What's That Smell?!

“…thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.  For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.  To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.  And who is equal to such a task?”  (2 Cor. 2:14-16)

There’s times I wonder just how much my wife really loves me.  I come in from working hard outside (mowing grass, changing oil in the car, working in my shop, etc.), try to give her a great big hug, and I’m met with refusal….go figure!  Any other time I’d be catching flack for not giving her hugs often enough (I am supposed to read her mind and know when she wants one!).  When I protest she quickly informs me that it isn’t me that repulses her (whew!) but the smell I am giving off.  Funny thing is, I don’t even notice the stink.  After working in the environment of those fumes for a period of time, the nose begins to lose sensitivity to them.  I worry for just a moment about whether I’m losing my sense of smell, but my fears are quickly relieved when I pick up on the scent of dinner filling the house (barbecued pork ribs….can you smell them?).

There’s a story in John 12:1-8 that takes place at the home of a man named Lazarus.  Jesus, his disciples, Lazarus, Martha and Mary are having dinner together.  At some point in the festivities Mary takes a jar of expensive perfume, pours it out on Jesus’ feet, and proceeds to wipe them with her hair.  What an incredible act of love!  The passage goes on to say that “the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”  You see, Mary’s expression of love for Jesus left behind a “scent” that others couldn’t help but notice.

Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 2:16 that, as believers, we leave behind a scent trail everywhere we go.  He states that the scent we give off is “the fragrance of the knowledge of Him” (try fitting that on a perfume bottle!).  We can’t help it (nor should we want to), everywhere we go we leave a trail of Jesus particles behind us – through the words we speak, the acts of kindness we perform, the forgiveness we offer, the standards we live by – and others are picking up on our scent.

There are two effects our “scent” has on others – for those who refuse to embrace it, it becomes the “smell of death”.  Their rejection is really about Christ, though we may often find it being expressed toward us.  On the positive side, there will be those who will wonder “What’s that smell?” and this presents us with the opportunity to “give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”  (1 Pet. 3:15)  To those people our scent represents the “fragrance of life.”

So the challenge for us as believers is to take every precaution to keep our scent pure and beautiful.  If we’re not careful we can begin to smell like our environment (something Paul warns us about in Rom. 12:2) without even realizing it.  To prevent that we need a consistent commitment to prayer and worship, the daily discipline of reading the Word, and godly friends who love us enough to be honest.    Like my wife, who loves me enough to be brutally honest and tell me when I stink!

Clark Hausman

Clark is pastor of Moyock Assembly of God.