Pretending

By

Pastor B.J. Knefley

Growing up I must have had a vivid imagination. I used to wonder where it came from as we didn’t have television when I was very young. But then I realized that we did have radio and I can remember sitting around as a family listening to different mystery programs. Some of my imagination created some very dangerous situations. I once tried to hang my younger sister. Why? Well simply because she was a cattle rustler and I had caught her red handed and the punishment for rustlers? Hanging. A State Trooper just happened to be driving by and stopped me. I got in trouble for that one and my sister continues to remind me of that even to today. Another event was when I pushed my sister out of the hay mound. She thought she could fly so I was only helping her prove her theory. Before you ask, yes it was the same sister that I tried to hang. I got in trouble again.

There’s an old song that was sung by the Platters called “The Great Pretender”. If you’ve never heard it, you should. This pretender is the one who pretends through life. Presenting and living one way when the exact opposite is true. We all pretend at times, but some take it to the extreme. We become so good at pretending that we fool ourselves.

Pretending is like wearing masks. When we’re pretending, we put on masks to convey a persona that isn’t real. We do it often to hide pain, shame, guilt, fear and a host of other emotions. We may give clues to our real self, but most don’t recognize them. Those clues are often cries for help, too often they go unheard. It’s sad when you think about it. Sad that some don’t feel that they can be themselves. They feel that they must pretend in order to be accepted or liked. The problem is it’s a very unhealthy place to be. So, what’s the solution? The most important thing a pretender can do is to find someone that they can be real with. Someone that they don’t have to pretend with. This can be scary but necessary. Whatever lies we’ve bought into have to be broken. Who we are needs to be expressed. Jesus told his followers to deny themselves and take up his cross and follow Him. You can’t deny yourself when you’re already in denial. You must step out of the hole you’ve created for yourself. Think about it.