Should we fake it until we make it?
Text: Proverbs 12:9
Hosts:
J. Kent Edwards
Vicki Hitzges
Nathan Norman
Narrator: Kristin Norman
The CrossTalk Podcast is a production of CrossTalk Global, equipping biblical communicators, so every culture hears God’s voice. To find out more, or to support the work of this ministry please visit www.crosstalkglobal.org
Produced by Nathan James Norman/Untold Podcast Production
© 2026 CrossTalk Global
Kristin: All of us have a public image. We want people to see us as competent, professional, ethical, trustworthy and successful—both work and at home. There's nothing wrong with cultivating a good reputation. But often we are told that if you want to get ahead in life, you need to fake it until you make it. Do you want to move into upper-level management? Then dress like it. Designer clothes, handbags, watches signal to people that you have a bright future, that you deserve that promotion. Do you want your clients to follow your investment advice? Then drive a car that signals your success by following your own financial advice. Clients trust successful people, so don't show up for your lunch meeting in a car that looks like it might break down on your way home. You should fake it until you make it. Or should you? Solomon should know. 2 Chronicles tells us that King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The richest and wisest man in world history has some sage advice about money, and he is not so keen on the fake it until you make it advice so popular today. Join Kent Edwards, Vicki Hitzkes, and Nathan Norman as they learn from King Solomon and in Proverbs 12:9 about the danger of trying to social climb by pretending we are wealthier than we really are. Welcome to Crosstalk, a Christian podcast whose goal is for us to encourage each other to not only increase our knowledge of the Bible, but to take the next step beyond information into transformation. Our goal is to bring the Bible to life into all our lives. I'm Kristen Norman. Today, Dr. Ken Edwards, Vicki Hitzkes and Nathan Norman continue their discussion in the book of Proverbs. If you have a Bible handy, turn to Proverbs 12:9 as we join their discussion.
Kent: Vicki, Nathan, you've both spent your lives in the people business. Have you seen people apply the fake it till you make it advice in their finances? Have you seen people projecting an exaggerated impression of their financial success to others?
Vicki: Yeah, and I'm curious what we're going to get into today because I think King Solomon's wrong. I believe in fake it till you make it. I mean, think about it. I would not invest my money with a guy that had a car that broke down. I'd think, uh-uh, uh-uh. You make money and then tell me how to make money.
Kent: So, you wouldn't listen to someone like Warren Buffett?
Vicki: Oh, you jerk. I'd listen to him. I'd listen to him.
Kent: But he doesn't have a car. Fancy car. He doesn't have jets.
Vicki: No, but that— no, you're right. But he's Warren Buffett. I mean, there's more to him than his car. I agree with that. I agree with that.
Kent: But have you seen people deliberately try to social climb by pretending they're wealthier than they are? Oh, 100%.
Nathan: I can remember doing like a missions project with a whole bunch of area churches back when I was in Michigan. And there's this one guy— it was a week-long event. There's this one gentleman Even in the clothes that we were up on the roof with, like, he had really nice clothes for the roof, and he had this really amazing car, and he wasn't rich at roof attire, right? Yeah, yeah, really. And I mean, I would wear the rattiest thing I could possibly wear because I don't want to ruin my, my reasonable clothes. He, he'd drive this nice car. I think if I remember correctly, he had a BMW that he'd drive up in, and it was It was shined every week or every day when he showed up. And he would talk to me about like the house that he lived right on the river and it was beautiful and the view he had and all of this. And he'd talk about his summer home, vacation home. Yeah, he'd just go on and on and on and on and on. And then as we got to know each other, as the week is going on and barriers are coming down, he shares with me how he has gone through, I think, 2, maybe 3 bankruptcies in his life. And how he's just kind of trying to climb out of the most recent one. And then the next day he says, oh, I have a financial planner. Would you like help? So here's this guy who's gone through multiple bankruptcies, multiple business failures, and oh, I'm a financial planner. I can help you get your finances in order.
Vicki: Oh, he was the planner. Yes.
Kent: Oh, how funny. Oh my goodness. Yes.
