How Does God Feel About Garbage?

[Omena]

I had this thought yesterday when I was walking home carrying a little plastic tub which had contained my lunch I got from the supermarket. I was getting really tired of carrying it and there were no rubbish bins in the vicinity, so I had a thought about just chucking it on the side of the road with all the other bits of trash. I then thought to myself "no, that's littering and it's wrong", so I committed myself to carrying the rubbish home and putting it in my trash bin.

But then I thought, what is the real difference between chucking it on the side of the road and putting it in my household refuse (which is later taken to a really MASSIVE pile of rubbish and dumped there). The only difference I could see is that throwing rubbish on the side of the road puts it plainly in sight and it's ugly, whereas the town dump is out of sight and out of mind.

In that light it made more sense to send my discarded container to the dump, but then I thought "does God see a difference here?". How does God feel about the rubbish, toxic waste, etc that we are constantly throwing all over the planet. The whole world belongs to God, right? And he can see all the little places that we tend to ignore on a daily basis (i.e. dumps, war zones, etc). How does he feel about all this?

I don't really know of anywhere in the Bible where it talks about littering or environmental issues, perhaps because 2000+ years ago trash and nuclear power plants were not an issue. Though I know in Rev 11 it talks about destroying those who destroy the Earth.

The less literal, spiritual implications of these thoughts aside, I wonder how people feel about what I'm sharing here. My question has to do with our role, as Christians, in environmental issues.

 

[seeingeyes]

I had this thought yesterday when I was walking home carrying a little plastic tub which had contained my lunch I got from the supermarket. I was getting really tired of carrying it and there were no rubbish bins in the vicinity, so I had a thought about just chucking it on the side of the road with all the other bits of trash. I then thought to myself "no, that's littering and it's wrong", so I committed myself to carrying the rubbish home and putting it in my trash bin.

But then I thought, what is the real difference between chucking it on the side of the road and putting it in my household refuse (which is later taken to a really MASSIVE pile of rubbish and dumped there). The only difference I could see is that throwing rubbish on the side of the road puts it plainly in sight and it's ugly, whereas the town dump is out of sight and out of mind.

In that light it made more sense to send my discarded container to the dump, but then I thought "does God see a difference here?". How does God feel about the rubbish, toxic waste, etc that we are constantly throwing all over the planet. The whole world belongs to God, right? And he can see all the little places that we tend to ignore on a daily basis (i.e. dumps, war zones, etc). How does he feel about all this?

I don't really know of anywhere in the Bible where it talks about littering or environmental issues, perhaps because 2000+ years ago trash and nuclear power plants were not an issue. Though I know in Rev 11 it talks about destroying those who destroy the Earth.

The less literal, spiritual implications of these thoughts aside, I wonder how people feel about what I'm sharing here. My question has to do with our role, as Christians, in environmental issues.

God put Adam and Eve in control of the earth. Obviously, we don't like trash all over, or else we wouldn't bother burying it like cats in a litter box. We are like children who close their eyes so that they won't be seen.

I don't have a very strong opinion on this yet. I mean, of course I think that "those people" shouldn't be dumping oil in the ocean or sinking their nuclear waste, but that doesn't stop me from flipping on my lights or filling up my car at the gas station. I guess we'll see what the Lord does with me.

So far, I think that man's idea of "order" is very far away from God's idea of "order". Take a look at an new and modern city, then go out to the wilderness somewhere to see what God's order looks like. Big difference. Can we take care of the earth as God would when our motivations are so very far apart? I am encouraged by new technologies in this arena, though. Studying microbes that eat plastic or toxic waste seems closer to God's order than piling on regulations and dumping garbage out of the view of rich people.

 

[BryanW92]

Hell is described as place like Sheol, which was the city dump outside the wall of Jerusalem. It was a place of horrible stenches with pits of fire where people burned refuse.

As you point out, the alternative to dumps is widespread littering. I remember the days before we started taking active measures to prevent littering and the dumping of trash. The roadways were covered with trash and people would just drive their trash out into the woods and throw it away, or they'd burn it in their own yard.

I don't think that God really cares if we litter or not. After all, he's going to let Satan trash the world pretty bad in the End-times. The plagues and curses that are going to be loosed make our ability to trash the world look insignificant by comparison.

But he cares that we don't care enough about each other to pick up after ourselves and to think that the trash that we throw out the window to become someone else's problem is OK. Littering shows a lack of love for your neighbor as yourself. Would you like me to throw trash on the road in front of your house?

So, dumps are a necessary evil and are managed very well, in accordance with numerous laws and regulations. The same can be said for sewage treatment. People used to pour their "night dirt" on the street. Now, we treat it and reclaim the water and turn the actual "solids" into fertilizer.

