LOST AND FOUND WEEK 2:
COME AND SEE
What is the façade that you hide behind? We have become very adept at not allowing what we call the “real me” to be seen by people around us. We are specialists at putting on a mask that will not let people know who we truly are. The reality is, almost all of us (if not every one of us) has something that we don’t want to be seen or known. And as a result, we often use an action or attitude to hide behind. My seven-year-old grandson’s standard answer to everything we tell him is “I know.” However, as adults, we know that there is no possible way that he can know everything that he claims to know with this statement. Now in his innocence, that response is probably simply a standard answer to everything because it can get him off the hook in some instances where he is being corrected (or when he just wants to move on to something else). But what happens when as adults we remain hidden behind “I know” or whatever other façade we have built for ourselves?
Unfortunately, due to shame, abuse, and rejection, many people try to stay behind whatever protective barrier they have made for themselves. They think that if they never let someone see their weakness or their hurt that somehow, they can better survive. But God doesn’t want to leave us hiding behind a fake covering, trying to somehow make it through.
In John chapter 4, Jesus encounters a woman at a well. At first glance, it may look like a chance meeting (because culturally it shouldn’t have happened), but it wasn’t chance at all. Jesus was on mission, and this encounter would change her life. She was messed up, and Jesus met her right where she was. In the middle of the shame and regret that she was living with, he invited her to move from what was to what could be.
Her meeting with Jesus did more than change her. She immediately went home and told the people of her village to come and see a man who told her everything about her life. As a result, many in her village came to accept that Jesus was truly the Messiah. That one unexpected meeting changed the trajectory of an entire community.
So, what “I know” are you hiding behind? Where are you broken, thirsty, or needy? You are not too broken or messed up for Jesus to fix. Bring your real story to Jesus and receive the living water that only he can give. Then share the change. Let someone else hear and see how Jesus has impacted your life.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Every one of us is good at wearing the proverbial mask to guard ourselves. What are some of the masks you know of (or have used yourself) to keep people from seeing the real you?
How can wearing those masks keep us separated from God?
Read John 4:1-42. What were the masks or distractions the woman used to keep the spotlight off herself? How did Jesus avoid those distractions to speak directly to her heart and her situation?
What was the result of Jesus’ direct interaction with this woman?
How does this story correlate to us today? What are some practical steps we can take in light of this narrative?