Do you smell like Jesus?

while i’m still sitting on my blog posts, i’m gonna share with you one of the nearly daily emails i get from the best friend in San Diego– Matt Amargo. he send us email devotionals that we all think should be compiled for a book, and i like this one particularly because he talked about our high school days way back then. anyhoo, enjoy!

Smells are very important to me, especially when it comes to the realm of cologne or perfume.

I think part of that goes back to my high school years at an international school in the Philippines.  Like most schools in that region, we students wore uniforms everyday.  In this regulated environment the way we were able to have our individuality show through was through our accessories – our schoolbags, watches, shoes, and our perfumes and colognes.  I can still remember the progression of colognes I went through in those three years before I found my signature scent.  There was Red for Men, Fahrenheit, Eternity, CKone, Hugo by Hugo Boss Pleasures for Men, Romance for Men by Ralph Lauren,  and finally Clinique Happy for Men.  Happy was my signature scent, and along with my green Jansport backpack people could tell Amargo was near by the sweet Aroma of Happy wafting thought he halls.

So too was the case with my other classmates.  I knew Carlo was around when I smelled Issey Miyake, George still rocked the Eternity, and for reasons I’ll never understand Ian liked Old Leather.  And then there were the girls.  There’s something totally different about the experience of smelling the sweet scent of the girl you had a crush on before you actually saw her.  Obsession, Curve, Pleasures for Women, Victoria’s Secret Raspberry, Happy for Women, or that haunting scent you never got the name of…. you smelled that and you knew that she would be coming up those stairs.  Or you entered a room and you knew she had just been there.

As floozy as that sounds, that’s what was up.  Truth be told even nowadays if  I don’t have my cologne with me.  I need to smell good.  Another good thing about living in the Philippines is that you develop the habit of taking a shower at the very least once a day.  One time it was so hot I took 5 showers.

I think a scent says a lot about a person.  Because of the tropical environment, the Philippines is a land exploding with different scents.  You can tell someone’s social class because of their scent, you can tell if they work in the fields by the sun baked smell of sweat, if they’re drivers or street vendors by the telltale impregnation of diesel smoke.  You can tell if a person washes their clothes by hand, if their well off enough to afford a dryer or if they line dry by the hint of sun or the presence of absence of fabric softener.   You can tell if a person works outdoors or if they work in an air-conditioned office, if they they’re in food service or in construction.  You can tell if they’re squatters or if they’re privileged, perfumed high-school students at an international school.  And an interesting thing is, because of the proximity of the people and proliferation of public transportation, you have all these stories of scent intermingling, colliding and combining every single day.

What does your scent say about you?  Of course I’m not talking about your physical scent. (although I hope that says something positive about you too)  But what residue of yourself do you leave amongst the people you’re with everyday?  What telltales signs of your presence are around you that your companions instantly associate with you?  I’m not going to say anything as corny as, “do you smell like Jesus?”, but…..do you?

Look at how beautiful this line that Paul writes is:

For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and   among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death  leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life

The truth of the matter is our presence in the lives of the people around us should have a polarizing effect on people.  In this world of swirling aromas and beliefs and ideas, who we are and what we stand for and Who we believe in should be a distinct aroma that cuts through all that haze.  The people who know us should know who we are, and who we are should challenge people.  Maybe not overtly, but the fact and reasons that we believe in Jesus should lead people to a decision – either, “yes there’s something to this Jesus thing that this person believes in and I want to find out more” or “I know where he stands when it comes to this God thing and even though they’re cool and all, I don’t think it’s the thing for me.”  (Side note: this is assuming of course that your scent isn’t Self-Righteous, Arrogant Jerk por homme)

Jesus said in Matthew, that He didn’t come to bring peace but a sword, meaning that His presence in this world would force men to make a dramatic, dividing decision about who He was.  Was He a liar, a lunatic or Lord?  And we, as His followers play a major role in how people arrive at that decision through how we represent Him.

It’s interesting that the odors that we smell are actually tiny, microscopic particles of the actual substance they ’smell like’ which travel through the air and our picked up by our olfactory system.  This is especially disheartening when we think about some of the more unpleasant odors we come into contact with every day.  When you think of it, though, isn’t it beautiful to think that we’re able to leave a piece of ourselves with people, not just physically, but spiritually and even eternally?

So…what do we smell like?

Matt Amargo is an alumnus of International Christian Academy, University of the Philippines Manila, and Calvary Chapel Bible College (yes, the same one i’m praying to go to next year). when i first met him, he had this fu manchu facial hair, coke bottle glasses and double cow licks. he officially became my best friend in senior year high school and i met ailene through him (funny story, you should ask her about it. haha). he’s lost the facial hair, glasses and cow licks, but he’s still one of my bestest friends. he’s not an ordained pastor yet– he should be– but he’s like the lay leader and worship leader in his church and Regen over there.