They Smelled Like Christ, Not Teen Spirit

For the past twenty years or so, I have learned how to be comfortable in less-than-ideal circumstances with varying results. In the beginning there was a two-hour commute thanks to the state highway and transportation reconstructing interstate lanes to a small country town where no one had ever heard of me; by the time I graduated five years later, the road was sufficient to cut a half-hour off my drive home. In addition, the early friends I made were friends of a high school friend/original mentor who happened to pave the way for me to do a little more than hang out in the dorm and study nonstop (which truthfully, I should have done more of as a freshman). They helped aid the transition by hosting Sunday evening dinner at their apartments and for a season, I felt at home. Despite my self-inflicted attempts to climb out of my extremely socially awkward shell, I was still welcomed as part of the click.

Looking back, I wonder how those five years in Arkadelphia have come to define me and what would have happened had I transferred to the large public university in my hometown following a very difficult freshman year; that answer can be found in 2 Corinthians. The Apostle Paul describes God-followers as people with a “pleasing aroma of Christ.” Although those hosts jokingly jabbed me about my doppelganger rushing me during pledging season instead of my attending their informational sessions, they indeed smelled like Christ.

When Paul says that God leads His people in Christ’s triumphal procession spreading the fragrance of His truth, he’s referring to a practice in the ancient world. Victorious armies would burn everything incense as they marched through the streets bringing joy to the townspeople. In the same vein, the people of God have a pleasing scent – at the very least, a welcoming temperament – to those that believe. It isn’t Joop!, Nautica, Michael Jordan or any other cologne we’ve created or chosen to wear to attract the ladies but something God has gifted us as He leads us in spreading the knowledge of Him.

It’s funny how that small country town of 11,000 souls has led to so many friendships in addition to being introduced to my wife but notably remembering those friends of a friend who smelled more like Christ than Teen Spirit.

For as we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in that that perish. 2 Corinthians 2:15