Nathan: So if he had started with I'm a financial planner, I would have believed him because here he is nice clothes. I don't care. I have the money. I can waste— I can ruin them on this roof. I can ruin them painting this house. Sure. But he ended up not being able to manage his own finances for sure.
Kent: My oldest son was part of the US Marine Corps and went through basic training and was in the Marines. And he would tell me about a number of his fellow Marines Many of them, you know, young kids out of high school, and this is really their first job. And they couldn't wait to get their first paycheck. And when they got their first paycheck, they would go out of the gates of— Oh, man. And guess what they would buy? Alcohol, I'm betting. A truck. No, no, no, no. A truck. Alcohol, probably too. That would probably help with the process. Yeah.
Nathan: But with a truck, you got to have something to put in the bed.
Kent: You got to have a big truck, you know, that's— got knobby tires and growls and drinks gas like it's a drunken sailor. But that was the thing. They wanted the reputation. I've now made it. This is a status symbol that I've got. Could they afford it? Absolutely not. So it's not hard to understand why people inflate their financial situations. Because the world really is divided, sociologists tell us, into about 5 different categories. There's 5?
Vicki: I know 3. I know rich, poor, and middle class, but you said there's 5.
Kent: Yeah, well, you're right. The first one begins with poor. For people who are classed as poor people, they have substandard housing typically. They have very little access to higher education. They have poor healthcare, food, and often find themselves unhoused or frequently having to move from location to location where they are living. Poor people are disproportionately incarcerated. You find more of them in prisons than other categories. They are often considered invisible. To the dominant society, and they are not considered to be political or economic decision makers. When you're poor, you are totally, almost completely disenfranchised. And what I find interesting is that 12% of the US population is considered poor. Wow. 12%, and they have only 1% of the US total net worth. Wow. That's poor. Yeah. Well, but you could move up. You could move up to working class, right?
Nathan: Yeah, working class. They have housing, but it's still unstable. Occupation often involves physical labor. They live paycheck to paycheck or hand to mouth with little or no savings. So I was just reading recently, most Americans, if they had a $1,000 unexpected expense just wouldn't be able to cover it. They don't have enough to cover it. That's the majority. $1,000. Wow. Think about that. Debt from education and medical bills. And they don't have any political or economic power to make any decisions. Right? That makes sense because if you're living hand to mouth, if you're just trying to survive day to day, you don't have a lot of time to climb up the social ladder. That's right.
Kent: You're just facing on the immediate challenges.
Nathan: And that represents 35% of the population. Wow. That's 35, over a third of the population of America, and they only control 4% of the US total net wealth. Well, that's working class.
Kent: That's a tough life. Okay. But some of them will make it to middle class, right? Yep.
Vicki: And I know middle class homeowners, they generally have stable employment. They have enough income that they can pay the bills. They have social status and they have connections to help Their kids who they want to do better than they. College is expected. Sometimes they have political and economic power, and they are regarded as an important demographic. And they're 32%, so they're about the same as the working class, but they control 12% of the US total net worth. I would have thought it'd be higher than that.
Kent: Yeah, but it's certainly a step up, isn't it?
Vicki: It is, yes. They can pay their bills. That's big.
Kent: And then there's the upper class. If you're upper class, then often you'll have multiple homes, not just one. International travel, it becomes possible. People in the upper class have well-paying jobs. They still have to work, but they're being well compensated. Their children can go to elite colleges. And frankly, at this stage, People might decide to retire early because they can afford to. And this is the first time that people actually can have the possibility of inheriting significant amounts of income from their parents. And they frequently serve, the upper class, as political and economic decision makers. Their hands are on the controls of the government. And 20% of the population of America is upper class, and they control 53% of the US total net worth. They have a lot of power. But then you can go one step up, apparently.
Vicki: Number 5 is what? Ruling class. They have luxurious homes and they travel internationally. Full-time work optionally. They have inherited their money, probably. They have social connections, status, political and economic power, and they're central actors in shaping reality for themselves and others. This is 1%. This is the upper 1% of the population. But listen to this, they control 32% of the total net worth.