 

[Omena]

Thanks for your responses. I liked the point about littering not being a sin in itself, at the same time it could be seen as a lack of love for our neighbour(s). I agree that God's order in nature is very different to our order. The biggest example that comes to my mind is the fact that we created plastic, which is so useful, but is arguably one of the most destructive pollutants in the world today. So I wonder if God intended for us to make these advancements in technology. Obviously he gave us brains capable of making these achievements, at the same time perhaps he's written morals on our hearts against these "improvements", and we've just chosen to ignore that.

 

[seeingeyes]

Thanks for your responses. I liked the point about littering not being a sin in itself, at the same time it could be seen as a lack of love for our neighbour(s). I agree that God's order in nature is very different to our order. The biggest example that comes to my mind is the fact that we created plastic, which is so useful, but is arguably one of the most destructive pollutants in the world today. So I wonder if God intended for us to make these advancements in technology. Obviously he gave us brains capable of making these achievements, at the same time perhaps he's written morals on our hearts against these "improvements", and we've just chosen to ignore that.

Plastic has saved many lives as well. I mean, knowing what you know right now, suppose you needed surgery. Would you go to a hospital that had just banned plastic? No IV tubes, no bed liners, no gloves, and on and on. You may as well just sit at home and take your pills (out of glass jars, of course).

The usefulness of plastic (specifically) is beyond mere convenience. It has affected all kinds of things. Could you afford that laptop you're typing on if it weren't 50% plastic? How much more pollution would your car kick out if it had a steel body like the old days?

Everything is interconnected. If plastics are universally bad, then all technology is, from stone tools on up to microbiology. People has been rearranging the world and ignorantly wrecking their own environments since there have been people. We just don't take the long view. Every generation says, "If we do this, we'll be rich!" or "Who cares? God's going to destroy it all anyway" and so every generation's missteps are compounded by the next.

The nihilists never seem to win, either, though. Back in the seventies, it was common knowledge that the world was going to run out of food in a generation or so. And by technological standards of the time, the numbers were right. But here we are, 45 years later. We have more people than ever and we're all fatter than ever due to advancements in farming and policy and packaging.

If you want a look at the "bigger picture", I cannot recommend Jared Diamond more highly. His book "Guns, Germs, and Steel" is about how large civilizations evolved depending on their environment, and "Collapse" looks at civilizations that have ended and the environmental factors involved. Fascinating stuff.

God bless

 

[heirmiles]

I think remembering that we are stewards of the earth under the Lordship of Christ does mean that we care about the earth we live on. And due to our continual "being fruitful and multiplying" we have placed significant demands on our planet. If we didn't have efficient methods of garbage disposal disease would be far more rampant in our society. Choosing to recycle as much as possible helps to alleviate some of the burden on our environment, yet there are still so many things that we do as a species that continues to effect the earth in a negative way.

Even when we buy groceries we are faced with a choice of paper or plastic. One is made of a renewable resource , and the other isn't. Both are recyclable, yet how many times do we simply throw either away. Another option is to bring our own 're-usable' bags made of cloth. At least then we don't have to choose between saving a tree or saving a dinosaur.

 

[tremble]

I had a science teacher once who gave us an assignment to carry around the trash from all the products we used during the week. If we ate or used anything with packaging or any kind of waste, then we were required to carry it around with us.

It was quite an eye opener.

 

[Bramwell]

Thought provoking question, Omena. Like someone mentioned, I think it's noteworthy that the Bible says little to nothing against trash and littering. I think because they are problems which are more like effects from deeper problems, rather than the root cause.

The Bible does, for example, speak against waste. Waste is a form of trash, though not all trash is waste.

Here's a relevant verse from the book of James about waste:

 

[Bramwell]

Thought provoking question, Omena. Like someone mentioned, I think it's noteworthy that the Bible says little to nothing against trash and littering. I think this is because they are more like effects from deeper problems, rather than the root cause.

The Bible does, for example, speak against waste. Waste is a form of trash, though not all trash is waste.

In the book of James, the Bible specifically speaks against waste in the form of material possessions not being used. James singles out two symbols for wealth (gold and silver), as well as a commodity common to all of us (clothes). (James 5:1-3)

What I take from this is that God is most against waste in the form of things not being used. The Bible equates this with greed, something the apostle Paul called the root of all evil. (I Timothy 6:10)

I think it would be good for us all to consider items we possess which are not being used. This could be food in our fridges, clothes in our closets, or even books on our shelves. If we're not using them, we should either start; or we should give/sell them to someone who will.

If we don't do that, then we could be guilty of one of the worst possible forms of waste - waste through dis-use. And the Bible says this will be a witness against us come judgment day.