I spent one summer working at a pig farm about 45 minutes away from where I lived. I got the job through a roommate that was working there and had put in a good word for me. My job was to clean the birthing pens after the sows and their babies had been moved to the next set of pens. These birthing pens were in an enclosed room and the floors were grated so that everything could be easily washed away. Each room contained about 10 pens, and a sow gives birth to 8-12 piglets, so over 100 pigs would be in this room at a given time. They would stay there for about a week and then the room would need to be readied for the next group. I would go in there with a power washer and remove all of the mess. It needed to be very clean because bacteria and disease could easily kill the piglets. So I had to wash the ceilings, the lights, the doors and remove anything still clinging to the grated floor.
It was very tedious, and I am not a tedious guy, so it was a stretch for me. I wore a yellow rubber coat, pants, and boots to help me stay dry–and for the most part they did. What they could not protect me from was the awful way that I smelled at the end of the day. Once I got proficient with the job, it typically took me between 2.5 and 3 hours to finish. I wa locked in this room in the middle of the hot summer months, with very little air flow, spraying poo off the floor and having the moisture and mist lock the smell into my clothes, hair, and skin. After a long day I would drive home and shower, but the smell remained. The problem was that I had grown accustomed to the stench and could not smell myself! I only thought that the shower had removed the smell! It wasn’t until one afternoon playing ball that someone finally spoke truth and told me that I smelled! Thankfully, I only spent 2-3 weeks spraying pens before my boss relocated me to doing outside jobs, much to my relief and my friends.
It is easy to become so accustomed to your own odor and that you do not realize you stink. Just as the mist and the moisture caused the smell to embed itself in my clothes, being saturated with yourself can cause a stench that turns others’ stomachs. We must be careful not to be too inward focused to see that we are turning other people away. We may just add more mess to people’s lives, requiring others to come behind us and power wash it away.
The Bible says, “…We are the Aroma of Christ and that to some it will bring death and to others it will bring life.” We need to be aware of how our actions and words reflect the aroma of Christ everyday. We need to start taking notice of how we can help others clean up their lives and not make it messier. When someone smells good you want to stand close to them to draw near, so start dousing yourself with the Christ Eau De Toilette spray and start smelling better!
Real Talk
I have found that nothing is more attractive than the love of Christ. He is a natural attractor–that is why I am so drawn to Him. Something about Jesus makes me want to be closer to Him to get to know Him better. When I am drawing near to my Savior, I notice that others want to be near me, to ask what it is that makes me different. I am very aware that as much as Christ attracts, not everyone will want to draw closer.
Open it Up
2 Corinthians 2:15-17
Read a little more
2 Corinthians 2
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