“You Smell”
by Jon Schwiethale
What if I told you that you smell? First, you may be offended. How dare brother Jon say something like that, telling me I smell? Then again, you may be confused? I smell? (Sniff, Sniff) Or, maybe, you might be thinking, how did brother Jon know? Now, you may be wondering, Jon, where are you going with this thought? Well, let me tell you something. If after reading this, you realize you don’t smell, well, you’re going to want to make a decision about that.
In 2 Corinthians 2:12-16, Paul writes saying, “Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia. 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.”
Did you see it? “The aroma of Christ.” What? What is Paul talking about when he uses that imagery? In ancient Rome, after a Roman military general won a battle, they would throw a parade to celebrate the victory. This was known as a triumphal procession. The military general would lead the procession, followed by his army, followed by the captives of war.
Priests would burn incense as part of the celebration and Roman citizens would throw garlands of flowers along the parade path, creating a very distinct aroma in the air. To some the aroma was a sweet smell of victory, but to the captives of war, it was a reminder of their imminent execution.
Paul uses this imagery as a metaphor for the Christian life and says that we as Christians are the aroma of Christ, as God always leads us in triumphal procession and uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ wherever we go.
The context of this paragraph is Paul’s discussion in 2:12-13 of the different directions which his ministry had taken recently. He speaks of going to Troas to preach the gospel. There was an open door there, but he went on to Macedonia because Titus wasn’t in Troas.
But it didn’t matter where he was, whether in Troas, or Macedonia, God displayed him as a sweet fragrance of the power of the gospel.God’s grace was powerfully evident in Paul who had been taken from being a persecutor to being a faithful witness. Everywhere he went God demonstrated His power and love through Paul.
Have you ever thought about this? Wherever we are, whether in New Boston, Simms, Malta or DeKalb, whether at school or work or wherever we may be, that God has left us in the world to demonstrate the gospel to the world. Like a beautiful scent, we, by our actions and words, spread the knowledge of the power of God for salvation to everyone we meet in every place we go. This is not a command, but a reflection of truth. We have not changed ourselves or redeemed ourselves, but God has done all of this through Christ, and we are the evidence of what He has done wherever we go and the witness of what He has done in the world.