FAÇADES

The props are down from VBS. The cityscape has been removed. No more skate boarders or basket ball players made out of styrofoam on stage.  They provided the illusion of living in the city for the purpose of helping the kids see the places where they could live out the Gospel in their daily lives. 

Facades sometimes make something unsightly look good.   Some times they give the appearance of height or of age.   They draw our attention away from what is real. They cover up, they deceive subtly to steer our minds into seeing something as real that isn’t.

Facades come in all shapes and sizes.   Universal Studios has great facades  that put you in a new setting at every turn.  There you can move from New York City to Popeye’s Harbour to Jurassic Park in a few minutes. 

There are other kinds of facades too. I can put on a smile, fix my makeup and wear a nice outfit to help disguise the fact that I feel lousy, depressed or uncivil.  I can also say “I’m fine” or make others think I am so that I don’t have to be real, honest or vulnerable.  When I sit down in prayer and am honest with God I usually have to face the fact that I cover up the real me by living behind a façade. The façade is so well constructed that it even fools me sometimes.   I can forget pretty quickly to pray, to submit to confess in order to be real with God. God, however, is good and he reminds me that I am putting up too many props for my own good. He helps me understand that I am at my best before Him and others when I don’t pretend; so, once again, it is time to bust down the facades, to do a bit of deconstruction and thank God for His much better reality.