Nathan: Wow.
Kent: Wow. Wow. So if you look at those 5 categories, one of the things that distinguishes them is money, right? Yeah. Yeah. 21% of the US population control 85% of the nation's money. Money is power.
Vicki: That's amazing. 21% of the population, that's 1 out of 5, give or take, have 85% of the nation's money. Wow.
Kent: And if that's true in America, imagine how much disproportionate wealth there is in many other countries like India or Russia or some of the African countries. You see it in Mexico. Mexico. People desperately want to move up to the next social class. Nobody enjoys being poor or working class. They want to step up. But in order to do that, looks like you've got to have money. And if you don't have it, maybe you fake it till you make it. Well, look at Solomon's advice in Proverbs 12:9.
Vicki: Solomon says, "Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be a somebody and have no food.
Kent: So this proverb contains a comparison. Solomon here is comparing a nobody with a somebody. A nobody in Hebrew means that there's social inferiority. You're a disgrace or a dishonor. It That's not something that we would aspire to, is it?
Nathan: I wouldn't.
Vicki: No, nobody wants to be a nobody. It makes me laugh though. It reminds me of being a big sister. You may be a nobody, but you got a servant.
Kent: But, and Solomon is not advocating that we be nobodies, but he's saying it's better to be a nobody than to pretend to be a somebody. The word somebody there literally means heavy. Heavy, by that I mean a person who is weighty, someone who is significant in society, someone who is honorable, impressive, and worthy of respect. To my mind, I like this Hebrew word. When I hear this Hebrew word, I think of The heaviest object in my home. We have a piano, a real old piano my parents had when I was a kid. And it's got— I don't know how heavy it is. I'm never going to try to move it. We had to get piano movers to bring it upstairs to where we want it to be. And anything we do has to be revolved around that piano. It's so heavy. It dominates the room in which it's in, and everything revolves around it. And that's what he's saying, that there are some people who are heavyweights in life. Solomon is not saying that it is wrong to be in the middle, upper, or ruling class. After all, Solomon himself is the very definition of the ruling class, right? Right. He was the richest man and he was king.
Vicki: And he was king, uh-huh.
Kent: But he's saying it's a mistake to pretend to be in a class above your financial means. It's not wrong to be rich and it's not wrong to be poor, but it is stupid to pretend you're in a financial class that you're obviously not in. Why? Why is it better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be a somebody and have no food? Because if you're pretending to be a somebody, what's going to happen?
Nathan: You're going to overspend what you have and not have food. You're going to try and look the part, but all of the basic necessities like food, clothing, shelter are not going to be available to you because you don't have money for those anymore. You don't have means for those anymore.
Kent: Yeah. I mean, the three of us could decide to go out and buy a nice car, right? Sure. Yeah. Let's buy a top-end. Let's get a Ferrari. Let's go out and get the best designer clothes. And Vicki, you've probably a better idea of how much that would cost than I do. Sure. But I know in some cultures having the right handbag is everything. Handbag and shoes when I was in Korea, that's what people, women really wanted you to see because that's a status symbol, but they're expensive. So we can all go out and buy that. The problem is what?
Vicki: You spent your money on that. You may not have money for food. Yeah. Or rent.
Nathan: Right. Or the heating bill. Or the heating bill. Car payment.
Kent: Yep. It's easy to go into debt and it's hard to get out of debt. And if you try to fake it till you make it, you spend money that you don't have in order to look like you're in a class that you can't afford. Then, well, that's unsustainable. And what's the consequences? Better to be a nobody and have a servant than pretend to be a somebody and have no food. If you've got lots of money and decide to live within your means, then you can have what you need in life because you have not wasted your money. But if you try to live outside of your means, You will face financial ruin. You will not have the resources that you need. You will have no food.
Vicki: What does it mean when it says, "Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant"? If you're a nobody, why would you have a servant?
Kent: Well, this is a person who doesn't care about what other people are thinking of them. They're saying, "I don't care if you think I'm not in your class, but while I may not have status," I will have the resources to have what I need to live life well.
