You Are Somebody Important, I Promise! Series

A. In the 1957 comedy film, called “The Delicate Delinquent,” Jerry Lewis played the typical inept young man that he always played.

1. In this silly film, he tried but failed to be a juvenile delinquent.

2. In the film, there is a powerful scene where Lewis is talking to his best friend, whom he really looked up to.

3. Lewis said, “When I try to be bad, I’m good. When I try to be good, I’m bad. When I was a kid, I was a jerk. When I was a teenager, I was stupid. Now I’m a man and I’m empty. I know two things about me. One: I’m nothing. And two: I want to be something.”

B. Max Lucado opens his chapter on the promise we are going to explore today by telling this story:

1. One day Max went with a film crew and began setting up to shoot a video in front of the Alamo.

2. As the crew of four worked to set up the lights and cameras, Max sat on the bench in front of the Alamo, trying to think through what he wanted to say for the video.

3. As people passed by, some of them began to stop and stare.

4. The people began to ask each other, “Who is that guy?” and “What are they filming?”

5. Finally, one woman shouted this question toward Max, “Hey, are you somebody important?”

C. If someone else hasn’t asked us that question “Are you somebody important?” or made their personal declaration “You aren’t anybody important!”, all of us have certainly asked ourselves? “Am I somebody important?”

1. It’s easy to feel anything but important, isn’t it?

2. It’s hard to measure up to the expectations of the world, let alone the expectations of family and friends.

3. And of course, some of us don’t need the evaluation of others to make us wonder about ourselves, because we can be our own worst enemy.

D. If you find yourself struggling with the question “Am I somebody important?,” then please be assured you are not alone – most people struggle with the question of self-image and self-worth.

1. This is certainly something I have had to wrestle with and have had to come to grips with throughout all the stages of my life.

2. I remember trying to figure out some of this stuff in elementary school.

a. I wasn’t the biggest or the strongest or the fastest.

b. I certainly wasn’t the smartest, I was a very average student who got mostly “C”s.

c. Then my dad died when I was in the 5th grade, so I was a little lost…

3. About a year later, my mom began dating a guy named Hugh Grimsley, and he began bringing us to the Church of Christ.

a. Later, they got married and we moved from the city out to Fayetteville, where the rich folks lived.

b. Problem was…we weren’t rich…8 kids, one painter - paper hanger and a stay-at-home mom who tried to bring in a little extra through Amway.

c. Then, the next summer, on July 31, 1974, I gave my life to Christ and was baptized at Camp Hunt, and that helped a lot in giving me a sense of identity and self-worth, but there was still a lot for me to figure out.

4. In junior high, I began to do better in school, made some pretty good friends, and started to have some success in little league baseball, and Camp Hunt continued to be a blessing.

5. But then it was time for high school and I was looking for my place to belong.

a. I tried soccer as a freshman, then moved on to football as a sophomore (5’7’’ and 135 lbs doesn’t work too well), so as a junior, I returned to my childhood game of baseball.

b. Along the way, I found music and by my senior year that was my most satisfying place of belonging – choir, singing groups, and musicals.

6. Then I went to a small junior college and I found a place to belong in sports and music, but guess what, I was never the best or at the top.

a. No matter how hard I worked, there were always those who were bigger and better, more talented, and much better looking!

7. Finally, when I was at Harding the whole search for self-image and self-worth came to a head.

a. I found myself at a much bigger school and I really felt like a small fish in a big pond.

b. Everywhere I looked and according to every measurement, I didn’t seem to measure up.

c. Others were more wealthy, were more athletic, were better students, were better looking, and even were more spiritual.