Tired of Insincere People? Here’s One

Something bad has happened to you so you decide to share it with your partner or spouse and he mumbles, ” Really?” You share a little about your day with your children and they say, “Whatever!”  You tell a friend about the same incident that has left you furious and she says, “Oh really?”  Then there is a long pause and she starts talking about her problems. Everyone you seem to talk to has a ”it can’t be that bad” attitude. While you are opening up about the things that matter to you, they act as if they couldn’t care less. Has societal issues created a growing population of “whatever” people? The kind of people that just go around saying, “whatever” to just about anything including issues of importance.  Something bad happens on the news and no one says anything because they have seen it all.  Two people are arguing in a store and shoppers continue to look at their merchandise like nothing is going on.  Someone receives a wonderful gift and people try real hard to be happy for them.

Where does this attitude come from anyway? Are people so busy with “whatever” that everything around them is “whatever.” Take for instance; I was excited about my first book I had written. It had been published and I had tears in my eyes when I received the very first copy. It took so many years for me to write Laboring to Love an Abusive Mate because it was about my issue with domestic violence at the young age of 21 and I wanted to share my story with others hoping that if they should read my story they would think twice about staying with an abusive mate. I shared my accomplishment with a few choice people and one of them in the group said something like a, “Oh, ahem that’s nice.” At first I thought it may have been jealousy that caused him to react in this way, but I later learned when I watched his reaction about other things that he is just an insincere person. He really wasn’t happy for me or anyone else for that matter, he just doesn’t care.  He tries to act interested but it comes off to be very fake.  Now had the book been about him, maybe the reaction would have been different?

You see, we live in a society of fake people. Look around you, fake hair, fake eyelashes, fake gold, fake designer purses and watches, fake breasts, fake eye colors, fake nails, you get my point? So when someone in the fashion industry says something fake is in, people buy it. When someone says, “I got this purse on sale, but it’s a fake.” The other person will say, “Where did you get it?” It seems the only time insincere people are sincere is when someone either looks fake, acts fake, or suggests something is fake. I think of the men whose heads turn when a woman who is fake from head to toe walks into a room, they know she is fake, but they can’t help but secretly lust for her. I think of the many gold-diggers who are deceived when they think that the man who is seated at the bar showing wads of cash is someone important. He is fake just like the rest. Pretending to be something he is not, he knows that part of his fat money roll is needed to pay his rent or he will be put outdoors next month.

We are looking to make these insincere people act sincerely. We try real hard to excite them. We are almost like entertainers performing in front of an audience. “What will it take for me to get you to react?” Then we question whether the smile that appears on their face is a real one or a fake one. We talk to these people hoping that they will advise or encourage us; rather, they tell us only what they want us to hear. They will not “keep it real” for fear that they will hurt us or be yelled at. Listen, I rather tell the truth to someone knowing there is the possibility that one day they might not be my friend, then to tell them what they want to hear just to keep a friendship. I personally believe that good friends will not lie to one another. A real friend won’t let you come out the house with your fake hair falling off your head and when you ask them, “How do I look?” They will say, “Your wig is starting to come off your head!”

Insincere people also tend to show up in your life unexpectedly. They come bearing gifts and when the newness of the relationship becomes old, they notice they aren’t getting too much in return for what they put out. Eventually everything from that point on becomes a problem for them. They won’t do or accept anything with a sincere heart. Oh, they may put on a scene in front of everyone like they are so thankful and they are just a wonderful person, but the reality is they are feeling rather ugly inside. In time their ugliness shows up and we find out that their act of appreciation and their gesture of kindness was just that an act!

Insincere people they say they love you when in all actuality they just love being with you until you make them angry. You see, insincere people don’t like people telling them the truth. They don’t want anyone showing them their faults, telling them how they feel, or anything else that could potentially turn into a disagreement. They think truth tellers are trouble makers. Insincere people belong with people like them. “I love you today, but if you do anything wrong, I won’t love you tomorrow.” As much as I sincerely want a strong circle of people around me who will pray with me, I know that I have to dig through all the insincere people to find a few real ones, isn’t that what Jesus had to do? Out of all those multitudes, he could only find 12 followers and even they fell short at times in their relationship with Jesus. I’m sure in biblical times they had the “whatever” types, the fakes, and other types of insincere people; I can only hope that there are more of us, sincere folks, than there are they