Sharing the Gospel? Getting rebuffed? People reacting to you like an unpopular perfume, a bad smell?....don’t be discouraged…..for some that’s exactly what you are! 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
Mother's Day is approaching in the UK, providing yet another opportunity for the perfume industry to flood the TV channels with creative storytelling formats as they try to sell fragrances that we can't possibly judge without actually being able to smell them.....and if you've ever been the recipient of a fragrance that didn't make your senses swoon with delight, then this little cautionary tale will feel familiar.
It was our second date, we had been introduced by a friend, and he approached with a brightly wrapped gift in his hand, "for you," he smiled and handed it over....it was 1989, and that's what boyfriends did, usually chocolates or flowers, or, if they had just been paid, maybe a meal out….that was how the 30 somethings dated back then.
It was unwrapped with perhaps more hast than was polite and he couldn’t fail to see the smile on my face when I discovered a box of Terry’s assorted Neapolitans …one of my absolute favourite chocolates and I promptly thanked him…” how did you know” I was amazed…the stars have aligned….we were in sync!
He looked surprised…“no, it’s inside, I wanted it to be a surprise…it’s not chocolate”
It’s not chocolate….my heart sank…the sync melted as fast as my chocolate delight.
Something nicer possibly, or perhaps he just needed further time to know my weakness, nevertheless, it was a generous thought.
Opening the box I plunged inside; it was perfume….it was Tweed.
The pattern on the box looked like…well, tweed….as found in gentlemen’s tailors!...and from a personal view the smell was just that…tweed!
Many found the smell attractive; they must have, for it sold quite well, but as for me; I couldn’t stand the stuff……
How can one fragrance be delightful to some but repugnant to others?
Paul tells us of a similar situation in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for such things?
The notion of a personal perfume, a signature scent, a fragrance you can adopt as yours, one that defines you, one that says exactly what you want it to say about you, a scent that never gets old or boring, is nothing remarkable. God introduced a particular fragrance as part of worship. In the tabernacle, a certain scent was to be associated with the Lord (Exodus 30: 34-35). The people were forbidden to use this fragrance for anything but worship, it was certainly not to be used as a perfume or for anything else. (vs. 37-38) Using it for any other purpose also erased its holy status and made it no different from the ordinary and the mundane.
This condition was so strict that Nadab and Abihu were executed for breaking it by offering unapproved incense. Leviticus 10:1-2
Under the new covenant, the idea of a distinct smell to remind people of God persists, but with a remarkable difference. Rather than incense, God uses Christians as His "signature aroma" to the world, a scent to make others think of Him (2 Corinthians 2:14)
Paul endured many difficulties and suffered much throughout his ministry, but he was able to say:
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.
Paul is a frequent user of metaphors or imagery, identifying the Christian life as a race, a fight, or warfare. The imagery we see here is probably that of the Roman triumphal procession, and Paul pictures himself as a soldier led in triumph by God. However, despite what we first think, this imagery does not conjure up a triumphalist outlook because Paul envisions victory through suffering.
As a former enemy, Paul has now been defeated in his rebellion against God and Paul considers himself as being led in triumphal procession much like a Roman general would lead his prisoners of war through the Roman streets, with liberal amounts of incense offered to the gods and an overpowering aroma that rises as the horses hooves crush the flowers that the crowds have thrown in celebration.
Normally, such captives would be led to their execution in front of the people, who would be celebrating their general's victory.
But the great difference is that Paul is “in Christ” - “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession.”
In other words, Paul was defeated and taken captive; but he was brought to faith and forgiven and justified and made a glad and willing servant of the greatest General whoever was. Paul was “in Christ” and that makes all the difference.
There is another mention of someone similarly being led in Colossians 2:15, but this time it is Satan and his cronies:
In Colossians 2:13-14 we read of God, through Christ, cancelling the record of our sin on the cross:
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
……and so now in v15, having made us alive together in Christ, we can picture God as the victorious Roman general parading his defeated enemies through the streets of Rome.
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Both Paul and Satan have been defeated in their rebellion against God.
Both are being led in triumphal procession and shame for their rebellion.
However, here we read of an amazing difference, one that is the difference for Paul of life or death, because Paul we read is “in Christ” and Satan is not; therefore, Paul being led by God is seen as Paul spreading the fragrance of God everywhere.
Paul pictures his missionary life and ministry as spreading a fragrance of the knowledge of God and we too when we live out the life of Christ, when we proclaim the gospel, when we live out the gospel, then a sweet aroma ascends God-ward and outward. Proclamation of the gospel coupled with Godly living, reveals Christ to men, bringing God pleasure and glory. God delights in the proclamation and living out of the gospel.
And these powerful episodes of imagery capture the condition of the entire human race; believers and unbelievers, heaven-bound souls and hell-bound souls, the blessed and the cursed, the rewarded and the damned, the faithful and the faithless, the dividing line being either their saving faith or lack of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s as if we are touching the world with the fragrance of God. We are a sweet savour of Christ in those that are saved and in those that perish, in other words both the saved and the lost – and these are the only two categories, the saved and the ones that perish – but they all receive the fragrance from our lives, they can all smell the same smell.
The aroma that we exude may be pleasing to some, but it is unwelcome by others. We, as Christians, exude the aroma that divides the world.
For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.
In other words, some people smell the sacrificial love of Christ in our lives as we proclaim and live out the gospel…but it only smells like death. They hear the gospel …but all they hear is death. Looking at the cross…..all they see is death. They cannot see the hope, the future, the joy, the life….so they turn away. But if they turn away forever, they will die, they are already perishing.
They are perishing, and the smell they smell leads to death…a fragrance from death to death. Sadly, they don’t believe, they don’t see their sin, so they don’t see their need for a saviour, they don’t see Christ as precious, his sacrifice and death as the sweetest fragrance in the world, they don’t see it as being for them….it is simply the smell of death.
But for some, for those who are being saved, they smell the death of Christ as the aroma of life. They see in his death the substitute, their substitute, the saviour that they so desperately need so they are able to stand before God. The Son of God dying in their place is the perfume, the aroma of life. So, these are the ones who don’t turn away, they turn to him, believe him, trust him, and receive him and treasure him and they live — forever. They smell Christ as the aroma of life, and this gives life...a fragrance from life to life.
Verse 16 finishes with Paul realising the enormity of the work of proclaiming the gospel.
Who is sufficient for such things?
Knowing that the preaching of the gospel has such serious implications for those who hear it and therefore knowing the heavy responsibility of those who preach it, who proclaim it, who live it out, Paul asks, who is equal to such a task? But it is not until 2 Corinthians 3:5 that we find his answer:
Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,
While Paul is speaking primarily about ministers, fellow apostles, and church leaders, we too have our commission from Christ to proclaim the gospel and we would do well to remember that only God can make a person adequate to do His work, and as it is a work that we are commanded to do, then God will make us adequate.
But we must not give up, even though some turn away, we must never give up, we must not take it as a personal affront. We can't persuade others to change their minds with our wisdom and wit, we must never water the gospel down to make it more appealing, less demanding, less controversial, more palatable, making it more appealing to their human impulses, desires, and ambitions. Only God has the power to change sinners and He does it by His Spirit through the Word. We have no right to change in any way the recipe of the fragrance of the Gospel…whether it is embraced or rejected, we cannot present it in a manner to mislead, despite any good intentions, we must not wrap it up as a box of chocolates.
Addendum: For those that are wondering what happened to the guy with the perfume, the Tweed; it would have been wonderfully romantic to say that we eventually married, but I fell in love and married a man, who on the first date, brought me the sweetest smelling flowers…..
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