July 23, 2024 ā¢ 24 mins
Ever wondered how the Bible guides us in caring for the environment? Join us as Pastor Kendall and Pastor Mo unpack the profound truths of environmental stewardship from a Christian perspective. Hear insightful stories from their own lives, enriched by reflections on their families' and communities' practices. Delve into the scriptures from Genesis and Psalms and discover how viewing the world as God's creation can revolutionize our approach to environmental care. We also highlight generational differences, with a special nod to Gen Zās proactive stance on sustainability and a powerful quote by Billy Graham that deepens the theological understanding of stewardship.
Explore the pressing issue of single-use packaging and its environmental impact, especially on socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Pastor Kendall and Pastor Mo share personal anecdotes, such as the struggle to recycle Costco cookie containers, and discuss how even small, conscious actions can make a significant difference.
In the coming up portion of the episode, the conversation takes a heartfelt turn as we address colorism and societal beauty standards, offering practical steps to provide positive representation for all skin tones.Ā
Tune in for inspiring stories, practical advice, and theological insights that encourage us to make a lasting impact on our world, both environmentally and socially.
Help share this podcast with others, so they can experience the freedom of God's truth, and we unpack it together! Like, share, subscribe or visit unpackingtruths.com for more info!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So today, on Unpacking Truths, we are going
to be talking about creation andour responsibilities as
followers of Christ.
What this looks like to takecare of everything the world,
nature, insects, animals, allthat good stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I'm Pastor Kendall.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
And I'm Pastor Mo.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome to Unpacking Truths, where we dive deep into
God's timeless truths for ourlives today.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Grab your coffee, open your hearts and your minds.
Come take this journey with usas we unpack God's truths.
So, growing up, what did thislook like for you as a follower
of Jesus and you grew up in thechurch and your dad was a
Lutheran principal right andyour mom a teacher at a Lutheran
school Was this instilled inyou?
(00:45):
This idea of taking care of allof creation?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Well, when you named insects, Mo what I actually
thought of.
I took care of mosquitoes byswatting them.
That was how I took care ofthat part of creation.
So, yes, I mean I grew up.
I'm 60 years old now, so, goingback, I mean I remember when I
mean I think before I rememberit, you know, you start to see
(01:11):
the green triangle of sort ofreduce, reuse, recycle, and my
dad was someone who loved theoutdoors and so he very much had
a sense of an ethic, of wewanted to care for creation, and
so I grew up around that I evenhad except for mosquitoes.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Except for mosquitoes , those could be gone for now
and forever.
Apparently, mosquitoes have nosouls.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, they do not.
Um and uh, and I even grew upwith um.
Both my parents grew up onfarms.
So so that sense of caring forthe farmland, and I remember
seeing up on my grandpa's wallhe had won an award at one point
for sort of progressive farmingpractices that were about sort
of caring for the soil to createless erosion and some of those
(01:59):
things.
So I've been exposed to thisidea that, yeah, the world is
not simply our garbage can orour ashtray, but that it is a
gift from God.
And there's so much scripturearound that.
I mean from Genesis, the verybeginning where God created the
world and he said it's good,it's very good.
(02:21):
Right, it's very good Right.
And so I grew up loving natureand that sense of treasuring,
the gift of wild places as wellas settled places.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, Very cool.
Okay, so well.
And when I think about this youbrought up Genesis and how
we're called to work the landand take care of the land I also
think about Revelation, how thewhole story of what God is
doing, too, is reconciling allthings back into the right order
, right, and so making allthings right, and that includes
(02:52):
creation.
When I think about myselfgrowing up, although recycling
was something that was verycommonplace, I was never.
We never talked about it.
We never talked about, like howwe shouldn't be polluting, you
know, our air or water.
It wasn't like a thing that Isaw, you know readily.
I didn't live next to a factoryor wasn't exposed to certain
(03:16):
things, so I don't think I, youknow it really wasn't brought up
and I'm going to like trueconfession I just kind of threw
like a bunch of stuff I think Ishouldn't have in the recycling
bin and just kind of hoped forthe best.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Oh, back then or yesterday are we talking?
