Is It Good To Keep Wearing A Mask?

Is It Good To Keep Wearing A Mask?

Pastor Vincent - 7 November 2020

Weekend Devotion: Is It Good To Keep Wearing A Mask?

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Wearing mask have been a new norm since COVID-19. It has been made mandatory in many countries, and it has been told by our government that it will remain so even when our infected cases are kept near zero. So the message is clear, i.e. before everyone gets vaccinated which is probably going to be end of next year or the year after next, mask wearing will carry on in our daily lives. So the mask has somehow become part of our costume, and it will continue to be so. Except during eating, it is illegal to remove the mask. And we’re required to wear it the proper way.

 

Now, what’s the reason for the insistent of such mandatory requirement? The answer is simple. Because we’re a country that follows science. Science tells us that COVID-19 is airborne, science tells us that when someone sneezes, his sneeze droplets travel more than one meter away within a few seconds.

 

Now in a secular world, science is the truth, science is the compass. No one dares to question science and anyone who does so is considered foolish and irresponsible.

 

Now, I am not against science because I believe God created science, and contrary to many wrong beliefs, God is never at odds with science. But there is a very critical belief that every believer of God ought to have, i.e. God is above science. The Bible reveals things more than what science does. Yet, when science is made the ultimatum, it will have its blind side.

 

Having said that, let me say that I’m not against wearing mask, but I am definitely not for wearing it indefinitely when numbers of infected cases is well under control. I am for wearing mask at more high-risk places like congested public transport, or very enclosed crowded places, but I would like to suggest the liberty to remove mask during daily activities, especially in countries where COVID-19 infections are very well-controlled. This is not an absurd suggestion.

 

Now, let me explain the rationale behind.

 

  • Prolonged wearing of mask is never good for our sense of identity. And our sense of identify directly affects our mental and emotional health. Now, I like to draw a simple argument from <Gen 1:27>: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

 

Now, <Gen 1:27> tells us that we’re made in the image of God. All of us, though fallen, reflects certain attributes of God in one way or another. And that gives us the meaning of our existence. And talking about image, yes, we can talk about different personalities, or the disposition each individual has inside of him. But let us not neglect the fact that every face carries with it an identity and personality also. Our physical image represents who we are, what we are, and what do we live for. We, as God’s image bearer are naturally drawn to each other’s image, not just to the inner attributes of a person. If I don’t see the face of someone, I will slowly forget what he stands for. And that is the reason why we keep photographs, and that is the reason why we always love to meet our closed ones in person. We need to see faces, not faces largely covered by a mask. If I dun see a person smile, or laugh, or frown, or scowl, I will not have a clear memory of what he represents. And when God created emotions in us, HE created our physical looks to express those emotions. But if a person always hides behind a mask, it kind of affects him emotionally and mentally, since he know he can’t be expressively read by others, and he can’t read others too much either. And some people told me that after wearing the mask for so long, they felt kind of “naked” when they have to remove their mask to talk to larger groups of people. As it is, mask wearing for long does change the state of emotions and mentalities of people. I can’t imagine if we were to wear mask for 2-3 years, we will by then slowly become soulless creature, trying to survive in a soulless society.

 

  • And next, prolonged mask wearing affects us socially. It is a real hindrance to deepening relationships. Some people find themselves not being able to establish deep ties and friendships with new people when most of what they see of others is just a face covered by the mask.

 

Now, my son who is in his secondary school has a change of class this year. Surprisingly, I realize he still hangs out quite often with his friends last year. He hasn’t been able to build very deep friendship with his classmates this year. And that phenomenon is the same with most of his friends also. Why? Because since almost the beginning of this year, everyone in class has been wearing a mask. Now, it’s been one whole year, and friendship didn’t progress. It’s obvious. Mask wearing really hinders the deepening of relationships. As it is, we need to see the other person’s facial expressions and reactions to know him or her.

 

Sometimes, in our intense pursuit of what science has warned us about, we could have neglected the social implications. We just thought of surviving COVID-19, but we’ve neglected things that nourish the soul. Now, we may not feel certain things when we’re not taught biblical truths. But when we observe the dynamics of relationship over time, we know the harmful effects is latent. It’s not something we should plainly neglect.

 

Now, I believe if you get what I’m saying, you’ll know it’s not just enough to be taking out the mask during meal times when everyone is merely absorbed with their food only. We need to be given more freedom to talk, to relate, and to engage in activities with our mask off. We need to connect like human beings, and benefit from deeper and more meaningful engagement. We cannot be always responding by fear. If for the past few months, we’ve been controlling the pandemic to such a laborious extent and thank God it’s been well controlled, at least in Singapore, then shouldn’t we take a step further to make mask-wearing voluntary when cases are kept near to zero? Of course, there will always be some who are always fearful. Some may think this is a reckless call, but let me say that being too paranoid will also bring more harm than good over time. We will breed a people who only know how to live by restrictions, but not by self-responsibility. We will breed a people who always restricted by fear, and not learn how to be adaptive and creative. As we could see, with prolonged mandatory mask wearing, we are breeding a culture where people will just go through the motion of wearing a mask, and improperly, which is ineffective.

 

Now, I pray for the country leaders and decision makers to be wise, courageous and resolute. Two to three years of wearing mask is a long time. We must not be overly absorbed by the pandemic, but to consider carefully our mental, emotional and societal health for the long run. I believe we should be wiser than just trying to survive

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Pastor Vincent Choo
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Vincent serves as the President of The Blessed Run Church. He is also the Senior Pastor of The Life Church and Missions (Singapore) and is an ardent missionary to the Chinese World. He currently lives in Singapore with his wife, Qiufen, and has three kids, Mary, David, and Caleb.

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