Grazing Grace - The Deodorant Incident of 1989

BY GREG A. LANE

When I was an older teenager, back in the early 1980s, I saw a commercial on TV that promoted a particular men’s deodorant brand which was supposedly popular with the opposite sex. According to the commercial, if I were to wear the deodorant, I’d be practically irresistible to womankind. Being the unmarried, red-blooded American male that I was, I went out and bought it. Back in those days, I needed all the help I could get in trying to lure a prospective bride.

Before long, I was completely sold on that brand of deodorant. I bought it religiously, to the exclusion of all other brand names. I was certain that the scent of my deodorant drove women wild, just like the commercial promised, so I knew it was only a matter of time before I would land the woman of my dreams.

In 1988, my deodorant had finally achieved the desired effect … it lured my future wife to me. I proposed to her on Christmas Eve of 1988 and we were married on April 29, 1989. Because the deodorant was partly responsible for my marital bliss, I decided to continue using it (even though I was aware of its seductive powers … wink, wink).

One day, about three months after we had gotten married, my wife came home from the grocery store with several bags of groceries. I was helping her unpack the groceries when I noticed a stick of deodorant in one of the bags. I held it up and said, “Have you changed deodorants?” She replied, “No, I bought that for you.” “Why did you do that?” I questioned. “Don’t you like the smell of the deodorant I’ve been using?” I almost said it jokingly, knowing that its aroma is what had lured her to me in the first place. “I just thought you might like this deodorant better,” she replied. I retorted, “Well, I prefer my deodorant. I’ve been using it for 10 years now and I don’t want to change.” There was a long, hesitant pause before she replied, “Um … actually … I’ve been meaning to tell you something … your deodorant doesn’t work.” “What?” I replied in stunned disbelief. She was so brave and honest … and blunt, “I’m trying to tell you, your deodorant doesn’t work … it has never worked. There are times when you’ve put your arm around me and your underarm odor almost made me choke! You need a new deodorant!”

Oh! What a startling revelation I received on that day! I thought my deodorant was something that made me a more enticing eligible bachelor throughout my younger years. But, I came to find out it was more likely that it had made me repulsive to the opposite sex! My wife wasn’t lured to me BECAUSE OF my deodorant’s alluring powers … she was lured to me IN SPITE OF IT! Obviously, I was very embarrassed by this new-found revelation, but I’m glad it finally came out, and I’m glad my wife was brave enough to mention it. I said to her, “Why haven’t you said something sooner?” She replied, “I didn’t know where our relationship was going and didn’t want to cause a problem by mentioning it to you before. But, now that we’re married, I thought it was time to tell you.”

Love is an incredible force in our world today. It has great power to overlook the flaws and imperfections in others. I think of all my wife went through during our months of courtship and how her olfactory senses were pushed to the brink of endurance, yet her love refused to give up on me. She knew I was the man she wanted to marry, stinky armpits and all! She didn’t try to clean me up before she took me into her heart. She loved me the way I was. The “clean-up” took place after the relationship had been fully established. Good thing for me!

Our human ability to love comes directly from God. As a matter of fact, 1 John 4:8 plainly states that “God is love." It stands to reason, then, that God’s love would be greater than our own human love. How great is God’s love? Romans 5:8 puts it this way: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” While we were still in our mess, while the stench of our sin and selfishness was all over us, God loved us. And, the beautiful thing about that love is that He didn’t try to clean us up before He took us into His heart. He pulled us close to Himself and loved us in spite of the stench, because that’s what love does.

I heard a story about a preacher that went to visit a man who wanted to return to church after many years of being wayward. The man told the preacher, “My life is so messed up now, I don’t know if the Lord will take me back. So, I’ve been trying to clean up my life before I go back to church.” The wise old preacher replied, “Do you ever go fishing?” With a questioning look, the man responded, “Yes, I love to go fishing.” The preacher said, “Tell me, do you clean the fish before you catch them or after?” The man smiled and replied, “After, of course!” To which the preacher said, “Same thing with God … He’ll clean you up after He catches you. Cleaning you up is His job … not yours.”

The truth is that we all have things about ourselves that make us less-than-lovely … things that need improvement and cleaning up. Sometimes we’re not even aware of how unlovely we can be, or how stinky our attitude and behavior is. Thankfully, there’s a God who loves us right where we are. He loves us so much that He accepts us just the way we are … and, too much to let us stay that way.