Speaker 1 (03:30):
about.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Whoa whoa.
I'm just asking, I'm justtrying to clarify.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
No, my kids actually were Gen Z.
They are like gung-ho abouttaking care of the environment.
They don't play around.
Man.
If I throw something wrong inthat recycling bin, I am shamed
like hardcore shamed, and so and, and you know, they want me to
clean it out and all this stuff.
And I'm like doesn't someone dothat at the garbage place?
(03:56):
But I mean, and that's, and Ineed to work on that, so that's
so I need to work on that ofwhat it means to really view
this differently.
Right, because I think we needa certain kind of lens if we're
going to look at this the wayGod wants us to.
And I think about a quote that Isaw from Billy Graham and I
thought it was pretty powerful.
(04:17):
He said why should we beconcerned about the environment?
It isn't just because of thedangers we face from pollution,
climate change or otherenvironmental problems, although
these are serious.
For Christians, the issue ismuch deeper.
We know that God created theworld and it belongs to him, not
us.
Because of this, we are onlystewards or trustees of God's
(04:40):
creation and we aren't to abuseor neglect it.
The Bible says the earth is theLord's and everything in it,
the world and all who live in it.
When we fail to see the worldas God's creation, we will end
up abusing it.
Selfishness and greed take overand we end up not caring about
(05:02):
the environment or the problemswe're creating for future
generations, and I think that'sabsolutely true.
We are selfish when we don'tcare about the you know
pollution or what we're doing orhow we're living, because we
aren't thinking at all aboutthose who come after us and and
building a foundation for themand planting, you know, doing
(05:24):
things correctly so that theycan prosper.
And yeah, I just thought thatwas pretty powerful.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Very powerful, very powerful quote.
You know, I think there isthere's so many layers to this
and so many aspects to it, mo,and this is again one of the
questions that was raised by oneof our listeners.
So thank you for raising thisone up so we can take a few
minutes to reflect on it.
There are so many greatscriptures.
Billy Graham quoted Psalm 24.1.
(05:52):
You referred to Genesis 2.15,.
The Lord placed the man in theGarden of Eden to tend and watch
over it, that we have a role inthis of tending.
I mean it's like a gardenthat's been entrusted to us, but
it's not really our garden,it's God's garden.
And so how are we doing that?
And I think you know, just tostep back a minute from this all
(06:20):
as we were preparing for it, Iwas just thinking that animals
impact their environment.
I mean birds gather grasses andthings to make a nest, and
gophers burrow underground, andso they change that.
And beavers do it the most whenthey create dams on a stream
(06:40):
and flood an area, so theychange their environment.
But clearly the creature thatchanges the environment the most
are human beings that we arechanging so much.
I just think of the propertythat we're on.
We had big bulldozers over hereto recontour the land, to do
what we needed to do on it.
We change the very environmentwe live in.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
And so often without thinking ahead of time and
really thinking how is thisgoing to impact the ecosystem?
How is this going to impact,you know, just everything the
biodiversity that lives in thisspace?
I think about invasive speciesand how we've introduced them,
you know, into different placesand how it's really impacted
(07:24):
certain places, like, forinstance, so many species are
becoming extinct because of this, especially on islands, because
of we invite these invasivespecies in.
I read a quote that and we'llgive you guys all the content,
everything will be cited wherewe got this information from.
But the natural rate ofextinction is estimated to be
(07:47):
one in five species per year,but the current rate now is a
thousand to 10,000 times faster.
On average, one species goesextinct every hour.
And then the World WildlifeFund reports that the population
decline of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles have averaged 60%
(08:07):
lower in the last 40 years.
So I mean we're just becausewe're continuously doing this
without thinking of how it'simpacting One man's collection
of a South African beetle and hewas from South Carolina, so
this was in 1996, his collectionof these beetles literally
(08:27):
destroyed the bee colonies inthe area and then they went on
to even go do that in differentareas like Florida and bees are
so important pollinators.
They make up one third of theglobal crop production of fruit
and vegetables.
Um, they, they also providehalf of the world's supply of
oils, fibers and raw materials,and so it's like wow.
