The Life of Christ-like Fragrance

 

Thursday, February 11, 2021

But thank God!  He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession.  Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.  Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.  But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.  To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom.  But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.  And who is adequate for such a task as this? 

2 Corinthians 2:14-16

For the apostle Paul the circumstances of life were that of a captive, someone whose circumstances depended on the choosing of his Master.  He did not concern himself too much where the road led, only that the leader was Jesus. 

If I had to draw a picture of the sweet fragrance of a Christ-likeness it would be Paul, sitting in a prison cell, with a wry smile of contentment as he’s writing to the churches.  

Those who cannot understand from where that smile originates are those who see the conditions as everything; Paul says they’re perishing, drying-up from the inside-out, life draining with a dreadful smell of death and doom.  But, to those who have found Christ, this picture is the essence of joy and eternal life.  To have found life’s deepest blessing in service to Christ, there is no greater satisfaction or fulfillment than to have met Jesus, committing to follow as a faithful servant.

I have known some servants like that.  There are several characteristics each of them bear in common.  I’d like to share some with you and ask you to keep in mind that the list is but a tip of the iceberg of what God uses.

Graciousness

I can think of no greater fragrance than the kind of gracious interest one human being sincerely displays towards another.  I’ve met a few famous people during my journey; none have surprised me more than those who listened to me like I had something worthwhile to say.  To be gracious, knowing you don’t know everything, and willing to hear another’s point of view, makes God’s job of using you much easier.

Humility

I suppose this quality is not a stand-alone trait.  Frankly, it is so related to graciousness you cannot have one without the other.  A humble person isn’t just a self-deprecating proclaimer of his low estate, someone you’d hear tossing aside a compliment with aw, shucks, I ain’t much.  Rather, the humble one just stands in genuine awe of the majesty of God he sees in every other human being he meets.

Hunger and Thirst

Now this is not the precedent of dinner on the grounds; rather it is the essence of what Jesus told us:

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.  Matthew 5:6 ^(KJV)

The idea of righteousness-seeking is the cause of human elevation, seeking to lift others in their lives by working to relieve oppression and injustice.  It is the process of being involved with God to love a neighbor as self.  It is what the prophet Micah wrote:

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you:  to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.  Micah 6:8

Again, not an exhaustive list, rather a good beginning of the kind of person that leaves a fragrant trail of Christ wherever they walk.

For You Today

There is no better practice for those who would live a life of Christ-like fragrance, spreading good news everywhere, than to spend time with the source of that fragrance.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

 

Evangelism; Sharing GOOD News

 

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.  Acts 8:4

Dr. Don L. McCutcheon, Sr., ^{(pictured above)} is a longtime friend and fellow-laborer[1] in Christ.  Some years ago Dr. McCutcheon retired from the North Carolina Baptist Convention, where he served as Director of Evangelism.  I could tell you a lot about Don and his loving spirit, laughter, and lifetime commitment to sharing Christ with others.  This time, allow me to have our youngest daughter, Carrie tell it from the pew where she sat as a 16-year-old as Don preached in our church:

“Had a great evening catching up with an old friend and meeting his mother!! He and his sweet wife Kathy have been special to my family for many years now....I won't say exactly how many because that would tell MY age!! But I'll say, as a teenager, I took detailed notes from the pew as Pastor Don McCutcheon preached to the youth about ‘Dudes and Dudettes’”.

You gotta love a preacher who elevates youth as “dudes and dudettes”!  I preached this past Sunday on the importance of evangelism for the church, and that it is each individual member of the church’s responsibility to be involved. 

I asked Dr. McCutcheon to send me a few words about what evangelism has meant to him.  After appropriately  reminding me just how difficult it is for a Baptist preacher to write a few words about anything, he sent me these few paragraphs about sharing the GOOD News:

Having been raised in a non-churched family, I thought and was taught that if I were good I would certainly to go to heaven.  When I heard the gospel I realized the error of my worldview and the truth of the Biblical worldview.  After conversion, I realized how many did not understand the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  God helped me to see through the Scriptures, especially John 3:16, that His great love moved Him to send His only begotten Son to die for our sins and give us eternal life. Our response to that love calls us to turn from and confess our sins to Him and trust and follow Him completely with our lives. Matthew 28:19-20 reveals the command for all Christians to love, witness and disciple all people to Christ and teach them to follow Him as Lord.

