Going Green: Eradicating Pollution

How much do you pollute? It may not be with plastics, aluminum, or oil spills, but you are probably still a polluter!

Though I do not have any memory of ever throwing an entire fast food sack of trash out the window, I do remember throwing things out the window when I was a young boy that I would never think of doing now. It is ironic how the norm changes. I hesitate to throw a toothpick out the window! After watching a childrens movie a couple of years ago that had an animal who wore one of those six-pack plastic ring binders around their neck, I even break those rings apart, when I buy them, so that no animal could get stuck.

Pollution can destroy thousands and thousands of areas of earth. However, each one of us also pollutes in different ways. As we focused on yesterday, in this week's message, we pollute when we get caught up on complaining, grumbling, gossiping, and those of the like.

Reflecting on that lesson, here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

1. Start caring about your environment - Don't dismiss the fact that you can make an improvement to any area you are at. You are an important variable in making someone (or more than one) have a better day because you came across their path.
2. Pray for awareness - It is too easy to be caught up in the every day monotony. One must be conscious of their environment to make a difference. If we develop a callousness we will lose sight of trying to make a difference. So, ask God to keep you aware.
3. Be aware of your intent - What is your intent when you open your mouth and speak? Is it to tear someone down, drag someone through the mud, or elevate yourself. This may not apply to EVERYTHING one says, but often when we are at the "watercooler" and get to talking in our groups of friends.
4. Don't pollute - The words we speak have the potential to tear down someone, negate an idea, or lower morale. Think about this as you are going about life. It may allow you to help out someone who is one who pollutes the 'environment' frequently.

Pollution can destroy an environment. Whether it is trash being tossed out or trash being spoken, it all pollutes. One of my big pet peeves is receiving editorials which puts down brethren in the church. To them the intention is good, but that intention is simply pollution. Why spend so much time "trashing" someone when you can spend more energy trying to "save" someone else?

Let's try to make our environment cleaner and greener by saying something encouraging or something else that is positive, instead of doing something that just pollutes the environment.

I will end the same way I ended my sermon..."Give a hoot, don't pollute!"

Going Green: Altering Yourself to Help Your Environment

"Going Green" has been a hot topic for the last few years. With more and more people becoming aware and concerned with the environment, the craze continues to gain ground. Though I am not an environmentalist, I do get concerned with throwing so much trash away and thinking about the earth and generations to come.

When I was investigating the concept of "going green" I found out something interesting, at its essence. One simple explanation was "altering your activities to help your environment". When you enter a room/environment, we are going to affect that environment. What effect will you have when you enter your workplace, your home, a store/check out line, a restaurant, etc.?

This "Going Green" is not so much the global environment, but more the unseen environment/atmosphere. We looked at five of the seven churches in Revelation, chapters 2 & 3, to get an idea about how a bad environment is not very appealing to God. Here are some applications to choose from this week...

1. Reflect back over the past few hours or days of work. How did your actions pollute or improve the environment?
2. Reflect back over the past few hours or days at home. How did your actions pollute or improve the environment?
3. Be conscious of trying to improve an environment which you enter in to. So, the next time you go shopping, try to improve the environment by helping someone, saying something nice to someone, calling your cashier by name, buying a cashier a candy bar - to say thanks, or some other way that may help the "environment".
4. Pray that God would help you as you aspire to help the various environments that you are in.
5. Self-reflect different areas that you need to clean up your body/mind "environment". Is there negativity toward someone? What do you need to do to "go green" and positively alter that environment?
6. Pray for your church family so that we can have a positive environment for which God to work and that He will be pleased to "digest" our service and worship to Him.
   

Recycling, planting trees, reducing hazardous materials, and many other things will help the earth to not be polluted. It will also save many natural areas and habitats.

With these same concepts, we can "go green" and create an environment that is reduced from pollution and allow our environment to not be "polluted".

Remember the catch phrase from Woodsy the Owl..."Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute!" Click here to recall one of those commercials.