(08:50):
Yeah, I mean, it almost startsgetting overwhelming when you
start talking about it in thatway, it's like your beetle
collection dude.
Did you need it Really?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
You know, I think there is this challenge that we
do things yeah and the challengeis we never fully know the all
the implications of it I don'tthink we think about it well, I,
even when we I mean I think asa as humanity, we've started to
think about it more.
I mean I think back 50, 60years ago, when they introduced
ddt to wipe out certain insects,and then it it started
(09:24):
weakening the shells of birdsand so, like eagles, were dying,
and then eventually we had toban DDT.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Weren't they like spraying that off the back of
trucks?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
or something too.
I don't even remember.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
That was before my time, my mom said that that they
were like spraying it off theback of trucks and the kids
would go chasing the trucks.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I don't know about that story, but I do know that
there are things where we thinkwe're doing something, even
right or good, and sometimesthere are ripple effects, but we
also can't stop doingeverything.
And so how do we find that andhow do we continue to think
about not just what works for me, but what works down the road?
What works down the road, whatmakes sense not just for me, but
(10:05):
for my kids or my grandkids or,yeah, future generations?
I think is a helpful way toframe it that, if we have been
entrusted with the gift of thisplanet, you know, and we're
passing it on, what are wepassing on?
And we need to be thoughtfulabout that.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Absolutely Well and you know being created in God's
image and you know we see in thePsalms especially how God
delights in creation.
And also our commandment is tonot just love God and what God
loves and steward that, but alsoto love our neighbors.
And if we're really honest,most of the areas where there's
the most pollution and those whoare affected are really
(10:44):
impoverished areas and poorareas.
In developing countriesespecially, that's where most of
the air population are linkedto deaths because the laws there
are incredibly weak, there's novehicle admission standards and
there's lots of coal powerstations, and this is impacting
lives.
(11:05):
And yet out of sight, out ofmind, like what do we have to do
to maybe bring some of thisstuff as leaders in the church
to the forefront and have usthinking about this?
And have us talking about thisBecause in essence, it's our
responsibility If we are thebody of Christ and every member
matters, and how we care for ordon't care for our brothers and
(11:27):
sisters half across the world inthese areas are impacting us in
ways beyond our comprehension.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I think some of the challenge becomes is it starts
getting so overwhelming?
Speaker 1 (11:38):
to think about.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
You know, one of the things that I've just become
conscious of in the last fewyears is packaging.
How much one-use packagingstuff that I end up using, you
know.
I just think of all theseclamshell things that you know
those things?
Speaker 1 (11:55):
What are those?
Those like styrofoam-y thingsthat fly everywhere?
No, I'm not talking about those.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
I'm talking about those clear plastic things that
I just got my Costco cookies in.
That keeps all the cookies notgetting mushed together.
But I use it once and then Iget this big old plastic thing
that I just try to recycle, buta lot of it doesn't get recycled
.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
You don't upcycle that.
You change that into like yourtool holder or something.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yeah, no, I have not figured out.
That would be ideal.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
That would be the reuse part of it, if you cared
you would upcycle that and putConnie's makeup brushes in it.
There you go and be like here,honey.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I made this for you, Okay, but then what do I do with
the cookie container that I gettwo weeks later, or the one two
weeks after that?
I think there are a lot ofchallenges, even when you get
conscious of it, to begin tochange behavior, that I think
there's both individual thingswe need to thinking like okay, I
can't do everything, but can Ido this, this and this to to
honor this, the gift of thisplanet?
(12:55):
And even if I can't changeeverything, can I change these
things so that we don't getparalyzed with how overwhelming
but how do we learn even how tochange those things?
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Because, if we're on it like I'm going to be really
honest, I don't remember muchconversation about creation and
caring for it.
Growing up in the church, Idon't remember it being talked
about.
Even in churches I've led, I'mgoing to be like I mean I've had
, unless I had someone in thecongregation who was like very
into it.
It wasn't an initiative that Icould personally take on because
(13:27):
I had so many other thingshappening.
So it's like how are we beingintentional in the church to
talk about this?
