Aroma

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (NIV)

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.”

I recently read this passage and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.  I have awoken in the middle of the night thinking about the idea of aromas and how it applies to me and how I can apply it.  I figured writing out my thoughts is probably the best way to do; hence, my first entry of 2011.

I am a big fan of the my sense of smell.  Personally, I like to smell as nice as possible, which is probably linked to why I enjoy taking showers as often as I can and able.  I also like people to smell nice.  A few days ago, my mum and I were talking about how we enjoyed the smell of fresh bread, especially in a bakery.  It is amazing what effect aromas have on people and what it triggers.  It reminds you of a person, a place, an encounter or it stimulates hunger or the need for something.  The thing about aromas is also that it lingers.  I know when I go to Starbucks, or a Chinese or Korean BBQ restaurant, I leave smelling like the place.

I got to thinking about the passage and how Paul says that God uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere.  I began to wonder about the aroma I was spreading, whether it was a scent worthy of Him or maybe a little funky – like Paul said a pleasing aroma of Christ.  Yesterday, my friend Josh,  related an experience he had with someone he had known for a couple years who was pleasantly surprised to find out he was a pastor while they were conversing.  That immediately triggered my mind to wonder whether the people I encounter, on the phone or in person, can pick up on my Christ aroma.  This passage of scripture in Acts 4:13 quickly came to mind: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”  Is my aroma reflecting where I’ve been or who I have been with?

I was challenged again this morning in thinking about this when I saw this quote from Craig Groeschel: “Don’t worry when people make fun of you for your commitment to Christ. Worry when they don’t.”  That immediately brought back memories of elementary and high school years.  My friends at school would always asked what I did over the weekend and they would be so puzzled when I told them I was at church.  I wasn’t bashful about my commitment, in fact I often invited them along with me and if they parents would allow them.  I don’t want that aroma to stop permeating from me; as we heard at church this weekend from Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  Everything I do, in word or deed, I want the aroma of Christ and the knowledge of Him to be evident so that it triggers the senses of others around me.