Sham

<<pretence>>

A mask or facade, hiding the real state of affairs by giving a false impression or image, creates a sham.

King Herod was lying when he said he wanted to worship the baby Jesus. His real intention was to dispose of this threat to his position (Mt 2:7,8,12,13). The religious leaders of Jesus’ time put on a good show to impress others so they would receive the

Be the real deal – sincere and honest

praise of men (Mt 6:1-6,16-18, 23:5-7). Working hard only when the boss is watching is a sham, as is false humility – trying to be what you are not (Gal 6:5-8; Col 3:22). Claiming to live a sinless life is deception (1 Jn 1:8-10). We might be able to fool people, but not God.

Being genuine doesn’t rule out the power of a positive mental attitude or the value of projection by acting as you want to be but it does eliminate falsely thinking and believing something that is far from the truth. The church in Sardis was not aware of their true spiritual condition, claiming to have life, while in fact their spirituality was as good as dead (Rev 3:1). Often people make an effort to over-compensate when out of balance – for example, a workaholic
is normally trying to hide a deficiency in another area of life.