No, we're not going to save theworld.
It's like talking about poverty.
It doesn't stop us from helpingcertain, maybe children,
receive clean water.
Right, like when we ran themarathon.
(13:48):
For what is it?
Speaker 2 (13:49):
World Vision.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
World Vision, yeah, to help provide clean water in
certain areas of the world.
We don't go like, oh, it'severything's so overwhelming
with this idea of needing cleanwater.
Let's just not do be paralyzedand not do anything, but like
how do I think, just how do we?
Maybe it's educate more um,come up creatively, maybe make
space at the table to talk aboutways we can, we can do this
(14:13):
better.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yeah, we have probably not led in this area
here.
At Light of Christ Mo.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Well, I'm not just like talking about Light of
Christ, but like in general.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, well, yeah, I don't think it has been a major
focus, yeah, and because thereare so many things to focus on,
but I do think we need toacknowledge it and engage it.
And again, it's kind of likethe how do you?
When issues are so big andthere's so many implications and
(14:45):
so much that we can't controlat all, it is easy to just sort
of throw your hands up and go Ican't do anything about it.
And what are the things that wecan do?
And rather than what can't wedo?
Are there a few things we cando?
And some of it is becomingaware and some of it is taking
the action that we can take as acommunity of faith, as other
(15:09):
churches, but also as individualChristians.
I think some of this is alsohow do you, as you reflect on
your own voting and in yourchoices in those ways, how do
you shape things that way?
I think there are differentways to choose, to act and to
think about that, but again,there's so many layers to it
(15:33):
it's hard to sometimes know.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I would love to hear from our listeners are there
certain things that you'veimplemented in your life to be
more aware or conscious of howto care for creation, how to
care for our air, our water,other people in different
countries or different areas?
Even Because I was even lookingat different stats and I was
(15:55):
shocked because it's like Iwonder if we're not talking
about it because it reallydoesn't affect us that much in
certain more establishedcommunities.
Honestly, we don't see it.
The American Lung Associationtalked about all these studies
that showed evidence that linkedareas of low socioeconomic
status with premature death fromfine particle pollution among
(16:20):
13.2 million Medicare recipientsand Medicaid recipients.
So here are areas where thesepeople premature death is
because of pollution, and that's3.2 million people of lower
socioeconomic status.
(16:40):
And that was like heartbreakingand it's like if I lived in an
area where my children wereexposed to this factory and all
the pollutants that are beingpumped out, and I would be
enraged as a mother and it wouldmatter.
And so I wonder, I feel kind ofconvicted a little bit about
(17:01):
this, like I should.
How do I care more?
I should be caring more.
What are we supposed to bedoing?
Not that we're going to savethe world or change everything,
but thinking through it, atleast as the community of body
of believers, as people who arecalled to do this work body of
believers as people who arecalled to do this work.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Well, I think the challenge I mean, I think those
facts are real, I think thechallenge for all Christians is
well, but I don't own thatfactory, I don't know how I can
impact that issue, and so someof it comes back to.
I think there is an awarenesswe need to have so that we
aren't oblivious to thesedynamics.
But then what are the actions Ican do?
And let me tell you, I mean oneof the things there's this big
(17:47):
push about not having straws,because so many straws, paper
straw.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
My kids got paper straws, making me use these
paper straws.
They get soggy in my mouth.
They're the dumbest inventionever.
I'm sorry, they're horrible.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
But see, that's the place where we're wrestling
right now is what we like, andwhat is convenient isn't always
best for the environment,Absolutely.
And so are we willing to giveup our convenience, and I agree.
And I've heard those samecomplaints in vehicles when
we've gotten those, or when theysay we're not giving straws
anymore and we're like I want mystraw, I mean soggy straws.
(18:25):
When you get those paper straws, no one likes that and other
people are like well, let me geta metal straw.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
So I'm reusing that.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
And I think those are little things and I think part
of what as people who recognizethat we have received this
planet as a gift and we want tohand it on and that it is God's
in the first place.
We need to do the things thatwe can do.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
We can't do everything.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
I can't take out the swirling mass of plastics in the
Pacific Ocean.
