Beyond the Masquerade: Being Genuine in an Artificial World

Arrived in a few days in good shap.

Doing a ladies class using this book. It deals with some great topics and gives some great guidance for discussion.

It is so true. It is a real eye opener about yourself and others. I can't wait to read it again.

Good product. Easy to work with.

“Authenticity” is a buzzword within Christiandom. We know that non-believers are attracted to honesty and genuineness, and repelled by phoniness, pretense, and hypocrisy, traits that, unfortunately, are too often associated with those identifying publicly as Christian. To combat this, we can find a number of devotional studies, books, and the like designed to encourage Christians (generally women and teens) to live a more open and honest life. One such book is Nancy Eichman’s Beyond the Masquerade: Being Genuine in an Artificial World (Gospel Advocate, 2013), apparently of no relation to the similarly-focused and similarly-titled Beyond the Masquerade: Unveiling the Authentic You by Juli Slattery (Focus on the Family, 2007). An excerpt of Eichman’s book was recently included Christian Woman magazine (Jan./Feb. 2014), so I bought a copy to see what she had to add to the conversation. Overall I’d give Beyond the Masquerade a low passing grade. Eichman’s strengths lie in her ability to point out some key problems that plague Christianity: snobbery, people-pleasing behavior, deceitfulness, and keeping secrets. She also offers practical, albeit somewhat unoriginal, advice on how to become more Christ-like, pursuing authenticity in speech, prayer, charitable giving habits, and hospitality. The chapters are short and conclude with questions to facilitate discussion in a Bible class, study, or small group. I got a strong sense that it would be best used for teaching young women and new believers. Beyond the Masquerade has some downsides though. It has a rough beginning that might cause readers to give up on it too early. I almost did. In addition, Eichman’s eagerness to include biblical examples at times gets the best of her. She had plenty of examples of deceit at her disposal, but resorted to an unfair treatment of Tamar (Genesis 38) to make her point. Ignoring Judah’s admission that his daughter-in-law was “more righteous than I,” Eichman reinterprets the story, not in Tamar’s favor, and commits a puzzling anachronism by applying Mosaic Law (Leviticus 22:13, Deuteronomy 25:5-10) to a significantly earlier Canaanite society without proving that those customs were practiced in the same way God expected of the post-exodus Israelite tribes. This sort of carelessness when drawing examples from biblical stories is highly contagious. I foresee disastrous results if Eichman’s biblical interpretation skills are used as a model for those new in the faith. So, yes, please consider Beyond the Masquerade for an upcoming Bible study, but proceed with caution.

I read this book as a potential resource for a women's study where the women would teach the class. I am helping to vette the material as I serve in the Adult Education Ministry. Overall, I found the book provided good topical-based information that is mostly accurate from a Biblical standpoint (I will elaborate more on that below). There are 13 chapters, with 10 solid review questions at the end of each chapter to spark discussion, and each chapter contains a concluding insightful story or thought. This type of book is best suited for a topical study where the material presented each week draws upon Biblical stories and examples to foster discussion and application to Christian women today. This book does not provide an in-depth look at any one area. The one glaring problem I had with the book was in Chapter 5 that touched on the sordid story of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar. On pages 46, 47, and 51, the author notes violations of the Law of Moses; however, that wouldn't be presented for approximately 450 years after this incident took place. Judah and Tamar were under a legal system referred to as the “Patriarchal Law”. The concepts of deceit the author conveyed were accurate, but the application of Levitical Law was not. A good Bible class teacher will need to augment portions of each lesson to explore content touched on in the review questions that weren't necessarily covered in the text. I'm guessing teachers will also want to bolster the last chapter a bit as it seems to be a weak conclusion to the study. There is a short section on moving "beyond the masquerade", and I would have liked the author to have explored this area more in the conclusion. Below are the 13 chapters with a brief summary. (NOTE: I don't know why the author chose to capitalize some words in each chapter). 1. Cancelling the Show of PRETENSE - this provided background on where the term hypocrite comes from and touches on the problem the Pharisees had with hypocrisy. It also touches briefly on being genuine. 2. Spotting a FRAUD - This continues looking at the Pharisees, and presents some tips to start "unmasking" ourselves. 3. Dodging the SNOB MOB - This looks at the prophet Jonah and his snobbish attitude toward the Ninevites. It also defines cliques and strategies to avoid them. 4. Side-stepping the PEOPLE-PLEASING Trap - This looks at how Moses' brother Aaron was a people-pleaser. It also defines some common traits of those that fit in this category, and how to be a God-pleaser. 5. Avoiding Games OF DECEIT - This looks at the Old Testament example of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar. It also presents ways Christians can avoid getting bamboozled. 6. Rattling Skeletons IN YOUR CLOSET - This touches on family secrets, why we keep them, and when it is time to come clean. 7. Making Hospitality PERSONAL - This looks at the Biblical definition and examples of hospitality. It also points out some excuses why women may not open up their homes. 8. Discovering the REAL AUDIENCE - This looks at prayer, why we are sometimes insincere, and how to pray from the heart. 9. Giving from THE HEART - This looks at the story of the Widow's mite and contrasts what she gave with that of the rich man. It also provides some keys to heartfelt giving. 10. Breaking up the HOLY HUDDLE - This looked to Jesus' life and the type of people with which He met. Clearly, Jesus didn't surround Himself with upright religious people all the time. The point being, we should be willing to meet with those in the world and not just fellow Christians. 11. Saying What YOU MEAN - This touches on the way woman sometimes mask their language and don't say what they really mean. It also looks at examples from King David's life. 12. Bursting INFLATED PRIDE - This looked at King Nebuchadnezzar and his fall from grace due to his pride. It also touches on some potential trap areas where women may develop pride issues. 13. Finding Your ULTIMATE Security - This closing chapter looks to Paul's upbringing, and how he could of had a world-based confidence. It touches on why we put on the masquerade, and briefly finishes up with an appeal to be genuine like Jesus Christ.