Opus 2012-60, Odor or Savor?

Why do people not respond to the gospel and the things of God?  To those of us who believe, this is an eternal question.  It is not a new question.  If you look at the Gospel of John you read of the resurrection of Lazarus.  It was a clear case of Jesus raising someone from the dead.  There was not question of it.  Some responded in belief but others took another path.  After discussing their follow up John writes this about their conclusions:

(John 11:53 KJV)  Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.

They saw the dead raised and they decided to kill the raiser.  Does this make sense to you?  It doesn’t to me but it tells me that miracles and wonders will not necessarily bring people into the kingdom.

People respond differently.  Sometimes it is how we are made.  I have tried menudo three times.  For those of you who live in culinary ignorance, menudo is a Mexican soup.  The main ingredient is intestines.  If you isolate a piece of the “meat” you can see the little villi that line the organ.   Every time I tried it I did not even need to get it into my mouth to know it was not worth eating.  There was something there that told me, “Stop!”  My nose tells me they did not clean out the intestine before they added it to the soup.  I have a similar reaction to liver, the very smell makes me want to vomit.

Some people love these foods.  They actually eat them when they are not coerced. 

People respond differently.  The foods actually taste different.  This is demonstrated in elementary science lessons.  The teacher had some chemical that we would taste.  To some it would taste sweet to others bitter.  The difference was in the taster, not the taste.

In the same way we are the smell of life and death to people and the gospel has that same aroma.

 (2 Corinthians 2:14-16 KJV)  Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.  For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:  To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

People do not respond because they sense before they get involved that this is not something they want to get involved in.  Some people just seem to know that God is going to demand repentance and submission and that is anathema to them.  They want nothing to do with God or His agenda.

So don’t get hostile.  They have their preferences.  There is nothing you can say to change their mind.  They can ignore you without much effort.  They cannot always ignore the Holy Spirit.  He can point out little things that will add up in the person’s heart and mind.  He can bring things to mind that they cannot block.  He can get past their defenses. 

Live in righteousness.  That does not mean “holier than thou,” it means servanthood.  It means,

(Philippians 2:3 NAS77)  Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

It might actually make you “holier than thou.”  You will not notice it.  They will.  Sometimes it will still be the “savor of death.”  Other times it might be the beginning of aroma therapy.

homo unius libri