I don't know how to do that.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
But I can do certain I thought all things were
possible through Christ, whogives me strength.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
They are, but not possible for Kendall.
But the things that I can doare you know, am I thinking
about how much packaging?
Am I buying stuff with double,triple, quadruple packaging?
Or am I even conscious of that?
Am I considering-.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Or when you do get a lot of packaging, what do you do
with it?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Well, we recycle what we can.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yeah.
Absolutely Can I tell you whatI do with it, and I know it
sounds so extra.
I literally put it in likethose big industrial garbage
bags and then I use it to packother things up, like if I'm
moving or I'm packing things orI'm going somewhere, I put it in
there as like cushion.
I just reuse it, but I don'tknow if that's helpful.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Are you talking, those little nuggets, pastor Mo?
Speaker 1 (19:46):
No, I'm talking about those little peanut things.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
I save some of them.
I do, and then I also.
Well, I give some to my friendtoo, because he actually has,
and we'll link this.
He has a program for kids wherehe takes garbage and creates
things out of it, or shows thekids how to make things out of
it, like productive things, likegum wrappers you can make
purses.
(20:10):
He takes different plastics andcreates like bags out of it,
like actual bags you can use.
It's really kind of neat.
I mean, I don't have talent forthat, but he does, so I give
some of the stuff to him.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Well, and I think it does become.
What are the things that youcan do, and are we conscious of
this?
Are we aware of this?
Are we asking God for wisdom?
Are we trying to learn anddoing the things that we can do?
So what are some things that youdo, you guys do well, I mean,
we recycle, um, that, I um, uh,I mean that's probably the
(20:47):
simplest things.
I try to look at what sort ofpackaging I'm buying stuff in
and can I get it in lesspackaging.
Yeah, um, I think the you knowtrying to be conscious of
driving and you know, hold it.
Can we get by with one carinstead of taking two cars
somewhere?
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Just trying to think.
In all sorts of little ways AmI being conscious and a good
steward of the resources, notonly the resources that I have,
but the physical world in whichI live in.
I also think about.
What chemicals am I using?
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
So I mean, I think there's so many different areas
where this applies, and it's notthat everyone has to do.
You know that we should bejudging everyone, because
they're not doing this?
Speaker 1 (21:32):
No, we can't judge what are the ones that we can do
.
Absolutely.
And then is there?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
are we continuing to stay open to other ways where we
can be?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
doing that?
What are the small littlechanges that feel realistic for
us, in our context, that we canactually do?
Yeah, unless God called you tosomething bigger?
Right, like to dive into theocean, like you said, and start
scooping up all the plastic?
Is that what you're talkingabout?
Speaker 2 (21:55):
No, but there are some really cool inventors who
are looking at creative ideas ofhow to deal with that.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
I do love that yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
And so, I think, looking at those and being aware
of those efforts and, whereappropriate, supporting those
efforts, yeah, where we can,absolutely supporting them as
well.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
So we would, like I said, we'd love to hear from you
regarding what do you do?
What are small little changes,things that seem practical or
big?
Has God called you to get outthere and do something, maybe
campaign for something thathelps with taking care of God's
creation?
We'd love to hear from you Nexttime on.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Unpacking Truths.
There is still this stigma ofbeing darker.
I never experienced that If youwere more fair or lighter or
somewhere in my range of skintone, you didn't get those types
of jokes.
But for the girls that weredarker skinned, they would get
those jokes and they would feellike you know they would want to
be lighter.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
And I think even around the world you'll see that
where there's this push to belighter or even to have more of
a European look Like that, wewould experience that in
different ways.
And so for me, like even withmy daughter, when it comes to
like her Barbies, I give her allof the different types of
colors and hair and all thethings, because I know that that
(23:17):
can feed your subconscious.
You don't realize it.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Thanks for joining us on this episode of Unpacking
Truths.
If anything that we discussedsparked any ideas or you have
any questions, we would love foryou to go to unpackingtruthscom
, or you can also email us atunpackingtruths at locchurchcom.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
And don't forget to like, share or subscribe to the
podcast, because you doing thatallows other people to connect
to this content and grow withGod as well.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Until next time, we hope you know that you are loved
.
