adapt to changing social requirements and norms. I think most masks are created by fear. The fear of being rejected and alone. Everyone wants to fit in, to belong and have status. I suppose low self-esteem is the culprit because my true self, and showing my true colors, is not good enough. The lie of flying our false colors begins with the lie that we are not worthy.

Being made in the image and likeness of God makes me wonder why I would wear any mask that would hide Christ that is within me. Clearly it is when I think and act as Christ that I show my true colors. My choice is not whether to wear the mask or not, it is to know and believe that I am worthy as I am, baptized in Christ, or succumb to the lies of Satan, lies that imprison me behind false masks.

From a stewardship lens, my true colors appear as generosity and Jesus selflessness. My false self is hiding behind the masks of fear of not having enough, or of pride and self-centeredness. If I do not choose Christ, my true self, I will either live in fear of scarcity, or with the pride of believing I am the creator and owner of my wealth. I can sing my doxologies – praising God, or, like Frank Sinatra, sing, “I Did It My Way.” This choice is an internal battle; as much as I want to raise the flag of Christ, my true colors, it is often easier, and perhaps more pleasurable to my ego, to raise my own colors, false as they may be. When the offering plate is passed, the question is not how much money to give, but rather which self will I give and what colors will I show. It might be a good idea to place a mirror in the bottom of the offering plate so that I could see my colors, and pray that I see not my own reflection, my false self, but the gaze of Christ, my true self, my true colors.