I had a rude awakening this morning. About 4 AM Ana suddenly leapt up and slammed her window shut. Groggily, I mumbled, “What’s wrong?” Then it hit me! The overwhelming scent of a skunk assaulted my nostrils and filled the room, making me gag! I tried to get back to sleep, but the awful smell finely drove me from our room out to the couch.
I think a similar thing happens to people who leave the church. They come to worship, looking forward to breathing deeply of “the aroma of the knowledge” of Christ, only to be assaulted by the stench of judgmental words and self-righteous attitudes when they open the doors. Disappointed, they turn away mumbling, “What is that smell?”
We profess to be “the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:15 NIV). Unfortunately, too often our attitudes and behavior spew a much less appealing odor into the air around us, driving those we are called to lead to Christ from the room and out of our churches. Is it any wonder God declares, “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me” (Amos 5:21)?
So, what can we do to fix this? Well, when there is a bad odor in the room the best thing we can do is throw open the windows and let the fresh air flow in (unless there is a skunk outside). Jesus said in John 6:63, “The Spirit gives life…The words I have spoken to you-they are full of the Spirit and life.” It only by the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we become “an aroma that brings life.” (2 Corinthians 2:16).
It is time for us to open the doors of our hearts and the windows of our churches and let the Holy Spirit sweep through, driving away the stench of death and decay, our worn out forms of religion, and our judgmental attitudes. We must fill our minds and hearts with the words of Christ, who tells us “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” and “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Matthew 7:1, Ephesians 4:2)
This Sabbath let’s determine to make our churches and our homes places where angels love to dwell and where people love to come. Let’s invite the Spirit to pour Himself into our lives that our assemblies may no longer be a stench in God’s nostrils, but that we may truly be “the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” (2 Corinthians 2:15).
God bless and have a Happy Sabbath!