You Are Not Enough

I often hear the sentiment, “You are enough” floating around Christian circles. I’ve even heard it preached from a pulpit before. The idea is to convey a message of self-esteem or self-worth. “You are enough” therefore you don’t need *insert x* to fulfill you, or satisfy you, or give you value, etc. This sentiment is mainly targeted at ladies and young ladies who are often very critical of their self-image. So that is who I have primarily in mind, as I write this.

Let me say this loud and clear: you are not enough. The phrase, “you are enough” is un-biblical, un-Christian, and a flat out lie. The sentiment, though it rightly combats worldly pressures to be something you are not, wrongly diminishes Christ, and glorifies self.

Here’s the thing, half of the sentiment is true, as I alluded to. Worldly pressures to be something you’re not, should be fought against. But the solution to that struggle you face, is not yourself, but Christ.

The Bible is clear, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3v23), our hearts are deceitful and wicked (Jer. 17v9), and apart from Christ we are dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2). Apart from Christ, you can do nothing (John 15v5) but sin. The testimony of Scripture confirms your deepest fear, you are not enough. Clearly the picture Scripture paints leaves us lacking. Looking to yourself, resting in yourself, and being content in yourself might help you cope with standing before the judgment seat of social media, but it won’t help you a smidgen when you stand before the judgment seat of God. Essentially, the phrase “you are enough” makes you your own savior. But we aren’t very good saviors, we need a savior. This is the devilish thing about the phrase, it points you to yourself, and not to Christ. This makes the evil one very happy. You don’t have to look like the world, as long as you don’t look like Christ.

Your problem is far deeper than not being enough in the sight of the world; your problem is that you are not enough in the sight of God.  You are a dead in your sins, you fall short of his glory and standard, and you stand condemned with nothing in your hands of worth to bring before a Holy God. And that is what makes the gospel so radical. Despite your insufficiency of holiness and goodness, and your plentiful sin, Christ came to save sinners, raise them from the dead, grant them His righteousness, and raise them up to glory. The testimony of Scripture also gives us a real hope, identity, satisfaction, and happiness, that is far superior to sentimentality: in Christ.

If you are a Christian, it is because before the foundation of the world you were loved by God to such a degree that he would send His Son to die a brutal death for your sins, absorbing the wrath and punishment for your sins and lack of holiness, rising from the dead, and giving to you His perfect record of obedience before God. If you are a Christian it because in love, He predestined you for adoption (Eph. 1). If you are a Christian it is because while you were still sinning, Christ died for you. If you are a Christian it because God counted it worth it, to punish and sacrifice his son, instead of you.

If you are a Christian, it is not because God saw some inherent worth in you, so he decided it was worth it to send Christ. God saw nothing in you but sin and rebellion toward him, yet His love is so great, that He still said, “I want you. Not because of you, but because of me.” If you are a Christian, you will stand justified before God not because of anything of inherent value or worth in you, but because you stand covered by Christ. This is what it means to be a Christian, not to come to believe that we are enough in ourselves, but to come to the end of ourselves, see our emptiness and brokenness, and throw ourselves on Christ. Christians are Christians not because they are enough, but because Christ is enough. Christ is enough. “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling.”

The gospel is far superior to sentimentality, because if you are in Christ, God doesn’t look at you and see an imperfect little person that he still loves anyway. No, God looks at you and sees you as having never sinned, and as having always obeyed. How can that be? Because you are covered by Christ. You’re identity is no longer in yourself, but it is in Christ.

You are not enough, but Christ is.