Mothball Christians

I recently went on a vacation to go hunting with my brothers in Missouri. They have a piece of property south of Rolla, Missouri. They have set up tree stands and made roads only 4-wheelers can travel. There is also a Winnebago type camper for us to eat and sleep in complete with electricity, but little else.

Out of a concern for mice the camper is decorated with mothballs. I noticed the smell right away but got used to it quickly. Better that than mice, right? I brought all my gear in and spent the better part of a week living in the camper.

I came home and began unpacking my gear when I noticed something that should have caught my attention earlier. Everything smelled like mothballs. I had carefully kept my dirty and clean clothes separate but now realized that everything needed to be washed. The smell of mothballs had permeated everything I had kept in the camper with me.

Jesus used yeast in parables because it has the characteristic of permeating completely a dough mixture when bread is made. He said, “the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds of flour until is spread through all of it.” (Matthew 13:33, HCSB) I enjoy the way the house smells when Joyce bakes bread. The fragrance of her labor fills the house and makes us all feel good.

Jesus wants all of us to be like a substance that touches and changes everything around us. Jesus example was yeast but the point of the parable could also be illustrated with mothballs.

I did not intend for everything to smell like mothballs. The mothballs did what mothballs are made to do. As Christians we too should do what God made us to do. Paul said, “For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” (2 Cor. 2:15, HCSB)

Jesus should show through your life in a way that touches lives and makes people want what you have.

Brother Robin