Let me take you back to my junior year of high school — a time when personal hygiene often makes or breaks your social life.
The locker next to mine belonged to a guy named John. Now John (like many adolescent boys) maintained a on-again-off-again relationship with personal hygiene. That relationship seemed to dissolve entirely that spring when I noticed a rotten smell emanating from the lockers. Over the course of a few days, the pervasive smell followed us throughout the halls, into class, and even to practice after school. It was a daily nuisance.
John, meanwhile, approached each day with denial and indifference—even when other students mocked him. I never openly ridiculed John, but I was content letting other's poke fun at him. I thought that perhaps a little social discomfort would motivate him to wake up and smell the proverbial roses. But John remained oblivious. It seemed as though the only thing that would clear the air was some divinely inspired self-awareness.
That divine intervention arrived one spring afternoon after school. Coming off the bus, I crossed paths with the appliance technician who was fixing our clothes dryer. He looked pale and distressed. Mom too looked queasy.
"What happened here?" I asked.
Mom took a breath for composure, then explained how they fixed the dryer. Reaching deep inside the dryer's ventilation, the repairman discovered a blockage. At some point, during the harsh winter months, a desperate packrat climbed into the warm exhaust pipe... and he never made it back out.
The repairman estimated that the packrat was lodged in our dryer vent for at least 3-4 weeks. For those of you who don't do your own laundry, that translates to approximately 30-40 laundry cycles—each load infused with the potent scent of mildly-mummified packrat.
This was the decisive moment of self-awareness that I requested. The very next day, the smells of decomposing rat had been neutralized, and John's dignity had been reclaimed.
1. CHARITY DOES NOT REQUIRE AGREEMENT. IT REQUIRES HUMILITY.
Brother's and sisters, how often do we make this same mistake? How often do we draw conclusions about someone based on what they believe? What they look like? What they smell like?
What strikes me most about this high-school experience is this:
I wasn't cruel.
I wasn't malicious.
But I was certain.
This type of certainty undermines the most fundamental acts of charity—showing humility and seeking understanding.
This is the start of all charity: that we admit that we may not yet see the whole picture.
It’s easy to show charity to people who think like we think and live like we live. But when there’s friction, when there’s difference, or when something smells off—that is when our charity actually means something.
2. CHRIST AS THE PATTERN
Scripture defines charity as the "Pure love of Christ"
This begs the question: How do we show pure love to imperfect people?
The answer is found in Jesus' example:
- In Gethsemane, in the midst of betrayal and violence, Jesus healed the ear of of a man who had come to arrest Him.
- In a culture where reputation mattered deeply, Jesus openly dined with sinners and tax collectors—the social outcasts of that time.
- When a sanctimonious crowd presented a woman taken in adultery, Jesus disarmed them with wisdom and restraint.
- Having endured humiliation, torture, and injustice, Jesus frankly forgave the men who had placed Him on the cross to die in agony.
