Am I Enough or “I Am”

FOMO Series – Week 3

Fear ≠ Faith: “Am I Enough?”

Text: Revelation 2:8–11

INTRO: THE OPINION THAT WON’T LEAVE YOUR HEAD

Alright… let’s start with a question tonight.

Be honest.

Have you ever had the thought:

“I’m not enough.”

Not good enough.

Not attractive enough.

Not smart enough.

Not athletic enough.

Not funny enough.

Not popular enough.

And if we’re really honest… some of you carry that thought around like background noise in your head.

You don’t say it out loud.

But you feel it when someone else gets chosen over you.

You feel it when someone else succeeds more than you.

You feel it when someone else gets attention instead of you.

You feel it when someone else seems like they have the life you wish you had.

That’s when the question creep in your brain…

“Why them and not me?”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Maybe I’m just not enough.”

Thoughts like that creates something powerful.

It creates FOMO.

Because if we believe we’re not enough… then we start believing that we must be missing out on something.

Missing popularity.

Missing success.

Missing the right friend group.

Missing the right relationship.

Missing the right opportunity.

Then that FOMO leads us to chasing what we “think” we’re missing

We then…

Trying to prove something.

Trying to become something.

Trying to finally feel like you measure up.

THE BOOK OF REVELATION IS JESUS SPEAKING DIRECTLY TO THE OPINIONS OF CULTURE WITH THE TRUTH OF HIS AUTHORITY.

Last Week Jesus confronted the Opinion

I’m doing it right…It’s an opinion based you your therapy of what needs to be done.

You can do Christian things while ignoring the relationship with Jesus.

Effectively “Ghosting God”

Does Ghosting God sound like the “right” thing to do?

And tonight Jesus is going to hit another opinion that many people live with…

“I am not enough.”

So tonight keep this question in the front of your mind as we go through REV 2:8-11

Who gets to decide if I am enough?

Culture?

Or

Christ?

If culture measures you, you will never be enough.

But…

If Christ measures you, you already are.

That’s the tension we’re going to see in Revelation tonight.

READING THE TEXT

Revelation 2

Jesus is writing letters to different churches.

These letters are to real churches, in real cities, for real believers dealing with real pressure.

Last week was Ephesus

Tonight it’s the letter to Smyrna.

Let’s walk through the passage…

Revelation 2:8 says:

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

The words of the First and the Last, who died and came to life.”

PAUSE

Right away Jesus introduces Himself with authority.

“The First and the Last.”

Meaning:

I existed before culture.

I existed before your opinion.

And I will still exist after culture’s opinions die.

First thing we see is Jesus setting the stage of the Ultimate Authority Speaking.

Let’s keep reading…

Revelation 2:9 CSB

I know your affliction and poverty,…but you are rich.

Think about that sentence.

“I know your poverty… but you are rich.”

This sounds like Jesus has no idea of what He’s talking about… How can this church be broke…and rich? It’s a paradoxical statement right?

Unless …

Jesus is measuring their “enough” differently than culture.

If we are going to figure out if Jesus is measuring ENOUGH differently we need to understand the Culture in the City of Smyrna…

UNDERSTANDING The culture of Smyrna

Smyrna was one of the most beautiful cities in the Roman world.

It was wealthy.

It was influential.

And it was extremely loyal to Rome.

Smyrna was famous for its loyalty to Caesar.

WHY?

Every year the citizens of Smyrna had to participate in a ritual.

A ritual MANDATED by the Government

If you wanted to run a business…

If you wanted legal protection…

If you wanted to participate in the economy…

You had to prove your loyalty by performing a specific act of loyalty.

You would take myrrh, a fragrant perfume.

You would crush it.

You would burn it as an offering to Caesar.

And then you would say three words.

“Caesar is Lord.”

That was how you proved your Loyalty to Caesar.

Basically,

Say those words, and life was easy.

Say those words, and you could work.

Say those words, and you could prosper.

But if you refused?

No business.

No trade.

No protection.

No acceptance.

Now imagine you are a Christian living in Smyrna.

You believe something different.

You believe Jesus is Lord.

And that means you cannot say “Caesar is Lord.”

So what happens?

You get locked out of the system.

You lose business.

You lose opportunity.

You lose social acceptance.

Which means the Christians in Smyrna were poor.

Not because they were lazy.

But because they were faithful.

That could never happen today, right?

There is no forced speech today, right?

No one would ever legally legislate that you have to say “specific” words to specific people…

Of course the government won’t make us use pronouns improperly, we are more advanced and intelligent today… (I’m going to stop right there)

Christians in Smyrna were poor because of their faithfulness to Jesus.

So Jesus looks at this church and want’s them to know that HE SEES THEM!!!

“I know your poverty…

but you are rich.”

Culturally poor.

Spiritually rich.

Culture measured the believers in Smyrna and said:

“You are not enough.”

You don’t have money.

You don’t have power.

You don’t have influence.

But Jesus measures them

And He says:

“You are rich.”

Why does Jesus tell them that they are rich?

Because they refused to compromise their allegiance.

They would not say “Caesar is Lord.”

They consistently said:

“Jesus is Lord.”

THE SLANDER

Then Jesus takes it a step further…Just so they KNOW He sees them…

vs 9.

