Do You Stink?

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 2:15-16

Why do some odors seem offensive and others attractive? How do you describe a bad smell? Almost forty years ago I was driving very late at night on a trip when I saw a dead skunk in the road. I was getting really sleepy and thought “I’ll just breathe in the bad smell and maybe it will help wake me up.” When I took that breath the odor was so strong that my head jerked like it had been hit with a hammer! It was staggering. I pulled over on the side of the road until I could get over the shock.

Strong offensive odor would make a great weapon. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the following quote: Almost sixty years ago, the US developed a nauseating 'bathroom odor' chemical for use as a weapon. But according to the Army, the old malodorant will not work outside of the US and Western Europe, because "it was found that people in many areas of the world do not find 'fecal odor' to be offensive, since they smell it on a regular basis."

If you are not a pig farmer, then visiting a pig farm can be an “I can hardly stand it” experience. But the pig farmer smells “pure gold.”

Isn’t it amazing that the Bible says that when God smells us to Him it is the aroma of Christ and when the world smells us it is the aroma of death. It is the same odor, but “a good smell is in the nose of the smeller!”

Don’t get angry at the world for being offended by your fragrance. The odor is not what they are used to smelling. It is to them the smell of death. But when a man accepts Jesus Christ then he is changed completely, including his nose! The man who turns his heart to Jesus will be attracted to the aroma that was offensive before.