Oh, it’s cheaper than most shampoos, and it will certainly remove things from your hair that Head and Shoulders can’t touch. But I still don’t recommend it as a shampoo.
For one thing, the smell leaves something to be desired. But the main reason to find another hair cleaner is that gasoline is dangerous. This occurred to me while I was washing my fifteen-year-old son’s hair with gas. Don’t call DFCS just yet; I can explain.
Russ and I were replacing leaky cowl vents on his “new” 38 year-old Mustang. This was supposed to be a bonding experience, father and son working side by side. Bonding was indeed taking place – in his hair. The sealant we were applying to the innards of his vents found its way onto Russ’ head.
I was very proud of him for being a real man by getting nasty and smelly, but gooey black paste was rapidly drying to become like rubber. Water wouldn’t remove it, and we were running late for a church activity.
We needed a quick, powerful cleaner. And there it was. “See, here is a gas can. What doth hinder me. . . ?” (Only a few will understand that.)
The gas worked great; dissolved the glob easily. But what if there had been a spark?  What’s the prison sentence for igniting your son?
“Only an idiot washes his kid’s hair with gasoline,” you may say. And you may be right. But all sorts of people step into similarly dangerous situations every day.
They tell a tiny white lie and believe they won’t be burned. They have just one more drink, thinking they can handle it. Some women go out with another’s husband saying, “Nobody will know.”  Many feel they are strong enough alone that they don’t need church.
You get the idea. We’re prone to douse ourselves with volatile situations, blind to the explosive consequences. Nobody sets out to destroy his life, but many go down in flames. They get careless. Get too close to the edge too often.
Mostly, we forget there is one who delights in seeing us burn, who gladly provides the spark. God cautions us: “Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil” (Ephesians 6:16).
Flaming arrows looking for flammable situations. Are you covered with faith, or shampooing with gasoline?

A Word from Williams Road is provided by the Williams Road Church.