During Chenoweth Elementary School I came home to proudly proclaim that our class was doing the play, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and I was going to play the Emperor. “Oh no you’re not,” said my mother. “I’ve read that story.” With one phone call mom made sure the script did not say that the emperor was naked, but that he was in his underwear. She procured black underwear with large white polka dots for the production. The show went on — and so did I.

As the emperor, I met three con-men who offered to weave and sell me a set of clothes. The clothes were so special, they could only be seen by those who aren’t incompetent or stupid. When my advisors looked in on the progress, none of us would admit we didn’t see any clothes being made lest we look stupid. 

The conmen “dressed” me for a big parade and ran off with our money. The villagers had lines like “The Emperor’s new clothes are beautiful. They fit so well.” Look at the colors — even the orange of our flag. No one in my court wanted to look stupid or unfit for office so they too praised what wasn’t there as I proudly marched around.

Then one innocent child said, “But the emperor has nothing on except his underwear!” Soon one person whispered to another about what the child said until everyone realized the truth. The pinnacle of my childhood acting was that I kept proudly parading a path through the peasants as I said to myself, “I have to keep going and see this through.” So I strutted all the more proudly as I ordered my government officials to keep carrying my train that wasn’t there.

I gained some wisdom from foolishly flouting my boxers. People may go along with anything that makes them not look stupid or incompetent. Later I’d learn about “Confidence Bias”. Our brains are wired to prefer a confident lie over a hesitant truth. It’s what conmen rely on — that people will believe a confident lie if you repeat it enough. Rather than use those insights to gain wealth and power, I hope and pray those lessons made me more authentic in my ministry.

When have you believed a confident lie more than a hesitant truth in your life? How long did you hold onto that belief in order to not look stupid or incompetent? Where have you felt forced to carry a train that wasn’t there?