Who Let You In?

[sitting at my kitchen island, drinking a hot matcha latte]

Have you ever had that experience , when you know something was said about you… not with words… but rather inside someone’s head… you felt it soon as you walked in. It was something about the way they looked at you. You could tell by the pauses, the hesitations and even the side eyes. Or maybe it was how they suddenly got quiet, or how they smiled at you… but didn't really seem happy to see you.

And now you're doing that thing again where you start examining yourself… trying to figure out or even disprove whatever they are possibly saying to themselves about you.

Now all the crazy questions start swirling in your head like… what have they heard? What do they know? What do they think they know?

But let me tell you something… stop it!

I don’t care what they heard or even what they think they know about you. I need you to hear me loud and clear today… there will always be people in your life, around your life and even outside of your life that will have already made up their mind what they think about you. And the insane part about it all… is they will never even tell you.

I have seen moments like this effect amazing people in the worst psychological way that they even stop entering into rooms they were destined to be in… all because they never learned how to handle or overcome the unspoken thoughts people have towards them.

This human experience is not new.

So many people have faced this for centuries. And I want to tell you about a woman who walked into a room like this on purpose and didn’t let one side eye stop her.

This week I was looking at Luke 7 and I’m sure you have heard it preached many times… but I want to show you something that I believe will spark your boldness. In this story Jesus is invited to have dinner at a Pharisee’s house. And while they’re eating, a woman enters the room… and by the way she was not invited… but she comes in carrying an alabaster jar of perfume. Luke describes her as a sinner.

She begins crying at Jesus feet. The text says her tears fall on His feet, and she wipes them with her hair. Then she kisses His feet and pours perfume on them.

Thats what everyone preaches… but look at this. This Pharisee is hosting “the most talked about” Man in the region, and “the most talked about” woman in the region just walked into his dining room, and he did not put her out. I wish I had more time to unpack that for you, but I will have to save that for another time. The main point i’m trying to make here is that people are going to talk about you no matter what. Jesus is doing great things around town and He is the most talked about Man. And on the other hand this women is doing sinful things around town and she is the most talked about as well. Let that echo.

Now this is what I really need you to hear. The next room you decide to walk into this season, without permission… without a invitation… without the right name or a perfect past. That next room is going to decide your next level.

This women didn't wait to be asked. She didn’t allow her last bad experience stop her from coming to the room. She heard where He was and she went. You must understand that access will not always be granted to you... sometimes access will have to be taken, by somebody who wants Him more than they're afraid of what others will think or say.

And here’s where it gets deep. In verse 39 the Pharisee Simon is watching everything. And in that moment he basically says to himself in his head… that if Jesus were really a prophet, He would know what kind of woman was touching Him.

This dude, never says it out loud… he only thinks it.

Now, this thought exposes something about Mr. Simon… and people like him:

1. Just because someone invite you… doesn’t mean they don’t privately doubt you.

2. People will allow you at their table and not even believe in you.

So why did he invite Him?

It sure wasn’t to honor Him... you got to watch out for those Pharisee’s… because they really invited him to examine Him. They wanted to have the famous teacher close enough to measure Him. And guess what… some people don’t invite you in because they want you... or believe in you… they invite you in to watch you up close and try to confirm what they already think about you.

So right after Simon has this thought in his head… the very next verse says Jesus answered him.

But Simon hadn’t asked Jesus anything.

But Jesus answered him.

Man, that messed me up.

Because what if everything they are thinking about you in their head… Jesus heard. What if the thing they never said about you out-loud was never hidden from Him and He has never once agreed with any of their thoughts about you. There is so much more in this text that I want to extrapolate.. but I will have to do a part 2 to this letter.

But let me leave you with this… Jesus is about to respond on your behalf… but I need you to stop avoiding the rooms because of what they think. What people think in their heads about you never outweighs what God can do for you. I need you to remember that.

I want you to see yourself as that amazing person that is on assignment. I want you to walk with boldness back into the rooms that are waiting on you. So the next time you walk into a room and feel yourself shrinking because of what somebody might be thinking about you, remember this woman.

She wasn’t on the list. But she was on assignment.

I’ll write you next Sunday,

Gold