Volume 28, No. 13                                                     
 March 30, 2003

 Clean Living
 
   In 1953, a technician in a lab at 3M spilled some drops of an experimental compound on her new tennis shoes. The assistant was annoyed when soap, alcohol and other solvents failed to get rid of the stain.

   But chemical researcher Patsy Sherman noticed that, over time, her friend’s new shoes got progressively dirtier — except for where they’d been splashed by the mysterious mixture.  So with the help of a fellow chemist, she worked with the compound and eventually developed a liquid that could actually repel oil and water from fabrics. In 1956, Scotchgard made a big splash on the market.  Though some dismissed the invention by saying 3M simply had a knack for stumbling onto new products, company executive Richard Carlton replied, "You can't stumble if you're not in motion."

   Besides, it was another stumble that had brought cloth and chemicals together in the first place.  In 1825, the maid of French fabric dyer Jean-Baptiste Jolly knocked over a table lamp filled with a distilled turpentine called camphene.  The harder she rubbed the tablecloth to get out the stain, the cleaner and brighter the cloth became. When Jolly saw what had happened, he immediately added a new dimension to his business, a waterless process he called dry cleaning.  By the 1850s, there were thousands of the new laundry shops all over France.  Today, the industry’s most common solvent is perchlorethylene, or “perc”, but the original principles have stuck.

   Sticking to a problem also paid off for the Dupont company which invented Teflon in 1938.  It could’ve been a flash in the pan had it not been for a casual comment made to Dupont engineer Mark Gregoire.  An avid fisherman, Gregoire used Teflon to keep his line from sticking.  One day, his wife said it was too bad there was nothing similar to keep her pots and pans from getting all gummed up. In 1955, Gregoire left DuPont to form the Tefal company and make coated pans.  Today, about 75 percent of North American families own one, all because of an offhand remark.

   There’s a different kind of chemistry that keeps sin from caking Christians.  It’s the chemistry you find among believers who love each other from the heart.  We often just stumble upon it but, once we see and understand its wonderful potential, we’re quick to embrace it.  Why?  Because it works!  

   All of us recognize the need to stay free of the world’s sin stains, but it’s hard to stay clean in a dirty world, especially when you’re wearing white.  Our Sunday best — fresh, radiant robes of forgiveness — are soon sullied when we leave the safety of our assemblies and get back to the nitty, and especially the gritty, of daily life.  The good news is, our souls have special protection.

   Once we respond to the free offer of God’s love and forgiveness made possible by what Jesus did on the cross, we’re covered by “the precious lifeblood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19).  It’s an eternal protectant that stops sin from seeping into our souls.  Instead, the inevitable guilt and grime stay on the surface where they’re easily wiped away by a loving Father.

   Since every fibre in the fabric of our faith is coated by the blood, blame beads up.  When the Accuser levels his lies, the charges don’t stick.  The more our critics try to rub in the condemnation, the cleaner and brighter we become, through God’s unlimited grace.

   As his children, all we must do to have that protection is confess our sin, try our best to turn from it, and extend the debt of patience and gentleness to one another. “See to it,” says Peter, “that you really do love each other intensely, with all your hearts.” (v.22)

   When Christians have that chemistry of love and accountability, it becomes easier for all of us to be impervious to sin.  People who aren’t even looking for God will be attracted by that kind of love, especially when they’ve fallen hard. Let’s show them that sometimes wonderful things happen when you stumble.

By Rick Gamble, published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the Followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.  Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications.  To subscribe, contact sgamble@bfree.on.ca