Nathan: I knew a fairly successful real estate guy who showed me some commercial properties when we were looking for them in Northern Michigan. His name was Schmuckle. Oh, wow. What a name. Yeah. And I was amazed because I knew he was well off and when he showed up the first time I met him, I talked to him on the phone and I knew the family name because they'd had some successful business dealings. When I met him, he was in what the kids would call a hooptie. He was in just this rundown junker car and I was just amazed, like, "Wow, why are you driving this?" And I knew why he was driving this because he's saving his money and he didn't care. He didn't care. And I could tell, like, there was no pressure on the warehouse space I was looking at, whether we got it or not. He was like, well, you could do this or you could do that because it didn't matter to him if we bought it or not. He didn't need the money, right? Right. He'd saved his money. He obviously used it wisely. And, and if he made the sale with us, great. And if he didn't make the sale with us, he was just fine. Hmm. But, you know, no one, no one's giving him a second look going down the road in his car. No one's like, oh, wow, who's driving that? Is he important? Nope. And no one would have seen him at the gas station and been like, "Oh, is that one of the schmuckles?" Nope. Nobody would have thought that.
Kent: What Solomon is saying is, don't worry about what people think of you. The path to success is to steward your money wisely today so that you can provide for your family in the future. Don't mortgage your future to burnish your image today. There's a real temptation to do that. We want often to get accepted in the next social class higher. We want to gain entry to power and influence. But don't do it. Don't mortgage your future to do that. Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be a somebody and have no food.
Vicki: But it keeps talking about have a servant. How do you get a servant if you don't have any money?
Kent: It's not saying that. There's two different kinds of people. Better to have a low reputation but have resources than to trade in your resources to try and have a better reputation.
Vicki: So spend your money on what you need. You may need assistance, But don't waste it on glamor things.
Kent: Don't. Yeah, don't. People will spend what they don't have in order to have a better reputation, a better image. Better to have no image and resources than to do the opposite.
Nathan: Than to have an image with no resources.
Kent: Yeah. So is Solomon saying that it's impossible for us to better ourselves and our families? Are we forever stuck into some kind of permanent caste system? That's what the system wants. You've got your place and you've got to stay there. No, I don't think he's saying that at all. Because it is true that godly people have been a success. Can you think of some people who became wildly successful in the Bible?
Vicki: Oh, there are lots of people who became successful. I don't know that they did it— I have to think about it— like Joseph. He started out in a pit and he became a ruler of a nation, but I don't know that he did it because he saved his money.
Kent: No, he didn't. It wasn't about that. He did not try to fake it till he make it. What led him to succeed? What led him from the bottom of society to the top of society? That was a reliance on God.
Nathan: Yeah. His faithfulness. Yeah.
Kent: He was never seeking that. He wanted to be faithful to the Lord in every way. And God gave it to him.
Vicki: Okay, if we're talking about people that did that, then Daniel, golly gee, he just— they told him don't pray, prayed in his window. They said, do worship the king, he wouldn't do it. He worshipped God. And I mean, he got thrown in fire, he got thrown in a lion's den, and God elevated him. Yeah, he prospered. He prospered indeed.
Kent: He became one of the key figures in one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. Two. Two of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. No, you're right.
Nathan: He survived regime change. That's not usual for advisors.
Kent: No, typically they clean house, right? That's right. And he succeeded. And you remember the story of Ruth? Now she was Moabite— Ah! An enemy to Israel; no reputation whatsoever but what... She ended up being What?!
Nathan: The great-grandmother King David and then Great-great-Great-Granddaughter-Jesus There ya go! Somebody online will check my "greats" like You're wrong!!
Kent: Hahaha. But what made the difference? How did she go from being insignificant to significant?
Nathan: It was her, ultimately, her faithfulness to her not-so-great mother-in-law, and choosing to follow Yahweh, the one true God.
Kent: Yeah, "Your God will be my God." Yeah. She made a vow to the Lord. That he would be her God. In every case, these people trusted the Lord, put their faith in God, and God, for these people, lifted them up. I mean, what we see in these people that we've mentioned reminds me of Psalm 1. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. On his law he meditates day and night. And he is like a what? A tree planted by streams of water. What does a tree planted by streams of water look like?
