A while ago I had the opportunity to sit with a young man after the Sunday AM at Indy Metro Church with lots of questions about following Jesus. It is always a joy of mine to listen to someone process questions of faith and probe deeper. He talked about a lot of honest struggles and took great steps towards embracing the Jesus of the Bible.

After we prayed together I gave him a hug. I was so  moved by the sincerity in his search I could think of nothing better to do for my new friend than extend my arms.

To be completely honest though, there was something else unique about him. He smelled really bad. I mean really bad. It was the kind of smell that transformed me and didn’t leave. As I went to lunch with my family and did some running around that day I thought of him quite frequently that day.

Last Sunday, I talked at IMC out the Gospel of John in the Bible. There is this story of all these religious nuts whom caught a woman in the act of adultery. They were so ready to judge her with stones in hand ready to throw….they were utterly surprised in the response of Jesus. Yet, the religious people of the day would prefer to condemn her from her poor choices that see Jesus intercede on her behalf and exhibit great mercy and grace.

It has dawned on me over the past few days in reflecting on this Bible story again that following Jesus truly means following in his actions. And one of those actions is placing ourselves in close enough proximity to in effect “smell” like the person whom Jesus is calling us to love.

The reality is for me today even I face a choice of whether I will only provide support from a distance, or throw stones, or will I get close enough with an attitude of love to truly be used as an instrument of Jesus?