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Bringing Christ To Work:
Smelling Like Christ August 11, 2008 By Debbie
Simler-Goff “Debbie, you
have an offensive odor,” my supervisor said as she fidgeted nervously.
“Your co-workers have come to me and complained that you smell.”
My throat tightened as I swallowed hard and tried to keep a well
of tears from spilling down my face. I managed to choke out an “okay”
and then bolted from her office. Thankfully, it was the end of the
day, so I was able to quickly leave the building. I found out
later that being told you smell by your boss has happened to others.
As a matter of fact, out of 633 Human Resources staff polled,
74 percent said they had been forced to confront an employee about
an offensive smell issue. While it made
me feel better to discover there were others who had suffered similar
humiliation, it didn't relieve my smell issue. It took a doctor
to treat a medical condition I didn't know I had. Are You Smelly? Yet not all
workplace smells are unwanted. In fact, some are quite welcome--even
solicited. Take aromatherapy
for example. With mounting evidence that certain odors evoke positive
feelings, some employers are using innovative
ways to capitalize on their employee's
olfactory sense. For example, Westpark Hospital in Cody, Wyoming
uses the scent of fresh baked cookies to create a comforting home
aroma. They have volunteers bake cookies in their long-term care
wing just so the fragrance of fresh baked sweets can waft down the
hall. Some may wonder
how this form of aromatherapy could enhance patient care or ease
the stress on the staff. The answer is found in what is known as
The Olfactory Factor1: “The smell
of baby powder, or pool chlorine, freshly grated nutmeg, or an
ocean breeze affects us. We all have a cache of fragrant
memories stored in our brains, and just a whiff of a special scent
can evoke a happy, magical moment.” So the odors
(at work or otherwise) can affect our mood and in turn our behavior.
And employers are hoping it will boost their bottom line. The science
behind The Olfactory Factor explains this phenomenon: “Humans have
several hundred types of smell receptors, and millions of these
cells line our nasal passages. Once a cell detects a scent, it
shoots the information to the olfactory bulb--a pea-size cluster
of neurons in the brain. The signals are sorted and then relayed
to the limbic system. This primitive part of the brain governs
many memories and emotions; some of our most basic behaviors--feeding,
fighting, or fleeing, for example; as well as sexual arousal,
pleasure, and maybe even addiction.” Biblical Odors Scientist may
have only discovered how the olfactory organ works, but utilizing
scent to enhance one's environment has been around since the Bible
days. In Rome, for example, the fragrance of burning spices was
always present during victory parades. As the Roman soldiers marched
into the city displaying their spoils of war a pungent aroma of
burnt spices filled the air. As a Roman citizen,
the Apostle Paul no doubt witnessed such processions. More than
likely he'd grown up seeing the gallant soldiers returning from
war, and watched the captives being drug in chains behind them,
with the smell of spice filling the air. After his conversion,
Paul must've remembered the parade scenes when he wrote, “But
thanks be to God, who made us his captives and leads us along in
Christ's triumphal procession. Now wherever we go He uses us to
tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet
perfume . . . Our lives are a fragrance presented by Christ to God.
But this fragrance is perceived differently by those being saved
and by those perishing… To those who are perishing we are a fearful
smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved we are
a life-giving perfume” (II Corinthians 2:14-16 NLT). Roman Soldiers, Christian Soldiers The Apostle
Paul realized that to the Roman soldiers the victory parade and
its unique aroma meant rejoicing. (They had returned heroes.)
Yet to the prisoners they'd captured the same sweet smelling scent
meant death. (They were marching toward their execution.) Likewise,
people who smell a Christian's godly fragrance will either be drawn
to them because they are headed towards heaven or they will be repelled
by them because they're headed towards hell. Our job, as
Christians, is to make sure we smell like Jesus. Arm Pit Checklist But how do we,
as Christians insure we are emitting God's holy fragrance? II Corinthians
2 and Ephesians 5 provide an arm pit smelling checklist:
This should
be all of our goals. We should all want to smell like Jesus did.
I have a new
boss now, and a new position. Yet every once in awhile I run
into the supervisor who told me I smell. While, I'm confident my
physical body odor is gone, I hope in its place I've learned to
reek with the aroma of Christ. © 2008, Debbie
Simler-Goff --------- Debbie Simler-Goff
is always amazed at who's drawn to her Christ-like scent
at the Chicago area hospital where she works. End Notes 1. The Olfactory Factor, Prevention Magazine, May 2008 |
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