Nathan: They are big. They're tall. They are wide and girthy. Girthy. They're girthy because they have a lot of nutrients.
Vicki: I would think they'd be very strong because they'd have a resource to keep them bolstered.
Nathan: I know some trees like willow trees. If you want to destroy the water table, plant a willow tree because it sucks up all that water. And it just becomes this gigantic living organism.
Kent: The psalmist says, "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whatever he does prospers." You will flourish, flourish in life if you meditate on the law day and night. If you submit your life to the Lord and decide to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord according to scriptures, Because something's not true because it's in the Bible, your dad would say.
Vicki: It's in the Bible because it's true.
Kent: It's true to life. When you obey God's law, when you follow him with all your heart, you will live an abundant life. It's not saying you'll always be in the ruling class or the upper class or even the middle class, but he is saying you will live a flourishing, flourishing life. And the person who was a social climber, who only wants to get up is willing to bankrupt their future by spending money they can't have to get what they don't really need. The person who lives a life devoted to the Lord and to his word will flourish in every aspect of life, regardless of their social status. But if you don't do that and you decide you're going to make yourself great, then you will end up bankrupting your life in order to achieve a status that you'll lose eventually anyway. Because if you try to climb up by faking it till you make it, you're going to be exposed and it will not succeed. Besides, Jesus said in Matthew 6, "Don't worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or your body, or what you will wear." Why? Do you remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6?
Vicki: He said, "Because the pagans run after all these things." and your heavenly Father knows that you need 'em. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Kent: Yeah, let's get our priorities straight. Let's desire God more than we want a new social status. And that'll keep us from financial ruin, 'cause that's what Solomon is warning us of. He's telling us, be wise with the money you have. Your wise stewardship and God's provision will ensure that you and your family's needs will be met today and tomorrow. Solomon, the wisest and richest man in history, is giving us excellent financial advice. Don't fall into the trap of trying to get ahead by bankrupting your future to make people believe you're wealthier than you are. Be a wise steward of the resources God has given you so that you and your family will have all you need. Fake it till you make it? Nah. If you fake it, you'll never make it.
Kristin: Because Solomon was right: "It is better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food." It's foolish to try to impress people by pretending to be wealthier than you are because the financial illusion you create could collapse, leaving you in financial ruin. I trust that today's discussion of God's Word has been helpful and served as an encouragement to not just be hearers of the Word, but doers. Together, let's bring God's Word to life, to all our lives this week. The Crosstalk Podcast is a production of Crosstalk Global, equipping biblical communicators so every culture hears God's voice. To find out more about this educational nonprofit organization, please visit www.crosstalkglobal.org. Crosstalk is training leaders in Bucharest, Moldova, Southern California, Kenya, and Kansas over the next few weeks. Help us train the next generation of biblical communicators. All you have to do is click Donate in the show notes and make a donation of any size. You can also support this show by rating it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you find it. Be sure to listen next Friday as we continue to learn from God's wisdom in the book of Proverbs. You won't want to miss it.
Kent: So we're just, you know, in Canada, I would say to my kids, would you take out the trash? In America, I have to say, take out the garbage. Like, I can't nuance it nicely in a question.
Nathan: I remember the first year we were in Vietnam, you had said to me, do you think it would be a good idea if we blah, blah, blah, blah, blah? And I was like, no. And I didn't realize, and you were frustrated. He wasn't asking. No, he was not asking. He was telling me. And he was really frustrated and irked, and I didn't understand why. And it took me a couple of years to figure out, oh, you were being Canadian. That wasn't a request. You were telling me to do that in a polite way.
Kent: Stop that. So if you think, if you think it's a big difference, and there is, and I have to stop talking Canadian when I'm in the US, and then I have to relearn it when I go back, uh, because they think you're just a blunt, ugly American.
Nathan: And that's you, Kent.
Kent: Now you talk. Thank you, Vicky. Nathan, you both spent your lives