But 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 Corinthians 2:14-16)
We are the “aroma of Christ.” That’s a picture that we usually don’t think about. Most of us have heard that, as Christians, we are the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the flock of God, etc. We probably haven’t heard that we are the ”aroma of Christ” or the “smell of Christ.” Pretty interesting concept. Here are some of the thoughts that I had this morning.
What do we know about smells?
- They are noticeable. It is hard to ignore a strong smell.
- They are pervasive. One smell in the room soon permeates the whole room.
- They are transferable. Stay in a room with a smell for a long time and you soon have the smell on you.
- They cause different reactions in different people. The same smell that is pleasant and relaxing to one person can be annoying or “too strong” to another.
That’s certainly not an exhaustive or “scientific” description of smells but those are the first thoughts that came to my mind. So what does it mean to be the “aroma of Christ”?
- The longer we are around Christ, the more we will smell like Him. The aroma of Christ transfers to us the more we are around Him. His scent of grace is to permeate our lives.
- Wherever we go, our fragrance should permeate the room. Smells naturally spread. Imagine the smell of freshly baked cookies in a room. The cookies do not have to be waved everywhere or touch everything or force themselves to be noticed. It just happens. Their presence permeates the room. As Christians, if we have the fragrance of Christ, then our presence will be noticed. We do not have to force ourselves on others; we simply need to be people who love Christ and love others. The fragrance will naturally spread and be noticed.
- Some people will like our smell; others will not. Or as Paul puts it, to some we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. Because we are a smell, we can’t help but be noticed. Eventually our presence will either be pleasing (to those seeking after God) or annoying (to those running from Him). Some will want us to stay; some will want us to leave or at least to change our smell. But we shouldn’t try to hide our smell or mask it over with “worldly cologne.” We just need to follow Christ and recognize that, no matter how hard we try, some people will not want to be around us and smell us.
I like how Paul ends these verses–”and who is equal to such a task?” Through us, God spreads His fragrance of life. His work is beyond us and above us, but yet through us. We are not equal to the task. It is God’s work, not ours. There is nothing we can do to make God’s fragrance better. In fact, we make it worse when we try to add our own fragrances to enhance our smell. We also have to be careful that we do not add the “stink of sin” to God’s fragrance. There really is nothing worse than a good smell mixed with and overwhelmed by an odious one. (Imagine dirty socks and chocolate chip cookie smells mixed together.)
We do best when we spend much time with Jesus and simply let His fragrance subtly and powerfully spread through us and into the lives of others. Then we become the aroma of grace, truth, and life.
Lord, help me to smell like You.