by Pastor Steve Ellison
Every Christian has been commanded to be a witness to the glory, majesty, and goodness of God. Some have been gifted as evangelists and some have not. However, that does not negate the fact that the Great Commission has been given to all Christians. Each of us has been given the responsibility and privilege of sharing the good news about forgiveness offered by Jesus the Christ. We simply deliver the message. The U.S. Post Office does not determine the amount of my electric bill or the contents of any letter sent to me. The USPS simply delivers the authentic message in a timely fashion. The rest is up to the sender and the recipient. Concerning the gospel, God is the sender and people are the recipients. We Christians are simply the postal service. We bear no other responsibility than to deliver the authentic message in a timely fashion. God, the power of the gospel, and the heart of the recipient will take care of the rest.
In 2 Corinthians 2:12-13 Paul wrote that he went to Troas and on to Macedonia for the purpose of sharing the gospel by walking through a door of opportunity opened by the Lord. He went on to state in verses 14-16, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?” (NASU) Verse 14 is clear; God always leads in triumph as far as the gospel is concerned. The one who shares Christ cannot fail. Success is faithful sharing.
Verses 14 and 15 point out that we do have the ability to make the gospel message appear more appealing or less appealing to the world around us. The most powerful gospel witness has always been and will always be the speaking of God’s Word by someone who is living God’s Word. Unbelievers will be drawn to the gospel message by the pleasant aroma of your life or they will be repelled from the gospel by the unpleasantness of your life. We must not miss the truth of verses 15b and 16 that some will reject the message no matter what our lives are like. Still it is certainly clear that our behavior creates a pleasing or unpleasing aroma. Anyone who has ever operated a concession stand quickly learned that having the smoking grill on location drives sales up every time. The smoky smell of grilling meat will lead even those who are not hungry to purchase your offerings.
Make no mistake about it; we must use words in sharing the gospel. We must also realize that our daily conversations are important. Where we go and what we do is important. How we spend our time affects the aroma of our lives. How we conduct our business is an important factor in sharing the good news about Jesus. Our choices of entertainment are important to how a watching world will respond to our call for repentance and faith in Christ. Our faithful attendance at our church is important to how the unbeliever will trust our testimony that God is everything to us. Our faithful giving of tithes and offerings to the Lord as well as our generosity to the world will be important factors in becoming a pleasing aroma to a lost and dying world that desperately needs the gospel. Shall we make every effort to be a sweet aroma of Christ?
