The World's Surprise

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!"
~2 Corinthians 5:17

As I reflect on the above Scripture, I came to a greater understanding of why there is such freshness of difference that it makes when a Christian is found in the midst of the world. To illustrate this, I am sure we would probably have heard of phrases or statements that are said by some non-Christians, such as "Can a Christian do this or that?", "He/She is a Christian, but why is he/she doing this or that?", "Don't bother asking him/her for this, he/she is a Christian.".

In the phrases mentioned as examples above, "this/that" refers to things of the world or worldliness. "He/She" and "Him/Her" refers to a person who is believed to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Now, the striking fact about the above statements is this:
the world knows that you are different,
expects you to be different
and will be surprised if you are not.

Isn't it no wonder that the people around us seem to pass such high expectations on us being Christians, impose such criticality when we are no different than them? Believe it, the world behaves that way.

The question then is: how have you been an influence to the people around us? Have you been a fragrance of Christ-likeness that lingers in people's minds? Have you been a impacting sphere of Jesus to your neighbours? Either you are advancing Jesus' cause or the enemy's? I pray and continually hope that the former is what you are.