We are the aroma of Christ to God …
‘…..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. ‘
2 Corinthians 2:14-15
Paul’s writings tell us there is a ‘smell’ about us. It is both alarming and pleasant, dependent upon the individual smelling. Back in the day, before wearing scents was frowned upon, there were some fragrances others wore that I found, personally, unpleasant enough that I avoided close contact. Spiritually we know, that to those who love their darkness, the light and fragrance that we emit is something that reminds them of sin and death. To others, it is welcomed and life giving. The first rejects, the second breathes in.
Our purpose is to make sure the fragrance we emit is the aroma of Christ ascending to God. A danger here is in the desire we all carry to be accepted. Nobody likes rejection. Yet our purpose is not to be people pleasers, saying and doing only what we think others want to hear. The fear of man brings a snare. But rather, to make sure our lives and words are the aroma of Christ unto God. Jesus said, ‘I always do the things that are pleasing to my Father’. Consequently, the Father never left him, John 8:29.
Jesus preached messages that were right in God, but unpleasant enough to offend crowds. They left him, plotted and ultimately crucified Him to remove the pressure that His words and life produced. Dead, cold, wrong hearts do not like pokey preachers. Those who seek ‘life’ welcome words that pierce their hearts and begin to allow the saving grace of God to work.
Paul, from verse seventeen sets the standard for our speaking. He was not like ‘so many’ (that’s a disturbing phrase), who peddle Gods word. I had to take the time to look at peddlers from Helps Word Study ~
2585 kapēleúō – properly, to act as an unscrupulous merchant, i.e. "a huckster" who profits by "peddling the Word of God" for personal gain. 2585/kapēleúō ("peddler") is only used in 2 Cor 2:17 – of people "marketing the ministry" (the Word of God) for fast gain.
2585 (kapēleuō) means "to traffic in dishonest trade (business)," like a petty-dealer who scams unsuspecting, naive "buyers." In 2 Cor 2:17, it refers to exploiting the Word of God (the Bible) by a religious phoney (charlatan).
Reflection: Some well-known (Christian) speakers still merchandise ("hawk") the Word of God to do their own kingdom-building.
[This unethical use of the media abuses the Gospel – "marketing Christ as a product" for the speaker to gain personal profit at God's expense.]
2585/kapēleuō ("to swindle, hawk") comes "from kapēlos, a huckster or peddler; also a tavern-keeper. . . . The term . . . was especially applied to retailers of wine, with whom adulteration and short measure were matters of course" (WS, 813). These itinerant merchants swindled buyers (i.e. people they never expected to see again).
Paul reminded Timothy that godliness was not a means to gain and continues on in Second Corinthians comparing his motivation with the ‘peddlers’. But as those, who hold pure inner motives, in sincerity. We who are sent from God, speak in Christ, in the sight of God. Literally from the Greek, it reads; ‘out of’ God, before God, in Christ we speak.
That will create the fear of the Lord when you think about the what and the why of words we speak. Do we hold pure inner motives? Are we speaking before Him? Does it come out of him? Is it in Christ? Jesus help us.
As ministers of reconciliation, holding words of reconciliation, beseeching others to be reconciled to Christ, our responsibility is to make sure we are first and foremost the aroma of Christ. Speaking in Christ, in the sight of God, we are guaranteed to be aligned with Jesus doing those things that are pleasing to our Father.