JOMO vs FOMO

A new little 4 letter word is popping up on Social Media nowadays. Remember the WWJD acronym that we had about 20 years ago that asked What Would Jesus Do? Some of that was valid, and I think we should question when we do things or react to situations if that is truly how the Lord would have us act.

David Parham

10/17/20244 min read

The Fear of Missing Out - FOMO

A new little 4 letter word is popping up on Social Media nowadays. Remember the WWJD acronym that we had about 20 years ago that asked What Would Jesus Do? Some of that was valid, and I think we should question when we do things or react to situations if that is truly how the Lord would have us act.

But this new JOMO word surprised me as I wanted to find the book I had been reading about it, and found that there were literally dozens of books on Amazon on JOMO.

So what is JOMO? It is the opposite of FOMO.

JOMO means the JOY OF MISSING OUT
FOMO
is the FEAR OF MISSING OUT

I read Joshua King’s book “JOMO” and found it quite interesting.

You can buy it here.

In his book "JOMO", Joshua King said:

Getting older has its perks, and one of them is being able to make your own decisions. As we get older, we have the chance to participate in everything everyone else is doing. We do this because of FOMO, the fear of missing out. Or we have the opportunity to experience the JOMO, the Joy of Missing Out.

You would think after high school, we would not fall for peer pressure, but sadly you are mistaken. If anything, there is more peer pressure in your 40’s than in your 20’s. You have more options available and more money to buy things. We need to stop living like this and think more about the long-term.

Can you relate to these acronyms? JOMO and FOMO?

I sure remember as a teenager how I wanted to be accepted. Back when I was in high school, the cool car to have was a ’57 Chevy. I guess that goes to show my age. But this was in the years 66 thru 69 when I graduated. That was 1969 in case any of you young people who can’t relate to how long ago it was.

Boy if you didn’t have a ’57 Chevy, you were missing out. When I turned 16, I talked my dad into letting me buy a car in 1967, and with the financing of my grandmother, we went down to Seymour and I bought myself a pretty turquoise ‘57 Chevy for $325. I should have kept it. Probably worth $40,000 nowadays.

The FOMO was real to me back then. I had a great fear of missing out. One day when I was a senior there in Munday, Texas, I counted 53 cars in the parking lot around Munday High School that were ’57 Chevys. That is probably out of a total of like 100 cars. I had 51 kids in my graduating class, so there were more of the ‘in’ cars than kids in my class.

So having the popular car was cool, but back then having the fastest one in the drag races was even more important. One rich dad bought his son a beautiful one here in Wichita Falls from an air force captain with a Corvette motor, a 4-speed, and 375 horsepower 327 motor. He reigned as the fastest 57 Chevy in Knox County for 3 years.

I worked as a mechanic through high school and learned a lot. I kept after it and finally rebuilt the motor in my car. I added a 4:56 low geared rear end, put on a 4-barrel Holley, and a Corvette solid lifter cam in my ’57. It would only top out at 105mph, but it would do it in the quarter mile. So finally SOMEONE (me) defeated that super fast ’57 twice in two races before I headed off to college.

I wanted to be cool and respected by all the other kids. For a few weeks, I was the talk of the town. Fastest of the fifty three ’57 Chevys in Munday, Texas.

Guess what I found out when I went to college? None of my professors were impressed that I had the fastest 57 Chevy in Knox County. Not a single employer ever cared about any of that.

But the Fear Of Missing Out really controlled me in those high school years. And I didn’t grow out of it in my 20’s either. It was in my middle 40’s before the light came on that I didn’t need to fear what other people thought, but I needed to live a simpler life and fear what God thought.

And that is when I discovered the JOY OF MISSING OUT.

Man, you are so much happier when you can let this old world go. Don’t be concerned about keeping up with Jones, but worry about living a simple consistent Christian life. If you have a lot, be happy. If you have a minimal existence, be happy. How we live and how we treat others is way more important than things or FOMO.

Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
Col 3:13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

Col 3:14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

When we get the JOMO, we truly have it all. We will be satisfied in whatever lot our part is in this life. We can look to God and know it is He that holds our tomorrow. And then with His grace, we can do whatever we set out to do the very best we can. Life can be simple when we forget about what others are thinking.

Let us all strive for more JOMO (The JOY of Missing Out) and not have the FOMO (The Fear of Missing Out).

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