Smelly Christians

I've been reading 2 Corinthians, and I came across the familiar verse of 2nd Corinthians 2:14-17 which speaks about the fragrance of Christians:

"Now thanks be to God who ALWAYS (emphasis added) leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."

Over and above the staggering implication that I am "to God the fragrance of Christ," I also loved MacArthur's notes where he referenced the Roman custom of a Victory procession, where they would throw petals under the soldiers' horses' feet and burn incense to fill the city with a beautiful aroma indicating a victorious campaign. A few implications of this have been rolling around in my head the past few days:

1). To be a sweet aroma, you must either be burned or crushed. Even if this referred to the burnt of offerings in the Temple and us as a living sacrifice, the parallel still holds. This means that the way God uses me to fill this World with knowledge of Him is through burning (refining) me and crushing (molding) me. Wow! I had never thought of that with this verse before - I simply assumed my presence was odious....wait a minute...wrong word...

2). Unlike in our fallen world, where I usually employ a gasmask and duck-and-run technique through the perfume section of the local department store (always placed cruelly in the middle of the store, mind you, so there is no possibility of escape), here we can never smell too much! Would God ever tire of the fragrance of Christ? If Christ lives in us, will He ever tire of us? Can we ever smell too much like Christ?! Of course not! He will not despise a broken and contrite heart, the sweetest of all offerings - but of course, a broken and contrite heart seems (at least for me) to come in the midst of being stomped on and singed. Hmm...

3). Note that the fragrance denotes victory! In the midst of being slapped to the Potter's wheel, stuck into the middle of the fire, turned a few times, poured out, re-molded, and refined - and even in those moments when I think I'm being independent and throw myself from the wheel only to splat - and be picked back up again - in all those moments, He leads us forth in Victory! The sweet aroma is His and His alone, no matter our circumstances. We can rejoice in the midst of the furnace because it releases a sweet fragrance to the World, and most importantly to our God. And as I despair of my students ever learning to fix comma errors, or understand the total depravity of Man, or God's sovereignty, or I wonder why I can't just GET it and trust Him and love people - despite it all, He leads us forth in Victory. In the middle of the Lion's Den - as we are being disciplined - we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.

This means we are to smell!! And I wonder if, even though the fragrance is pleasing to God, it isn't then offensive to those who are dying. I wonder if they avoid us like I avoid adolescent females with dull sensory faculties who spend too much time in Bath and Body Works (because all women want to be walking fruit bowls and Juniper bushes). Perhaps to some it is - but perhaps to others it's like that wonderful smell in the early summer when the rain is falling at twilight - maybe God will use that fragrance to draw His children from eternity past to you - and maybe it will be a chance to share the Good News with them. So - be stinky!