Imposter Syndrome
Yes to Jesus • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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“Owww!” screamed six-year-old Mindy.
“What is it?” her mother called from the kitchen.
“The baby pulled my hair.”
Mother came in to comfort Mindy. “Don’t be angry at the baby,” she said. “He doesn’t understand that it hurts when he pulls your hair.”
She’d no sooner returned to the kitchen when there came another shriek, this time from the toddler.
Returning to the playroom, Mindy said to her mom, “Now he understands.”
Today is Mothers day. It’s a reminder to be thankful for all the women in our lives. Remember, you wouldn’t be here without your Mom!
We have a special gift for every lady here today.
Have the Mom’s stand up - Pray for them and thank them.
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Last week we started a new series called “Yes to Jesus”.
Jesus never told people to come to an altar or invite Him into their hearts. He told them to repent and follow Him. Last week we talked about making sure that we are following the real Jesus. We do that by reading the Bible, Going where Jesus went, Loving those He loved, and Doing what He did.
I was at District Council this week. As you know, the State Superintendent resigned and we voted for the next. Nathan Sheridan was elected. He’s a wonderful Pastor and I feel very strongly in his ability to lead our state.
His wife was able to say a few words after they were elected. She talked about leading the same way that she was leading her home - as a Mom. She said that she didn’t get it right each and every time, but that with the Lord’s help she’s doing her very best.
What I liked the most about what she said was that she recognized that she wasn’t able to get it right all the time. Here’s a question, is she still a mom when she makes a mistake? Yes! Her kids don’t disappear just because she did something less than perfect.
Today, I want to talk about a concept that’s probably too big for one meeting, but I think it’s important to at least touch on the fact that we have been chosen by God to be His children. Not because we’ve earned it or deserved it, but simply because we are following Jesus.
Have you ever felt unworthy? Maybe it’s as a mother, father, friend, brother, sister, employee, leader…the list could go on and on.
There is something called Imposter Syndrome.
What is imposter syndrome?
The feeling of self-doubt, uncertainty about talents and abilities, and a sense of unworthiness that doesn’t align with what others think about you.
In short, you think you’ve fooled others into believing you are someone you aren’t.
I don’t know if you’ve felt that way before, I know I have felt that way! As a follower of Jesus you might be tempted to feel that way because of your past or when you’ve really made a big mistake.
Here’s what I need to tell you today: When you say yes to Jesus - He says yes to YOU!
In the word of God we find all sorts of people who were redeemed or exposed from being imposters!
The ULTIMATE imposter
The ULTIMATE imposter
Jesus is a redeemer. When Jesus redeems someone it means a persons faults, sins, and imperfections have been made right.
The other day, I was in the Home Depot parking lot and I didn’t see a curb. I hit it hard with my front right wheel. I got out and my perfect wheel was all scuffed up. It’s unredeemed at the moment, but if I took it to a shop and had it fixed it would be redeemed. It would be made new. The past still happened, but the repair made it right.
Jesus makes us right with the Justice of God that demands punishment for our sins. Jesus can redeem us because He took our punishment on the cross.
We become followers of Jesus when we recognize our NEED for redemption and trust that He has the ability to make us right. Once we’ve been made right, we want to live for Him, daily asking for His help to be a light to a dark world.
The Apostle Paul comes to mind. Look at what he said about himself:
13 I used to say terrible and insulting things about him, and I was cruel. But he had mercy on me because I didn’t know what I was doing, and I had not yet put my faith in him.
14 Christ Jesus our Lord was very kind to me. He has greatly blessed my life with faith and love just like his own.
15 “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” This saying is true, and it can be trusted. I was the worst sinner of all!
16 But since I was worse than anyone else, God had mercy on me and let me be an example of the endless patience of Christ Jesus. He did this so that others would put their faith in Christ and have eternal life.
Paul said he was the WORST sinner of all! How can this be true? The Bible we read today consists of 13 books written by Paul. And yet we see him describing himself as the worst person ever!
What we need to remember is that Paul WAS an evil man who was intent on destroying the church. He was a religious leader who hated the people claiming that Jesus was the Son of God.
4 I made trouble for everyone who followed the Lord’s Way, and I even had some of them killed. I had others arrested and put in jail. I didn’t care if they were men or women.
Paul admitting to having people murdered.
But one day on the way to imprison more people, Paul heard the voice of Jesus and he became a follower.
I want to make a statement that I want you to hear:
If God can use a murderer to preach the Gospel and change the world then He can use you too!
Personally, I really believe that there are world changers in this room right now, but the enemy is trying to keep that at secret from you. Trying to get you to be ashamed or embarrassed or afraid. He’s trying to get you to believe that you’re an imposter!
Remember imposter syndrome is the feeling of self-doubt, uncertainty about talents and abilities, and a sense of unworthiness that doesn’t align with what others think about you.
You think you’ve fooled others into believing you are someone you aren’t.
What if Paul sat back and did nothing because he had imposter syndrome? Thank God that he realized that his value was found in Christ!
16 But since I was worse than anyone else, God had mercy on me and let me be an example of the endless patience of Christ Jesus. He did this so that others would put their faith in Christ and have eternal life.
God had mercy! Mercy means that when you become a follower of Christ that you are forgiven! You don’t get the judgement and punishment you deserve.
When you say yes to Jesus, you’re NOT an imposter. You’re genuine. You’re adopted.
