The Smell of Asphalt

On a recent walk with Sasha we passed by a house that had a freshly blacktopped driveway.  As the smell of asphalt wafted through the air, an all too familiar memory came to mind.

I had never shared this memory with anyone before, so it seemed fitting that I should tell it to my wife of 19 years.  When I was a 5-year-old boy, my Dad’s employer had a company picnic at a local amusement park.  There were rides, balloons, and a clown named Putz.  I suspect that the amusement park had recently repaved their parking lot because every time I smell fresh asphalt, I am taken back to that happy memory from over thirty-five years ago.

After relaying that story to Sasha, she told me that whenever she smells asphalt it reminds her of communism.  Apparently, the communists used the stuff a lot to pave whatever needed paving.

It is the exact same smell, but to me it means a fun summer’s day at an American amusement park where the dreams of a child come true.  For her it means the oppression of socialism and a childhood in a country where speaking outside of the party line lead to serious consequences. 

I am certain that the men who laid that asphalt in that driveway were not thinking that they were helping people relive happy childhood memories.  Neither did they think that they were spreading the scent of socialist oppression.  Asphalt smells like asphalt.  It only has one smell.  Yet that fragrance meant something completely different to Sasha than it did to me.

Our conversation reminded me of something written by a first century Jewish scholar named Paul to a church in the Greek city of Corinth.

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and 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.”   (II Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV)

I hope to live my life in such a way that I give off the fragrance of Jesus.  I want others who see me and talk with me to know who I am in Him.  Yet I recognize that, though the fragrance of Jesus may be pleasant to some, it is not to others.  If I live a life walking with God, I am going to be attractive to some people while simultaneously being repulsive to others.  The same is true of anyone who walks in obedience to Christ.

What should we do about this?  We want people to see and experience the joy of salvation through our Lord.  How do we share truth knowing that some will always be repelled by it?

The temptation creeps in to sweeten our scent.   If we apply enough perfume, our natural sent is masked to the point where everyone who comes in contact with us will find our presence pleasant.  The same can be done with the message of the gospel.  We can cover it with perfume and make people like what they smell, but they will not smell the truth.

We perfume the message by changing it to suit the desires of those around us.  In doing so, we attract people to us, not to Jesus.  We pander.  We do not proclaim.  We do not smell like death to the one group, but at the same time, we do not smell like life to the other.

Those who cover up the truth with smooth talk are useless at accomplishing anything of lasting good.

Our options are simple.  We can smell like the world, or we can smell like Christ.  If we smell like the world, we will be accepted for the frauds we are and become useless.  We will lead no one to Jesus and therefore we will lead no one to life.

If we smell like Christ, some will show us hate and some will show us love.  To some we will smell like death.  Yet in the end, some will find life in our Lord.

Do what is right.  Walk in obedience to God.  Lead people to life.