How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. – 1 John 3:1
Paul warned the church at Corinth against isolating itself from the world (1 Corinthians 5:9-13). He told Christians to shun those who call themselves “believers” yet continue to live in licentiousness and immorality. The purpose of such rejection is to awaken the alleged believer to the incongruity of his or her position. On the other hand, Paul says there is nothing wrong in associating with those of the world who are greedy or immoral. We expect them to live as they do, and we are primarily in the world to be salt and light. Our association with the ungodly provides them with a positive example and a new perspective which may infect them with love of the Truth.
It should not come as a surprise to us that, in spite of our best efforts – or perhaps because of our best efforts in the Spirit, the world does not recognize us. Having never known our Father, how could they see the resemblance in the sons and daughters? To them our beliefs and behavior makes no sense. They ridicule our naiveté and mock our faith. People who call themselves Christians have given the world plenty of ammunition through hypocrisy. Yet, what often gets quickly labeled as hypocrisy by the worldly watchers is only the stumbling misstep of a child learning to walk.
Walking in the Spirit is impossible for fallen man, and it is far from easy even for the redeemed. Though we have trusted in the work of the Cross and been reborn in spirit, and even though our spirit is now in union with God and a temple of His Spirit, it is tough to rely on those new spiritual appendages. If pigs did sprout wings, I wonder how many of them would really try to fly.
We have been transformed whether those around us recognize it or not. It is the truth and remains the truth. We cannot allow the opinions of those who have no knowledge of our new life to keep us pinned in the mud when we are now creatures of a different medium.
