Fake it till you make it. Pretend it didn’t happen. Or if it hasn’t happened yet, act like it already has. Act like you’ve got it all together. Put on a good front. Don’t let them see you sweat. Go through the motions. Fake it. Till you make it. Then what?
I’m all about perseverance and doing the right thing even when you don’t want to or don’t feel like it. Character is crystallized and revealed in those moments when I refuse to be distracted by lesser important urges or impetuous opportunities to choose lesser things over what’s truly important. I’m also aware that faith is defined in Hebrews as the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. But I don’t think pretense and pretending have much at all to do with true faith in God.
Jesus reveals much of his nature in John 10:10 when he states that he is “the way, the truth, and the life.” He further states that anyone who wants to come to God must come to him through this same way, truth, and life. Jesus is the way-maker, truth-teller, and life-giver. Learning to walk in truth begins with telling the truth to ourselves. Rather than pretending I’m somewhere else or feeling something else, I own where I am and how I feel right now. The word ‘confess’ seems to have taken on the negative connotation of simply owning up to our shortcomings and mistakes. But it is also an honest admission of how we feel and how we are doing, really. Confession flies in the face of faking it. Tell the truth about yourself to yourself…and to God.
So, how are you doing? Really? When is the last time you told another human being what was really going on behind the mask or façade we hold in front of our face while faking that everything is OK? Have you ever been that honest with God? I have. And I try to stay there. I’ve had some unpleasant and uncomfortable conversations with God. And I try hard to quit hiding from him every day. And every time I’ve lowered my guard, dropped my mask and gotten real, I’ve never been disappointed. Occasionally people disappoint and don’t respond positively to my genuineness. But quite honestly, I also disappoint people I care about as well. But I try not to let that stop me from being real rather than being fake.
I found that when I fake it I never make it. And if I do make it, I don’t like where I am when I get there. I have found much better success in following Paul’s words to confess our faults one to another, and pray for each other, that we may be healed and whole again. Yet I am still tempted almost every day at some point, or in some way to fake it until I make it. That hasn’t worked out well for me. How’s it working out for you?
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