This past summer, the folks at the head offices of the
Oxford English Dictionary added the word FOMO to its storied book of
definitions, officially recognizing this newly invented word. The letters are
an acronym for “fear of missing out,” a phenomenon that has become exacerbated
by the ever-growing social-media universe of Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
People who suffer from FOMO have an acute anxiety they
are missing something that is going on—a conversation, a party, an opportunity.
FOMO usually keeps people glued to their smartphone, tablet, and laptop. What
if someone posts something on Facebook that everyone else will know about but
not me? What if something significant happens in the news tonight and all my
coworkers know about it except me? If you’ve got a teenager at home, you’ll
know about this anxiety and the constant monitoring of texts and status
updates. But more and more adults are on edge and suffering from FOMO. What if
I miss that big investment or real-estate opportunity? I’d better check my
email before bed in case my boss sent me something.
All through the Bible, as Jesus’ listeners became
believers, an anxiety of sorts set in among them. They often fell to their
knees, desperate to be saved, baptized, and preached to before it was too late.
Crowds of people followed Jesus, worried that they might miss out on a healing
and desperately hanging on his every word. A rich man asked Jesus earnestly,
“What . . . must I do to have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16, NLT). A
woman sneaks up to him and touches his clothes to heal her bleeding (Matthew
9:20-21, NLT).
When Jesus was deserted by his friends and crucified, it
seemed that everyone had lost interest in this prophet who called himself the
Savior of the world. Even his most faithful disciple, Peter, denied knowing
him, not once but three times. Jesus died, and for a couple of days all seemed
lost. But then Jesus arose and defeated death, and many people renewed their
belief in him. He sent out his Holy Spirit to his believers, and the Jesus
phenomenon began spreading. Paul, a Christian killer earlier in his life, was
converted and began to preach the gospel of Jesus and to build the church. More
and more people—Jews and non-Jews—began showing up to listen to missionaries
preaching the Good News, knowing that their lives were empty and that they were
missing out on something that would bring them peace and eternal life.
A sort of FOMO set in when these people saw and heard
about miracles that Paul and his fellow missionaries were conducting. The
commentary in The Life Application Study Bible points out that “almost
everywhere Paul and Silas traveled, they found people open to the gospel
message.” The Holy Spirit had already been at work in people, nudging them and
giving them a sense that they were missing out on something. Then Paul and
Silas arrived and filled them in on what they were missing!
The message that Paul and others spread echoed Jesus’
words to Nicodemus in John 3:16: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave
his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but
have eternal life.”
As I said at the beginning of this article, many people
have a fear of missing out. There are even more people who don’t know what
they’re missing! But they are searching and longing for something. It’s deep
within their hearts. Maybe it’s a feeling deep inside of you.
Know that the only fear you need have in this life is
that of missing out on the promise that Jesus is your Savior, that he died on
the cross for your sins, and that he wants you to believe in him so that you
can spend your days in eternity.
Other than that, you’re really not missing anything!
Let’s end our time with Michael W. Smith’s famous song Above
All, which says, in its refrain, “Like a rose trampled on the ground, you took
the fall and thought of me above all.”
By Ron DeBoer