In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus warns people to not be like hypocrites who make great shows of their piety to be seen by others in a positive light.

Why are the people that Jesus is talking about so desperate for others to think well of them? Why do we put on the fronts we do for other people? Why do we act like everything is ok when it isn’t? Why is it that sometimes how people look at us feels more important than how we actually are?

There are likely many reasons. Sometimes, we think we need to be strong. Sometimes, we are afraid. We are afraid others will judge us or look down on us, we are afraid that we are actually not good, or smart, or worthy of love, that maybe we can’t handle everything, that maybe behind the front we don’t like ourselves and we are worried others won’t like us either. We put on a show, we present something different to the world than how we actually are, because we want to feel protected, because we are afraid of what might happen if people really knew us.

Jesus may be talking about religious hypocrites but the heart of what he is saying gets at our deepest insecurities, fears, and vulnerabilities.

Lent is a season of reflection and repentance in the church, and so in this time we take an intimate look at ourselves. We see the ways we put on fronts and hide from one another, in ways that sometimes feels necessary, and sometimes in ways that prevent us from truly loving one another.

All of this self-reflection is not in the name of beating ourselves up, but rather, to help us understand our deep need for God. When we admit that we are human beings, beautifully and wonderfully made in God’s image, and also, deeply flawed and wounded, when we are vulnerable and the masks we put up come down, when we admit our fears and shortcomings and secret hopes and failures – Christ enters in to our lives, with love and forgiveness.