17 Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new.
Paul understood this…Do you? Paul was the ULTIMATE Imposter, but not really. He was the ULTIMATE example of Grace and Mercy that pushed him into a life of miraculous provision.
He said YES to Jesus, have you?
Will the real Imposter Stand Up?
Will the real Imposter Stand Up?
One Christmas a few years back the kids where playing a game on their phone called “Among Us”. It’s a game where everyone plays, but one person is an imposter going around catching the others. The goal is to find the person whose the bad guy before they can get you. Well, we all starting playing the game together and I learned a new phrase… “Sus” … which means suspect. When anyone started acting weird we’d say they were “sus”.
After Paul was redeemed he went everywhere preaching and teaching about Jesus. On one missionary trip he ended up in a place by the sea called Corinth, I want to read a portion of scripture and I want you to find the imposters. Who’s acting the most “Sus”?
1 Paul left Athens and went to Corinth,
2 where he met Aquila, a Jewish man from Pontus. Not long before this, Aquila had come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Emperor Claudius had ordered the Jewish people to leave Rome. Paul went to see Aquila and Priscilla
3 and found out that they were tent makers. Paul was a tent maker too. So he stayed with them, and they worked together.
4 Every Sabbath, Paul went to the Jewish meeting place. He spoke to Jews and Gentiles and tried to win them over.
5 But after Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, he spent all his time preaching to the Jews about Jesus the Messiah.
6 Finally, they turned against him and insulted him. So he shook the dust from his clothes and told them, “Whatever happens to you will be your own fault! I am not to blame. From now on I am going to preach to the Gentiles.”
7 Paul then moved into the house of a man named Titius Justus, who worshiped God and lived next door to the meeting place.
8 Crispus was the leader of the meeting place. He and everyone in his family put their faith in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also heard the message, and all the people who had faith in the Lord were baptized.
Paul was earning a living making tents. Actually, I need to say, Paul could have been content to stop being a murderer and just live the rest of his days making a good living making these tents. He could have believed the lie that this was all he was good for. I mean after all, how could God use such a vile man?
Thankfully, Paul didn’t fall for that lie. He chose to preach the Good news about Jesus.
In our scripture, that’s what he’s doing, preaching the Gospel about Jesus to the Jewish people. For a time, at least it appears, they would listen to him, but eventually, they turned on him and insulted him. They didn’t want to believe in Jesus.
Where is the real imposter in this scripture? It was the Jewish people who were going to church but they didn’t have a relationship with Jesus! Paul was going to the Jewish place of Worship TEACHING and PROVING through scripture that Jesus was the Son of God. Paul was a SMART man who had been trained as a religious leader. I believe that’s why he was allowed for a time to preach in the synagogue.
There’s an opposite of Imposter Syndrome. It’s called the Dunning-Kruger Effect. The Dunning-Kruger effect is characterized by an overestimation of one's abilities due to a lack of self-awareness.
These religious leaders suffered from this lack of self-awareness. They thought they could earn salvation by working to uphold a set of man made traditions. They never thought for one second that they needed to be Redeemed by Jesus.
Because of this Paul went next door to preach to people who would listen, repent, and say yes to following Jesus!
Here’s what I want you to hear: Make sure that you’re following Jesus and not Religion. There’s a difference. Coming to church doesn’t make you a Christian. Being a good person doesn’t make you a Christian.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Always remember, we say yes to Jesus by grace, through believing in Him. We aren’t being rewarded for living a good life, we live a good life because we’ve been GIVEN salvation.
The Corinthian Jews didn’t understand this, but the Gentiles did and they were saved. They started a church there in Corinth and it grew!
Now, let me remind you of something REALLY important. As the Corinthian church grew, so did their problems. The church is full of imperfect people. We aren’t imposters, but we ain’t perfect!
Paul had left Corinth to go preach to new people, but he heard about the problems in the church and he wrote them a letter.
That’s how we get 1 and 2 Corinthians. Let’s read what he wrote to them because this is the main thing I want to tell you today:
1 From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from Sosthenes, who is also a follower.
2 To God’s church in Corinth. Christ Jesus chose you to be his very own people, and you worship in his name, as we and all others do who call him Lord.
3 My prayer is that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
4 I never stop thanking my God for being kind enough to give you Christ Jesus,
5 who helps you speak and understand so well.
6 Now you are certain that everything we told you about our Lord Christ Jesus is true.
7 You are not missing out on any blessings, as you wait for him to return.
8 And until the day Christ does return, he will keep you completely innocent.
9 God can be trusted, and he chose you to be partners with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
We ARE God’s CHOSEN People
We ARE God’s CHOSEN People
If you’re hear today, you’re God’s chosen people. If you’ve surrendered your life to Him and said yes to His call then you need to start walking in that calling, full of faith, KNOWING that God is with you.
If you haven’t surrendered your life to Christ, you’re still chosen because He’s allowing you to hear the truth today. You need to decide if you’re willing to say Yes to Jesus. He is waiting for you to give up your life to follow him.
The journey is worth it…it’s not problem free, but it’s definitely worry free because you can walk in the same freedom Paul did because you know you’ve been forgiven and sert free from the burden of sin.
9 But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.
Paul encouraged that early church to remember they were God’s chosen people, that God could be trusted, and that we are PARTNERS with His Son, Jesus Christ.
What does your heart say today? Are you hurting?
