Put on without being a put-on

Language is fascinating. I recently finished translating a 42-page testimony by a Nicaraguan student in my English as a second language class, and I was struck by the fuzzy boundaries of certain words, to wit, “pretender.” In English, a “pretender” is a phony, and to “pretend” is to make believe something is true when it is not. But Spanish gives a peek into a more complicated relationship and root. For here “pretender” has the meaning of “trying”or “aspiring,”with no negative connotation. Pretendo sacar algo de provecho means, “I intend to get something out of it.”

The Bible also confirms something deeply psychological here. How does one become kind after not being a kind person for a long time? Well, we do it by the grace of God and his Spirit within us. But how? Automatically? Passively? By watching TV and waiting for God to zap us with a new character? Not a bit of it. The Bible indicates active, not passive, growth. But see how that active growth in virtues like kindness occurs:

“Put on, then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience …” (Colossians 3:12, ESV).

This is so helpful to me. It means I can go out there and “put on” kindness and not be a “put-on” for doing it. Pick a virtue, any virtue. Do you want to be meeker? The verse says to “put it on.” More “patient”? “Put it on.” Try it on for size. It doesn’t make you a phony or a pretender (English meaning). It makes you an obedient person and a “pretender” (Spanish meaning).

This is not exactly “fake it till you make it.” For two reasons. First, the motive is not deception but obedience to God, which is the highest form of honesty. Faking is trying to fool someone; “putting on” kindness, love, or patience is trying to love someone better. Secondly, you are not “faking” anything; you are sincerely trying to obey God’s command to exercise kindness, meekness, etc. There is no fakery about doing the right thing in a given situation.

So the Spanish language has rescued me from any scruples about hypocrisy when it comes to going out there and pressing into God’s commands. “Voy a pretender a amar a Dios con toda mi corazón y la alma y la fuerza. ¿Y tu?”