04/18/2026
We’re excited to have Julie leading our Women’s Conference next Saturday!
We have a few tickets left.
If Heaven Has a Smell, I Bet It’s Something like the World Championship Barbecue Fest
Now I don’t know about you…but where I come from, barbecue isn’t just food—it’s a full-blown experience. It’s not something you throw together on a Tuesday night. Oh no, ma’am. It’s slow. It’s intentional. And if it’s done right… it’ll make you stop whatever you’re doing and “slap your grandma!” That’s what we southerners say when something is exceptionally delicious.
Years ago, when I lived in Memphis, I had some friends who didn’t just enjoy barbecue…they lived it.
Cooking meat in their family wasn’t a hobby—it was practically a lifestyle served up southern style. Every spring, they competed in Memphis in May—the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. And if you’ve ever been, you know that’s not just a competition… that’s a whole culture on its own. Thousands of teams. Smoke rolling like low country fog. Music thumping. People laughing like they’ve known each other their whole lives.
And one year—bless it—they didn’t just show up… they won the whole thing. The Grand prize. Trophy taller than they were. We were all so proud of them.
But here’s the thing…it was never just about the meat. Their tent? Always the place to be. Music you could feel in your ribs. A dance floor carved out in the middle like nobody needed permission to have joy. Strangers walking in… and somehow leaving as family. They knew a secret: Good barbecue doesn’t just feed your stomach… it gathers your people.
And Lord have mercy… the smell!!!
If you’ve ever stepped foot near Memphis in May, you know—you don’t have to see a smoker to know it’s there. That aroma will find you before your GPS ever could.— Sweet honey melting into spice…Brown sugar caramelizing into that perfect bark…Smoke curling up like it’s got something to say…You can taste it before you ever take a bite. And it clings to you—your hair, your clothes—like it’s not quite ready to let you go. That kind of smell doesn’t ask for attention… it commands it.
I thought about that barbecue a lot during Holy Week. Because can you imagine the aroma during Passover?Historians say the city could swell to nearly a million people. Pilgrims everywhere. Animals being brought for sacrifice—lambs, doves, goats—whatever a family could afford.
Day and night, offerings were being made. Smoke rising constantly from the altar. And if I’m being honest…
my nose crinkles just thinking about it and not in a good way.
Because the smell of burning animals? That doesn’t exactly sound like something you’d bottle up and sell at a boutique. And yet… Scripture calls it a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
The only thing I can figure is that perhaps it was never about the scent but rather, the surrender.
Every sacrifice represented a heart saying, “Lord… I can’t fix this on my own.” “I’ve fallen short.” “I need You.”
That humility… that obedience… that turning back—it wasn’t just smoke rising through the air. It was worship.
I think God was drawn to the surrender behind the smell. Because the moment everything changed—The final Lamb. The perfect sacrifice. Jesus on the cross—once and for all, there were no more altars. No more endless offerings.Because the Perfect sacrifice, was a fragrant offering pleasing to the Lord. It’s where perfect obedience met perfect love.
I’ve been sitting with that like a pearl in my hand ever since Easter. Turning it over. Thinking it through.
Because here’s what I know now. God still loves a good aroma. But these days…it doesn’t come from a smoker or an altar. It comes from us.
Every time we choose humility over pride…Every time we turn back instead of digging our heels in…
Every time we say, “Lord, I need You” instead of “I’ve got this”…That rises up to Him.
And I can’t help but think…obedience might just smell sweeter to Heaven than the best barbecue pit in Memphis in May.
So maybe today…the question isn’t what’s on your plate…It’s what’s rising from your heart.
Because somewhere between the smoke and the surrender…there’s a fragrance that gets Heaven’s attention. And sugar…that’s the kind of aroma that lingers right into eternity.
