The Statement a Mask Can Make

Edit 5/28/2020: After having received some response to this post, I want to clarify that I did not write this post to call out every person in our country who goes out without a mask. I'm addressing people who claim the name of Christ and also have no physical issues that prevent them from wearing a mask. I don't look at every person I see not wearing a mask and judge them. But if you are a Christian and you don't wear a mask because you don't feel like it or because you think they don't help, this is for you.

A few minutes ago, the governor in my state announced that wearing masks will be required in public when the state reopens on Friday. Based on how things have played out in other states, I imagine there are going to be a significant number of people angry about this decision. I won’t be surprised to see protests in our state capital. But I will be extremely saddened and disheartened if I learn that any of you, dear friends, are among these ranks. Yes, I know some of you have been refusing to wear masks. But I would beg you, for my sake and the sake of the gospel, to just comply with this mandate and do one small thing to help others. 

You may not realize this (since, as so many people tell me, I don’t look sick), but I am immunocompromised. My cancer treatment affects my blood cell counts and weakens my immune system. The lungs are one part of my body that we can expect my breast cancer will spread to before it kills me, and I don’t want to go into that scenario with lungs damaged by COVID-19 (should I survive an infection). 

I’ve been very cautious about my exposure for the past two and a half months. I’ve had one in-person visit with a friend this whole time and that was at the very beginning of the quarantine, before we truly realized how bad the illness could be. We sat across the lawn from each other, and I didn’t touch anything she did. I even wiped down my dog to make sure germs didn’t spread to me via her fur, after the loving pats and pets my friend had given her. Extreme? Maybe. The point is that I’ve been doing my best to limit my exposure. But that isn’t enough. I need your help, too.

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve gone out since the beginning of March. Why? Because of the people who refuse to wear masks or social distance appropriately. One of my happy excursions outside my neighborhood was a trip to the outdoor plant section at Lowe’s about six weeks ago. I wasn’t going to buy anything; we were there for Kevin. But it was a beautiful day and I thought a chance to get out, in an open-air setting, would be pretty low risk. I masked up (with an N95 mask we happened to have in our garage) and kept significant distance between me and everyone else there. But I only got to enjoy the flowers for about ten minutes before someone’s repeated, uncovered, gigantic sneezes forced me back to the car to wait while Kevin finished up.

Now maybe if I looked sick or elderly the person might have been more cautious. But the thing is, you can’t tell from the outside who might be at higher risk. I look perfectly healthy. But I’m not. I need you to keep your germs to yourself. I’m doing my best to protest myself, but I need you to do your part, too.

Even if you think you’ve read research that says masks don’t help, can you show me love and just wear the mask? I think it will help. I will feel cared for if you show caution around me. I will know my life is valuable to you if you do something you’d rather not (wear a mask) for my sake. The Bible says people will know we are Christians by our love (John 13:35).

If those at risk see you wearing a mask, they will know that you care. If they see you without one, they will know that you are someone who thinks about himself first and foremost. And that is not the way of love or the way of the gospel. 

The gospel tells us of a perfect God who loved people so much that He became one of us – gave up everything, all His rights – so that He could die instead of us. He gave up even that “certain unalienable Right” we hold most sacred - life - and died for people. He had a right not to die. He hadn’t done anything wrong; He hadn’t even received a fair trial. But He willingly gave up His life so we could live. Did He have to do that? No. Did He have every right to refuse to do that? Yes. Was becoming human and being tortured to death something easy for Him to do? No. 

What sacrifice are you being asked to make right now? To put a small piece of cloth over your nose and mouth when you go out in public. You’re not being asked to die for someone. You’re not being tortured on a Roman killing cross. You simply have to cover your mouth and maybe subject yourself to your own bad breath. 

And you won’t even do that for the good of another? How will people know we are Christians by our love if we can’t even do that? Really, wearing a mask right now, as we’re being asked to do, seems like literally the smallest thing anyone could do in an effort to be more like our Christ, who gave up all His rights on our behalf, so that we might live.

I implore you, please, for my sake and the sake of the gospel, just wear the mask.