“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…” (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). I recently reviewed the basic teachings of Christianity with a young Iranian Lutheran about to defend his Christian faith in court (hoping to be granted asylum here in Germany). At one point we took a break. He sighed. After a few moments, he mentioned that he has frequent flashbacks of Iran, from where he and his family escaped three years ago. “Might there be anything that triggers your flashbacks?” I wondered. “Smells,” he replied. “Smells?” “Yes. Both men and women use heavy fragrances in Iran. And I smell those same perfumes everywhere I go here in Hamburg: on the subway, on the street, in the supermarket. My family and I fled to Germany because we wanted to escape from Islam. We thought this was a Christian country, but as I look around, I’m not so sure. There are so many Muslims here; way more than we thought. And they all seem to use those fragrances. Whenever I smell them, in my mind I’m back in the mosque in Tehran that I had to attend as a kid.” Indeed, in a new upscale shopping mall here in Hamburg, which is especially popular with Muslims, there are no fewer than five shops specializing in perfumes and fragrances. (Pictured: the flagship Hamburg store of a popular Middle Eastern perfume company about to open in that mall). What an awesome privilege we Christians have: to be the fragrance of Christ to those around us, even though we might not smell the “aroma of Christ” ourselves. Sort of like us perhaps no longer noticing the scent of our own aftershave or perfume. As we interact with all kinds of people every day, may the Holy Spirit in us make Christ’s saving work detectable to others—as a delightful fragrance from life to life!
The Tiews in Germany 