There is a Smell...

There is a Smell...


2 Corinthians 2:

15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:

16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

There is a smell about us. It almost defies explanation. I can remember an old saint in an assembly of long ago speaking of a young man in leadership, “When I get near him I can smell Jesus, unmistakable, constant, sweet. He is a clean man, sold out to the Master. He will see much of suffering and of victory in this world.”

Conversely you will experience times when your plain-faced, unsophisticated presence will bring out sarcasm and hostility, for no logical reason. Try as you might there is no warming up to that person. You have a stench; but understand that it is the presence of Christ in you by His Spirit that is bringing on the awkwardness. Pray for that person. His/her soul is in trouble.

Now I am not saying that the believer is always in the right, or that the un-churched will always be nasty. There can still be a lot of civility, generosity and courtesy in the human spirit. But that spirit is a sad resemblance of what it once was. The reason of course is sin, lust and the pride of life; a worldly spirit in and of itself, and that spirit wars with Christ; calls Him a liar and a criminal; hangs Him upon a cross.

There are many in the Church who will teach that with salvation and progress in the life of faith we are becoming sweeter and sweeter witnesses who will charm people into the Kingdom by our “loveliness”. This is poor preparation for what has been described above.