My parents never told me Santa Claus was real.  I always knew it as them that put the presents under the tree.  Even when other people in my family would write “From Santa” on the cards I knew.  I played along, but I knew where those gifts were coming from.  Later my parents explained to me the reason they did that was because they didn’t want me to find out later in life that they had been lying to me this whole time making me believe in something that was made up.  As I grew up they didn’t want me confusing the imaginary Santa that they had lied about with the real Jesus that they had also told me existed, but I couldn’t see him and he did nice things for us.  That’s always seemed to make sense to me.

This post has nothing to do with Santa.

Over the past few months I’ve seen, read and heard countless “influential” bloggers, authors and musicians suddenly come to a realization that for “so long it’s been all about me, but this time it’s different”.  It’s typically coupled with some request for something or right before explaining some new venture they are about to embark on.  They’ve come to their senses and this time it’s really not about them.  This time it’s about the children, or the church, or the ministry, or the outreach.  This time it’s different.

Well good Mr. Influential Blogger Guy.  It’s nice to know that for however long you’ve been doing this that you’ve been lying to me and the masses that are following you.  It’s great to hear that the campaign that you did last year that I supported was really just a ploy to get yourself attention and it turns out the whole thing was ‘all about you’.  But at least now that’s different.  It’s good to see that you’re coming clean now and I can fully trust your motives this time.

See, saying something like that doesn’t make you more authentic to me.  It doesn’t make me want to support your cause this time around.  It makes you someone I don’t want to trust again.  It makes me feel like you burned me already by thinking that you were authentic last time.  So, all you folks thinking that the best way to get someone to believe you is by saying that you lied last time, that’s not the case.  In fact, I don’t need to hear it at all.  Just start making things not about you and we’ll be just fine.

Anyone else notice this ‘tactic’ or am I the only one?