I watch a lot of sports. I used to play, now I watch it on TV and most recently I have watched my boys participate. There is something about amateur athletics that has caught my attention for years. After most games they make the teams line up and shake hands with the other team.
I remember doing this in grade school, and people are still doing it. We always said a deeply heartfelt, “good game” to our opponents.
Upon watching this, I realized how fake these handshakes are. One team just lost and the other just won. One group wants to say, “We’re better than you,” and the other just wants to hide somewhere or throw something.
While watching this post game ritual I couldn’t help but think about Church. How many people walk in and out of worship shaking hands and saying “Good morning,” without really meaning it? They would rather be yelling at you or hiding from you than shaking your hands.
I am not sure what to do with this information. I can post it here and put it in a sermon. I can encourage people to do better, but I understand it might not make a difference. The only thing meaningful I can do with this info is look at my own life and try to become more real and authentic. I can ask questions of people and honestly try to open up myself. I know it won’t be easy, but it is better than being fake.
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Second Chance Pastor 
I found a blog on the website itsallbeautiful.weebly.com. Its called “People”. I really like it because it talks about how people fake it:
“We try so hard to fit in that we end up hiding everything that makes us who we are and we’re so good at this, that what we don’t realize is we are hiding things about ourselves not only from others, but from us. We make a mask to show the world and filter what comes through that mask. We get hurt and just shove the hurt into a jar and close the lid. All of our insecurities are pushed deep into the dark corners where we won’t find them often. We’re so intent on fitting in that we all end up looking alike. We crop out the parts of ourselves that we don’t enjoy and over exaggerate the parts we do. The world’s views tells us that we are never good enough. We always believe them so we try harder to be someone else. We continually compare ourselves with others and come up with lies. “She’s prettier than me…He’s better and stronger than me…I’ll never be as good as them.” And when that brave soul finally gets the guts to stop pretending, we point and laugh.
“Maybe not all people are like this, but quite a few are. So what I want to know is what would the world be like if everyone stopped pretending. What if being yourself was the new fad? Yeah, our world might be a little crazy for a while, but I think crazy and weird is good.”
Maybe this blog doesn’t really fit this post by Second Chance Pastor, but I think it does a really good job at describing how people pretend. It shines some light on the fact that people hide a lot of themselves from others and from ourselves. I also think it hints at the fact that when we do this we also lose who we are.