Beyond the Masquerade Discussion Guide Dr. Julianna Slattery Week 1: Introduction and Chapter 1 1) Do you believe that everyone wears masks? Why or why not? 2) How do our masks overlap with our personalities? 3) What is the danger of wearing masks in our relationship with God? 4) Read Matthew 6. What masks did many religious leaders wear in Jesus day? What masks do Christians tend to wear today? 5) Read Matthew 23. What did Jesus say about those who wear religious masks? 6) How are your masks interfering with: your intimacy with God? your usefulness to God? your relationships with others? Week 2: Chapter 2 1) The chapter distinguishes between a spiritual reality and a material reality. What is the difference between the two realities? 2) Share about a situation in your present or recent history. Describe the situation first from the material reality (Who? What? Where? When?) and then from the spiritual reality (Where was God working? How were you tempted? etc.)
3) How does the Christian community typically approach the topic of selfesteem? Do you agree with this approach? 4) We falter not because the quest for self-esteem is humanistic, but because we are approaching a spiritual question with an earthly mindset. What do you think about this statement? 5) Do you believe God is concerned about your self-esteem? Why or why not? 6) How can we switch our approach to self-esteem to the spiritual reality? 7) Read Acts 9:1-30, Philippians 3, and 2 Corinthians 11:16 12:7. How did Paul s perspective change from the material to the spiritual reality? How did this transformation change how he evaluated himself? Week 3: Continue in Chapter 2; Read 2 Timothy 1) What is the context of Paul s letter to Timothy? 2) Read 2 Timothy 3:1-5. How does Paul describe the church in the last days? Is his description consistent with the culture in which we live? 3) Which of his descriptive words relate to the pursuit of self-esteem? 4) Is pursuing self-love consistent with pursuing godliness? Why or why not?
5) Based on 2 Timothy 3:7 and 4:3-5, how does the worldly philosophy compromise truth? 6) What does Paul tell Timothy to do to stay grounded in truth in a compromised culture? 7) How can we cling to Paul s advice as we pursue the truth about selfesteem issues? Week 4: Chapter 3 1) What is self-worth? How is it more specific than the general term selfesteem? 2) List a few settings in your life (church, work, neighborhood, extended family, fitness center, etc.). What are the criteria for determining rank or value in each setting? How do you try to stack up in these settings? 3) Why is the world s approach to self-esteem always geared toward the goal of becoming a more valuable person? 4) Read 2 Corinthians 5:14-21, 10:12; Genesis 1:27; and James 3:9. From a strictly biblical perspective, what is your worth as a person based upon? How should God s truth transform the way we evaluate ourselves and others?
5) Why is it important that our tremendous worth in Christ be realized? How does our worth become realized? 6) How would your life be different if you truly believed that self-worth is a solid, unchanging foundation rather than an elusive goal? Week 5: Chapter 4 1) What are some examples of how the world entices us to believe things that are not true about ourselves? 2) What is the difference between a good self-concept and an accurate selfconcept? 3) Why is your foundational worth in Christ so critical to accepting the truth about yourself? 4) Read Psalm 51:5, Romans 3:10-18, and 1 John 1:8-10. How do the world s definition of sin and God s definition of sin differ? 5) Reflect on the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. Whose sinful nature do you identify with more the rebellious prodigal or the bitter older brother? Why?
6) Thinking about the present or worrying about the future, we often assume that we are in control of our destinies. However, looking at the past offers a different perspective. How are God s providence, protection, and guidance evident as you look back on your life? 7) Share some examples of the cultural message that the world revolves around me. How has this message crept into our churches? How can you confront this lie in your own life? Week 6: Continue in Chapter 4 1) Read Proverbs 27:21. What does this verse mean? How do you think we should respond to praise? 2) Talk about some reasons why people sometimes downplay or discount their strengths? 3) Read 1 Corinthians 12. Why did God equip each of us with gifts as part of His body? How should we view our strengths in this light? 4) What are some specific spiritual and character strengths that God has given you for the purpose of contributing to those around you? 5) Read 2 Corinthians 11:16 12:10. In this discussion Paul writes, If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness and I delight in weaknesses.... For when I am weak, then I am strong. Why
would he make such statements? How did Paul benefit through weakness? 6) How is the power of God limited in your life when you operate from strength rather than weakness? How could your weakness become a source of God s strength? 7) What are some very specific personal weaknesses that keep you dependent on God? Are you willing to thank God for these weaknesses? Week 7: Chapter 5 1) What is self-confidence? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? 2) Why is confidence so foundational to the worldly perspective of selfesteem? Site some examples of the world s efforts to inflate our confidence. 3) How is biblical confidence different? How is it an outgrowth of worth in Christ and an accurate self-concept? 4) Read Judges 6:11 7:25. What was the status of Gideon s confidence when the Lord first appeared to him? How did his perspective change from a lack of self-confidence to tremendous confidence in God?
5) What is something you know you should do that a lack of confidence keeps you from doing? 6) Why does doing nothing require confidence? Think about the story of Joseph, recorded in Genesis 37 48. When, at various times throughout his life, was Joseph tested with periods of waiting? How do you think God prepared his heart during these times? 7) Share about a time when you felt like God put you on the shelf. How did you respond? How did God use that time to challenge and prepare you for future use? Week 8: Continue in Chapter 5; Read 1 Samuel 9 17. 1) What does it mean to have a false confidence in God? 2) Studying the actions of Saul in 1 Samuel 13 15, how did he use the assurances of God while ultimately trusting his own wisdom? 3) What was God s response to Saul s halfhearted trust? 4) Share about a time in your life when you trusted in the promises of Scripture while ultimately trusting your own wisdom. What happened? How would that situation have looked different if you had wholeheartedly trusted in God?
