The pleasant aroma of warm banana bread. Freshly sprayed skunk scent. New car straight from the dealership. Cucumber melon lotion on high school girls from the 90s. I bet each scent sparks vivid recollection, leading to delight, nostalgia or disgust. Psychology Today shares that one’s olfactory sense is the strongest one tied to memory, and many odors can conjure up vivid emotions (Lewis). As humans we remember how someone smelled long after we recall the sound of a voice.
Each day you journey through this life you leave an aroma wherever you go. How do you think bloodhounds trace missing persons? With each step we have the opportunity to follow Paul’s command from 2 Corinthians and disperse the pleasing fragrance of Christ (paraphrased) or a stench of sin and disgust. That truth was solidified in my life after an ordinary teaching moment with my son ended up shaping my character forever
When my eight year old told a white lie in order to increase his chances of winning a game, I gently corrected him and explained the importance of integrity. “Do you know what that means? It means to do the right thing, ALWAYS, even when no one is looking.”
“I know, Mom! My principal gets on the intercom every day and tells us to be Falcons of integrity. Mom, did you know my principal is a Christian too?”
Forever etched in my mind is the look of Isaiah’s innocent face as he pondered and struggled to find the right words to answer my next question. He was racking his little mind searching for the right church words to articulate the answer to a simple question, “How is it that you know your principal is a Christian?” The way he was sitting, and the sincerity of his voice, every aspect of the moment is frozen like a permanent snapshot in my brain.
“I know she is a Christian because when I am around her, I SMELL Jesus. I do, mom. I really smell Him!!”
After the audible gasp I uttered, I sat down, right there next to him on the carpet and tousled his hair, kissed his forehead and thanked him for his honesty. I rested there for a long time just watching him play. Jesus says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14 NIV). Children aren’t good at religious labels and eloquent church phrases, like, “I sense the Holy Spirit around her,” or “She exhibits the fruits of the spirit.”
Children are simpler than that, and I believe Jesus is looking for simple faith. Imagine! Literally, stop reading for a second and imagine a world where all Christ followers smelled like Jesus. The world will recognize the scent of His presence when we have been with Him. In 2 Corinthians Paul confirms this when he writes, “For we are a fragrant aroma of Christ to God among those being saved and among those who are perishing.” People are searching high and low for a whiff of the One who heals, and too often they are savoring the wrong scent.
Consumer Reports shares that in recent years Americans have spent over 1 billion dollars on essential oils. Essential oils can soothe anxious nerves, strengthen immune systems, and some claim they bring healing, but NOTHING heals and brings peace like the aroma of Christ. Imagine a world where Christians were truly distinguished by their scent instead of their Facebook posts, their bumper stickers, and their Christian apparel. Children are drawn to the scent of Christ because joy, love, and unbridled acceptance, are craved like a desert wanderer craves cold water. When the love of Christ oozes out of our pores, like aromatic sweat, the thirst of our souls is quenched. The presence of those who have been with Christ is satisfying and aromatic.
Just like foul smelling freshmen spray too much Axe to shield the stench of their BO after PE, we do the same when we try to cover sin. We mask our smelly selves, hoping the world won’t see our need for cleansing, and we seem to forget that only the presence of Christ can cleanse. Christ rids the world of rotting stench!
In Revelation 2: 4 John warns against losing your first love. When was the last time you craved the Word so much that you wanted the aroma of Christ to rub off you? Have you spent enough time with Jesus to smell like Him? Do you even recognize His scent? Friends, it’s time to get back to your first love and crave the smell of Jesus. The world is stinky and in desperate need of Christ followers who are a pleasing aroma. Let’s all be so smelly that school aged children and people of all ages crave our company and feel safe in our presence because we simply smell like the Savior.
Lewis, Jordan Gaines. “Smells Ring Bells: How Smell Triggers Memory and Emotion.” Psychology Today, 12 Jan. 2015, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-babble/201501/smells-ring-bells-how-smell-triggers-memories-and-emotions. Accessed 22 Mar. 2019.
Consumer Reports. “Does Aromatherapy Using Essential Oils Work?” Consumer Reports, 9 Apr. 2016, https://www.consumerreports.org/conditions-treatments/does-aromatherapy-using-essential-oils-work/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2019.
