A couple of weeks ago, I had the joy of attending my college reunion. It has been 25 years since we, the class of ’99, graduated from our programs. We were thrilled to see each other again. There were warm hugs, choruses of “hiiiii’s,” high-pitched screeches of excitement, and giggles like we were back in school. (Yes, I went to an all-women’s college.) It was a fun and tender time for us as we caught up on the decades gone by.

I also noticed that in 25 years, we had also become a whole lot nicer to each other.

The always-animated ones took time to listen to the less boisterous.

The stuck-up snooty ones moved out of their cliques and made room for others.

The unobtrusively quiet ones mingled with others in their own calm way.

Everyone seemed to let their guard down.

No longer were we wondering how and where we would fit in. No longer were we fearful of rejection. No longer were we defensive or closed off because we were trying to protect ourselves. As women in our mid-forties, we were secure in our identities. We knew who our people were. We were comfortable in our own skin in that familiar environment.

And so, we could step out of our comfortable cliques to reminisce, laugh, swap stories, listen, and sometimes cry with others.

As women of faith, do we do the same? Or do we refuse to let our guard down for fear of rejection? Do we keep those walls up because it’s just convenient that way? Do we worry about how we are perceived and therefore stay in our church huddles?

If we get our cue from the Lord, here’s a good thing to remember: Jesus didn’t worry about rejection. In fact, He knew that rejection, isolation, loneliness, and betrayal were in store for Him. But He reached out anyway.

He left his hometown so he could reach the multitudes.

He took a roundabout route just to speak to the Samaritan woman by the well.

He went up to Peter’s mother-in-law’s bedside to heal her.

He traveled to Jairus’s house to raise his daughter.

He looked up and called Zacchaeus and even invited Himself over to his house.

He stepped out of social niceties and touched and healed paralytics, lepers, the lame, and the blind.

And here’s the most precious part: He went out of His way to save you and me.

He didn’t wait for us to clean up our act. He didn’t wait for us to come to Him. He reached out.

Jesus didn’t believe in playing it safe. He didn’t care for convenience. He invited rejection in order to complete His mission.

Friends, here’s a simple message for us: Be the one to reach out because there was One who reached down from heaven for you. The One who is The Way went out of His way to Calvary’s cross for your sake and mine.

Like the women at my college reunion, don’t let old labels or the number on a personality test define you and limit your actions. Instead, risk rejection because it’s so worth the price you pay. Let your guard down.

Maybe all it takes is for you to say hi to a neighbour who seems to be in a perpetual bad mood. Or to text that old friend who seemed extra prickly when you bumped into her at the mall. Perhaps you need to call that cousin whose marriage just ended and now gives off “do not disturb” vibes. People who have their walls up are more fearful than we realize. Their seeming bad temper is often a cover for their brokenness. Can we go out of our way like Jesus did?

We don’t do it as a favor to them or as an obligation—we reach out because we understand how though we had put ourselves out of God’s reach He chose us anyway.

In your identity as a child of God, you are secure enough to step out of your bubble. In knowing your worth in God’s eyes, you are confident enough to risk rejection.

Be the one to reach out because there was One who reached down from heaven for you.

 

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This post first appeared on Indiaanya

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