“Fake it ‘till you make it” (FIUYMI) is an English aphorism suggesting that if we “pretend” to feel or act a certain way, eventually the pretending will turn into reality. The term originated in 323 BC when Greek Philosopher Aristotle argued: “Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a certain way.” The term was lit up by pop culture in the 1970s and is alive and kicking today.
Starting with the definition of FAKE quickly establishes the CAUTION Christians should have around FIUYMI: “counterfeit, inauthentic.”
FIUYMI is antithetical to the Bible on its face. Philippians 4:13 makes it clear that we can do all things, but ONLY through Jesus. After all, faking is pretending, right? Of course. It is DECEIT on steroids that pushes aside God’s TRUTH (John 14:6).
Investing in a “pretend you” cannibalizes energy that should be applied to being authentic and genuine in Christ.
We never get a pass to disobey God because our feelings aren’t “in the right place yet.”
One exception to the dangers of FIUYMI surfaces when we don’t feel like forgiving someone. Using FIUYMI can actually help us make the right choice to forgive and let our feelings catch up later. The reverse—allowing our feelings to make the wrong choice to not forgive them and hope God catches up later–is a grease fire just waiting to explode.
FIUYMI may have been “innocent” 10 years ago, but it is a dangerous force today. A social media sprayer is begging us to put our FAKE IT messages in the canister and pull the trigger. But we are told to leave out the MAKE IT TRANSFORMATION part of the story because it does not, and never will, exist.
I ask God to give me the strength to always choose REAL. To rely on him to show me that pathway and avoid the temptation to choose the FAKE road.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Are you faking your faith until you make it?
“My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak. I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ’s power over me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
