“A contact sport.”  When I saw this theme for a United Methodist Men’s national gathering, I thought to myself: “Blog.”  “The practice of discipleship is a ‘contact sport’ and cannot be ignored,” explained the event’s organizers.  “Most members of the United Methodist Church can recite the mission statement of our church… What appears to be missing in many places is a systematic way within local churches to make disciples that are transforming the world.”  This is certainly a challenge for each man reading this blog, including myself.

Being a former high school “jock” (Class of ’59), I think of the smell of sweat when I think of contact sports.  That sent me to II Cor. 2:15: “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.  But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.  To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom.  But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume” (II Cor. 2:15). 

So, what kind of aroma do we give off in our relationships? “As the gospel aroma is released in the world through Christian testimony, it is always sweet-smelling, even though it may be received differently.  Ultimately there are two kinds of people: those who are being saved and those who are perishing” (NIVSB).

Here are four observations about aroma (sweat) and men.  First, we need to know Jesus personally.  If we are to be the aroma of Christ, Christ must be absorbed through relationship. Facts and methods will not do the job. We need to have an open spirit so Jesus can pour His presence (and aroma) into us.  Only then can we give off the aroma of Christ. You can’t fake it; it has to be real.  

Second, when I think of how men are brought to Jesus, it is usually through another man or a group of men.  There is something that is assimilated or absorbed that opens a man’s heart to God.  It was true for me.  As a younger man, I was drawn to men who simply had Christ’s presence about them.  They were giving off the aroma of Christ without knowing it.

Third, find a group of men that “gives off the aroma” of Christ. This is especially important. Remember, masculinity is not something that is primarily taught; it is rather caught and assimilated.  A group of men committed to Jesus, wanting to be honest and transparent, and willing to reach out to a “wounded” brother*, can mean the difference between life and death in a man’s life.

Fourth, there is something powerful about a group of guys who have worked up a good sweat, giving all they have for a good cause.  That is how brotherhood and unity are built. Picture a group of guys that senses, “in the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade.  Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ” (II Cor. 2;14 MGS).  Wow! This is real “mojo!” 

Men, take it from me: You are going to smell like something.  With all your heart, desire to give off the aroma of Christ.  Think of a group of guys doing the same thing.  I picture a football team coming out together to start the game, running through the smoke, with flags and cheerleaders urging them on. 

That’s who we are.  We are going into the conflict already knowing that we are ultimately going to win.  We want other men, even “wounded” soldiers*, to join in that “triumphal procession.

* See: Rescuing a Brother, Dec. 21, 2020

In a recent Breakpoint article, John Stonestreet noted, “Our politics is cracking under the weight of a thinning civil society… For decades, sociologists have warned just how thin American civil society has become, replaced by a growing individualism that isolates Americans from the relationships and loyalties that once nurtured a thick social fabric.”  Stonestreet maintains as a result of this thinning, “The cultural weight lands on politics.”

The concept of thinning could well be applied to a thinning of the spiritual life of our churches.  The cultural weight of civil unrest, coronavirus ethics, and contentious politics have divisively affected our churches.  In a time when church should be a place of refuge for the weary, it has too often become a victim of the culture wars.  Disagreements and factions have weakened church life, thus thinning its impact on the culture. 

It seems that darkness has invaded the fabric of life together as followers of Jesus, who is the true light.  Remember Jesus words, “A new command I give you:  Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).  What the world needs to see is a thickening of the Church through love. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).  It is a perpetual debt we owe to one another. “Keep out of debt altogether, except that perpetual debt of love which we owe one another” (Rom 13:8 – Phillips).  

A lack of love has produced a spiritual thinning evidenced in people living in darkness and spiritually stumbling.  “If anyone claims, ‘I am living in the light,’ but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person still lives in darkness. Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause other to stumble.  But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness.  Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness” (I John 2:9-11 NLT).

Here’s how I apply this as a member of my church.  First and most important, I remember the enemy wants to sow seeds of discord in the body of Christ.  He lives in darkness but comes as an “angel of light.” A negative “person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by darkness” (v 11 above cf. John 8:44). 

Secondly, I keep a check on my spirit. “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth” (I John 1:6).  Negativity drowns out sensitivity to the Spirit’s direction.  Am I being honest in my responses or am I faking it?  Do I have an open or a closed spirit?  Am I praying continually, “Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth” (Ps. 26:2-3).

Thirdly, I ask others to help me monitor a “negative” or “critical” spirit toward others.  If I get stuck in negativity, I walk in darkness, and I can cause others in my church to stumble.  There is no room for grace and mercy in the darkness.  Do I ask trusted believers to point out behaviors that seem unworthy of the gospel of Christ? (Philippians 1:27)  And do I take their feedback to heart?  

When my spirit is open and loving I am walking in the light. Men, we can know the difference.  Negativity brings a heavy spirit, while love brings lightness and freedom.