“I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not…”

[EXPLAIN THE PERSPECTIVE OF JESUS AND GETTING SLANDERED ]

I know what it’s like to be lied about… the Pharisees did it when I walked the earth

The same way many “Progressive Christians” lie about me today.

I know what it’s like to be stabbed in the back by someone who called themselves a friend and we did life together.

REMEMBER Judus!

Here Jesus is relating to the church at Smyrna.

The Church in Smyrna was dealing with “Children of Promise” who considered themselves to be God’s Chosen!

Jewish heritage

Blood line of Abraham

All the promises that God made to Abraham “…I will give you the land I send you…you are my chosen people… a special people”

To be Jewish - was then and IS today - to be a personally selected by God for a specific promise to THAT BLOODLINE

So, All JEWS in Smyrna the religious identity of “the Promise” on this earth.

They had and followed the Law and the traditions from their heritage

They had the label.

But many of them compromised. Because they wanted to walk in their “Promise” NOW and (I assume) they thought that their bloodline promise was eternal.

So, They participated in the Roman loyalty ritual.

They said “Caesar is Lord” in order to maintain prosperity, to maintain their “promise”.

But here Jesus is calling them out.

They claimed to belong to God…

but their allegiance belonged to culture.

They were Children of Promise, not Children of God.

They wanted the protection of religion… they wanted the protection of the Promise

and the prosperity of Rome.

These Children of Promise wanted the rewards of Heaven, while STILL ALLOWING CULTURE to set THEIR STANDARD of “ENOUGH”

But the Christians, The Christ Followers, in Smyrna chose something different.

They chose to give up their label as “Children of Promise” and accept the label of “Child of God”.

They chose loyalty to Jesus even if and when it cost them.

They allowed Jesus to declare THEIR STANDARD of “ENOUGH” even if they had to DIE because of that choice.

Am I Enough? That depends, who are you allowing to determine what “ENOUGH” is…

Culture or Christ

Are you asking “Am I” or accepting “I AM”

Seriously, try and put yourself in their shoes, take a trip to the past “mentally”

Imagine being one of those believers.

Everyone around you seems successful.

Everyone around you seems comfortable.

Everyone around you seems accepted.

Meanwhile you are struggling financially.

You are excluded socially.

You are slandered publicly.

You are treated as an OUTCAST.

What thought might start creeping into your head?

If this “following Jesus was true, why am I experiencing this kind of persecution?

Maybe God forgot about me.

Maybe I made the wrong choice.

Maybe I am not enough.

The fact is, if we’re honest, all of us can relate to the church of Smyrna.

At least I can…

I’ve been the outcast.

I’ve been the one who got picked last on the playground for the game.

I’ve been the one place in far right field because…

…people measured “MY ENOUGH” based on Culture’s standards

And I let them.

CULTURE’S METRIC VS CHRIST’S METRIC

Culture Standards of ENOUGH:

If you have…

Money = success

Popularity = value

Comfort = blessing

Acceptance = enough

That is the conformed thinking that many of us have because all of us have been raised around the Cultural Standard of “ENOUGH”.

Our Parent’s could and can only shield us so much from that “OPINION” of Culture!

And the opinion of “Am I enough?” is one of the roots of FOMO.

BUT YOU CLAIM TO KNOW CHRIST

Which means the standard of “enough” that you are claiming is the Christ Standard

Christ Standards of ENOUGH.

If you have…

Faithfulness = wealth

Allegiance = value

Eternal life = success

His acceptance = enough

The church in Smyrna had nothing culture valued.

But they had everything Christ declared.

THE QUESTION FOR US

Now let’s bring this home.

Because you all face similar pressure.

You may not be asked to burn incense to Caesar.

But culture still demands loyalty.

Culture says:

If you want acceptance, agree with us.

If you want popularity, follow our standards.

If you want approval, compromise your convictions.

And when you don’t measure up to culture’s standards…

Culture let’s it be KNOWN…

That’s when the suffering starts

persecution starts

slander / lies / being excluded starts

then that voice in your head starts whispering.

“You’re not enough.”

PLEASE, WHEN YOU HEAR THAT VOICE…

ALLOW JESUS TO SPEAK LIFE OVER THAT LIE

If you allow culture’s standards to measures you, you will never feel enough.

Because it’s a rigged system… there is no finish line with culture.

Because culture keeps moving the goalpost.

But if you allow Christ’s standards to measures you…

your identity is already secure.

The question is no longer “AM I ENOUGH?”

Because what you think no longer matters… because the one who spoke everything into creation has declared: You now have my identify , the identity of the “I AM”.

AM I ENOUGH? Answer according to Jesus “I AM”

THE SERIES APPLICATION

So here is the decision every student in this room will face.

Every day.

In Every conversation.

In Every decision.

What am I more afraid of missing?

The approval of culture?

Or the acceptance of Christ?

That is the entire series.

Fear of Missing Out…

or

Faith Over My Opinion.

Because whoever you want acceptance from…

is who you will compromise for.

CLOSING

The church in Smyrna looked poor.

But Jesus called them rich.

They lost comfort.

But they gained the crown of life.

They were rejected by culture.

But accepted by Christ.

So tonight I want to leave you with this truth.

If culture defines you…

you will never be enough.

But if Christ defines you…

you already are.

So the question tonight is simple.

Who gets to decide if you are enough?

Culture…

or Christ?

Fear of Missing Out…

or

Faith Over My Opinion.