Recently the president of the Seattle NAACP was scandalized because it was revealed she wasn’t black. She had been pretending. I honestly do not know why this was so awful. Why can’t someone pretend to be what they want to be? I have been pretending to be something I am not for most of my life. I was a pastor and pretended to be a good man. For years I have been a college professor and have been pretending to be knowledgeable about certain areas of knowledge. The truth is my gift is being able to project confidence because I know a little about a lot of things but I am not an authority on anything.
When I was in college a professor, who I really admired, said to me after I made a presentation, “That was the most interesting nothing I have ever listened to.” Instead of being hurt, I thanked him because I knew he was telling the truth.
All this brings me to my point. As human beings, if we want to face the truth about ourselves, we are basically selfish. There are a few unselfish people in our midst, a few. But most of us who claim to be Christians are pretending. To be a Christian is to be Christ-like. That is an insurmountable goal. But I am committed to pretending because I believe if we pretend to be something long enough we actually become what we desire to be. Our challenge is to be a better and better Christian pretender. The wonderful thing about this quest is God promises to help us become. Enoch was taken to heaven because he became so much like God. That did not happen overnight. See Genesis 5.
Spring Of Life