5) Read 1 Samuel 17. Why did David have cause to doubt himself in this predicament? 6) Contrast the lives of Saul and David. How did their confidence in self versus God ultimately determine their paths? 7) How is God asking you to wholeheartedly trust Him today? Week 9: Chapter 6 1) What is humility? What are some false conceptions of humility in our culture? 2) Describe someone you know or have observed who is humble. 3) What is threatening or frightening about asking God for humility? Do you believe that He desires this quality in your life? 4) Read Philippians 2:1-11 and reflect on what you know about Christ s attitude and actions from the accounts of the Gospels. How did Christ s life evidence humility? 5) Read Genesis 3:1-6 and Isaiah 14:10-17. How were both the fall of humans and the fall of Satan rooted in pride?
6) Respond to the following quote: Humility, the place of entire dependence upon God, is from the very nature of things the first duty and the highest virtue of His creatures. And so pride the loss of humility is the root of every evil and sin. (Humility, Andrew Murray, p. 16.) 7) Why is the brokenness of humility so essential for your intimacy and usefulness to God? Week 10: Continue in Chapter 6 1) Do you agree with the statement that we cannot make ourselves humble? Why or why not? 2) If we cannot make ourselves humble, how do we humble ourselves as directed in James 4:7-10 and 1 Peter 5:6? 3) Do you agree with the statement that we are addicted to pride? Why or why not? 4) Share a difficult circumstance from your life. How did you handle the choice to be humiliated or humbled? What s the difference between the two? 5) Respond to the following: Humility comes not primarily from what God takes away from my life, but from how clearly He allows me to see Him.... Our glory and God s glory cannot coexist in our hearts.
6) How did their direct encounters with God s glory change Moses, Isaiah, and Paul? Did they become more or less humble? More or less confident? 7) How can our quest for God be rooted in masks and pride rather than seeking Him with a humble heart? 8) What frightens you about seeing both God and yourself based on truth, without a mask? Why is God s mercy so essential in our quest for truth? Week 11: Chapter 7 1) How would true humility change the way you look at people (strangers, friends, coworkers, and family)? 2) Read John 13:34-35 and 1 John 4:7-12. These passages say that the proof of God s presence in our lives will be genuine love. What does this imply about the way we naturally love? 3) Think about two people you love. How is your love ultimately selffocused in those relationships? 4) What does it really mean to love as Jesus loves? Why can we truly love only after we have received God s love? 5) How is authenticity different from being completely transparent?
6) Consider Jesus many relationships recorded throughout the Gospels. How was Jesus authentic even while He was guarded? How did His authenticity translate throughout different types of relationships? 7) What frightens you about being more authentic in your relationships? Week 12: Continue in Chapter 7 1) Why is true unity defying interpersonal gravity? 2) Read Acts 2:42-47. The early church experienced amazing unity through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Do you believe such unity is possible among the believers you know? Why or why not? 3) While God calls us to love everyone, He calls us to be unified with other Christians. What is the difference between the two? 4) How do your masks set up a spirit of competitiveness and judgment among other Christians? 5) Read John 17:20-26. What did Jesus specifically pray for regarding those who would someday believe? Out of the many things He could have prayed for, why do you think He put such emphasis on our unity?
6) Ask God to bring to mind fellow Christians with whom you are divided. Based on Philippians 2:1-18, what would He have you do to pursue unity with those individuals? Why does this course of action require humility? Week 13: Chapter 8 1) Why are disengagement and drivenness opposite extremes of the same problem regarding work? 2) How do masks perpetuate either a disengaged or a driven approach to work? What impact does your mask have on your approach to work? 3) Read 1 Corinthians 3:10-14. What does this passage say about the motives and methods of our work? 4) How does God define the success of our work? How is that definition different from how the world defines success? How would you approach all of your work differently if you defined success as God does? 5) What are your spoils of war? Realistically, what does it mean for you to release them to God? 6) Passages such as Hebrews 4:1-13 indicate that the Sabbath rest is different for New Testament Christians than it was for the nation of Israel. What implications does honoring the Sabbath have for your
work and family? How might honoring the Sabbath keep your perspective on work in check? 7) What does it mean to listen to the Shepherd s voice? Why are time and intimacy with God essential to hearing and recognizing His voice? What other voices compete with His in your life? Week 14: Chapter 9 1) Share about a time when you have told your story. 2) How do our masks taint and distort our stories? 3) How might telling the truth about the present be more difficult than telling the truth about your past? 4) Read Luke 8:26-39. Specifically, how did Jesus instruct this man to become His follower? Why do you think Jesus gave this instruction? 5) What has Jesus done for you that He commissions you to return home and tell how much God has done for you? 6) How does pride keep us from telling the whole truth about what God has done and is doing in our lives? Give specific examples.
7) How does your story your complete story give great worth and purpose to your life in God s eyes? Week 15: Conclusion 1) What has been the most challenging part of this study? Why? 2) What impact has this study had on the way you approach the topic of self-esteem? 3) Read Hebrews 12:1-13. How has God been teaching and disciplining you in His love over the past few months? According to this passage, what is the purpose of His discipline? 4) Why is intimacy with God so essential to being mask-free? 5) What mask (or masks) is the Lord asking you to surrender to Him?