From Russia with blogs | fragrance

Vadim Hurin on the sweet smell of the gospel

There are some perfume shops not far from where I live. They always seems crowded with people… all looking to purchase a smell.

Indeed, there is something odd about this. It is one thing to purchase food or clothes as these are the items that can be considered living necessities. It is difficult to live without them. But why are people prepared to spend significant amounts of money on perfume, on an aroma that evaporates in mere minutes? We are willing to pay for something that is packaged in an appealing cover, but which is not a necessity, it seems.

Of course, there will always be those who claim that hygiene is a reflection of one’s personality, that women crave the aroma of passion and sexuality and that men want to smell like the rich. But I have never seen or heard of a perfume that would offer one the aroma of faithfulness and care. I haven’t found a perfume that will make a woman smell like a mother or a cologne enabling a man to radiate a father’s love. For the most part, perfume sales offer an fragile illusion, the kind of illusion that mostly makes money.

In 2 Corinthians 2:14-16, it says:

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?

The verses suggest that the gospel carries a certain fragrance. Now, I can tell you that all too often the fragrance permeating the air in our Sunday service is unpleasant. The homeless cannot afford “Hugo Boss.” To this world the smell of the church is often foul also. But this is normal. It is meant to be. The gospel that smells like death to some in this world becomes a fragrance of life and renewal to others. Paul questions if we are prepared for this kind of fragrance?

We can spray ourselves with any and every cologne or perfume possible to provide ourselves with a fragrance of success and passion, but only God can offer us a fragrance of life.

Writer: Captain Vadim Khurin was born into a family of circus artists. He joined The Salvation Army in 1995 and is now an officer serving in St. Petersburg, Russia. He loves music, sports, reading and learning. He has a beautiful wife - Inna - and three children. He likes to ask hard questions and find different ways of helping people get back their wholeness and integrity.

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