Have you ever been fooled by the appearance of a flower that looked so beautiful that you just knew it's fragrance would be a delight only to find that it really stinks? There are some famous plants that are known for the stink they give off but most of them are not commonly found where I have lived. They look odd enough that I would be cautious before assuming they had a pleasant fragrance. But the pretty pink flower to the left is much more common and it can be found in Kansas or Florida or Indiana or Kentucky. And, I am almost always fooled by its appearance. I just knew it was a garlic plant but with a little research found it is a Society Garlic and it stinks. The smell of the flower is like garlic (a surprise when you expect something sweet) and pulling it up leaves you hands smelling like skunk! What a trick!
The same surprise can found among people who identify themselves as Christians. That is, I usually anticipate them to have a spirit that will make meeting them and being around them a pleasant experience. And that is sometimes the case. However, there are others where I feel fooled and the truth is that their attitude and general stinks. Sometimes it may be about their personality and what they have experience in life. I get that. What I am realizing more and more is that the image of God that they have stinks too.
Whether they are a reflection of their image of God or their image of God is a reflection of them is uncertain. What I know is that neither they nor their God-image is pleasant to be around. Yet, they seem to be the among the loudest, most closed-minded, rudest, least-loving people who call themselves "Christians." Instead of having the fragrance of Father's love about them, they stink! Have you noticed people pulling back when they find out someone identifies themselves as a Christian? Do you find yourself pulling back and cautiously doing a "smell test" before you get much closer?
I meet people in my communities all the time who tell me that whenever someone identifies themselves as a business person or professional and includes the adjective "Christian," they will refuse to do business with them. When you get underneath that story it is because they have been burned by too many who did not have the fragrance of Father's love but stank. I also find more and more believers are no longer self-identifying as a Christian and substituting "follower of Jesus" or something similar because of the contamination of the term by stinking believers.
Now the real question is about how am I being experienced? Do I have the fragrance of Father's love or just appear that way but really stink? The flower on the right is from the garden of Kent Burgess whose blog Faithfully Dangerous is one I have been following for some time. We almost had time to meet in St. Louis recently but time did not allow. We'll do it in Father's time. Kent shares pictures from his garden and great insights from his spiritual journey. Kent in one who has the fragrance of Father about him.
What about you?