Evangelism is the highest form of Christian love and obedience as the goal is for people to come to be born again, know and follow our Lord and Savior.  The greatest gift you could ever give anyone is the opportunity to know Christ and have eternal life.  The most heartbreaking and unending regret Christians will have in heaven are the ones with whom we did not even try to share the gospel.  I took His commands personally and seriously. I believed the agape love of God in John 3:16 clearly proclaims He loves us.

Secondly, the will of God is that none should perish (which happens to all who do not know Him) but that all should come to Him through repentance as communicated in 2 Peter 3:9. I should be doing all I can to love, pray for and verbally witness to those who do not know Him and face an eternity separated from Him.  It is never easy to share the gospel, but it is so important to our families, friends, neighbors, work associates and all people to hear God's way of salvation.  Ask God's Holy Spirit to give you courage and strength to witness and then watch Him work through you.

For You Today

My friend is one of those believers who joyfully shares Jesus wherever he goes.  For any follower of Christ, preacher or not, man, woman, or child, that is what should be the heart of our following, being ready, and being willing to share the GOOD News.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Title image, Facebook image   W   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For another post on Acts 8 see:  Upside Down  

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[1] 2 Thessalonians 3:2

 

Start Here

Friday, August 22, 2014

As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.”  So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia.  The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning.  Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.  The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.”  Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah.  Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”  The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?”  And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him.  The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:  “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.  And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.  He was humiliated and received no justice.  Who can speak of his descendants?  For his life was taken from the earth.”  The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?”  So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus.     Acts 8:26-35 (NLT)

I cannot say how many times I’ve been asked how to go about sharing one’s faith.  And it’s a good question, a fair question. 

Pastors often preach on spreading the Gospel – how it is our responsibility to help proclaim the Kingdom of God; and the person in the pew shifts uncomfortably because he’s never been shown how to do that.

Well…Here’s how to do that:

Philip is a great model for sharing your faith.  He was prompted to move towards somebody who needed to know Jesus (first by an angel, then by the Spirit of God).  The key is Philip’s obedience; he was told to go and he went!

First objections:  I’ve never seen an angel, and how do you know it’s the Holy Spirit?  

Well, I’ve never seen an angel (that I know of) either, but the prompting of God’s Spirit is something you will begin to recognize if you live a life like Philip lived.

Philip spent three years hanging out with Jesus; in that time he was constantly observing and talking with Jesus, learning what moved the Lord and why.  This is requirement number one:  keep spending time with Jesus; prayer, reading His Word, serving people and fellowship with other believers is what develops sensitivity to the whispers of God’s Holy Breath.

Philip moved close to the Ethiopian’s chariot because he was accustomed to two things:

                      a.      He had grown accustomed to listening for the Spirit’s prompting

                      b.      He had committed himself to the mission of caring for his fellow man

When it comes to sharing your faith there are only those two requirements; God will prepare the other person’s heart to receive your witness, but He requires a humble servant who will love a neighbor and listen for the Holy Spirit’s prompting.

When God provided this opportunity Philip simply asked a “conversation-opening question”.  God had already moved in the Ethiopian’s heart…he was reading Scripture and interested.  Philip was an answer to the man’s longing to know God.

Sharing your faith isn’t complicated; it is simply telling your story of how Jesus came into your life.  With most folks who have never done that, the scary part is getting started. 

There are techniques you can learn to “break the ice” and get started.  But no technique will ever replace your heartfelt concern for your lost neighbor or a heart committed to serving God’s kingdom by sharing that heart.

For You, Today…

Do you hear the Spirit leading today? 

Are you quiet enough to listen?

Do you care enough to speak?