So today, on Unpacking Truths, we are going
to be talking about creation andour responsibilities as
followers of Christ.
What this looks like to takecare of everything the world,
nature, insects, animals, allthat good stuff.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I'm Pastor Kendall.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
And I'm Pastor Mo.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome to Unpacking Truths, where we dive deep into
God's timeless truths for ourlives today.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Grab your coffee, open your hearts and your minds.
Come take this journey with usas we unpack God's truths.
So, growing up, what did thislook like for you as a follower
of Jesus and you grew up in thechurch and your dad was a
Lutheran principal right andyour mom a teacher at a Lutheran
school Was this instilled inyou?
(00:45):
This idea of taking care of allof creation?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Well, when you named insects, Mo what I actually
thought of.
I took care of mosquitoes byswatting them.
That was how I took care ofthat part of creation.
So, yes, I mean I grew up.
I'm 60 years old now, so, goingback, I mean I remember when I
mean I think before I rememberit, you know, you start to see
(01:11):
the green triangle of sort ofreduce, reuse, recycle, and my
dad was someone who loved theoutdoors and so he very much had
a sense of an ethic, of wewanted to care for creation, and
so I grew up around that I evenhad except for mosquitoes.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Except for mosquitoes , those could be gone for now
and forever.
Apparently, mosquitoes have nosouls.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, they do not.
Um and uh, and I even grew upwith um.
Both my parents grew up onfarms.
So so that sense of caring forthe farmland, and I remember
seeing up on my grandpa's wallhe had won an award at one point
for sort of progressive farmingpractices that were about sort
of caring for the soil to createless erosion and some of those
(01:59):
things.
So I've been exposed to thisidea that, yeah, the world is
not simply our garbage can orour ashtray, but that it is a
gift from God.
And there's so much scripturearound that.
I mean from Genesis, the verybeginning where God created the
world and he said it's good,it's very good.
(02:21):
Right, it's very good Right.
And so I grew up loving natureand that sense of treasuring,
the gift of wild places as wellas settled places.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, Very cool.
Okay, so well.
And when I think about this youbrought up Genesis and how
we're called to work the landand take care of the land I also
think about Revelation, how thewhole story of what God is
doing, too, is reconciling allthings back into the right order
, right, and so making allthings right, and that includes
(02:52):
creation.
When I think about myselfgrowing up, although recycling
was something that was verycommonplace, I was never.
We never talked about it.
We never talked about, like howwe shouldn't be polluting, you
know, our air or water.
It wasn't like a thing that Isaw, you know readily.
I didn't live next to a factoryor wasn't exposed to certain
(03:16):
things, so I don't think I, youknow it really wasn't brought up
and I'm going to like trueconfession I just kind of threw
like a bunch of stuff I think Ishouldn't have in the recycling
bin and just kind of hoped forthe best.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Oh, back then or yesterday are we talking?
Speaker 1 (03:30):
about.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Whoa whoa.
I'm just asking, I'm justtrying to clarify.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
No, my kids actually were Gen Z.
They are like gung-ho abouttaking care of the environment.
They don't play around.
Man.
If I throw something wrong inthat recycling bin, I am shamed
like hardcore shamed, and so and, and you know, they want me to
clean it out and all this stuff.
And I'm like doesn't someone dothat at the garbage place?
(03:56):
But I mean, and that's, and Ineed to work on that, so that's
so I need to work on that ofwhat it means to really view
this differently.
Right, because I think we needa certain kind of lens if we're
going to look at this the wayGod wants us to.
And I think about a quote that Isaw from Billy Graham and I
thought it was pretty powerful.
(04:17):
He said why should we beconcerned about the environment?
It isn't just because of thedangers we face from pollution,
climate change or otherenvironmental problems, although
these are serious.
For Christians, the issue ismuch deeper.
We know that God created theworld and it belongs to him, not
us.
Because of this, we are onlystewards or trustees of God's
(04:40):
creation and we aren't to abuseor neglect it.
The Bible says the earth is theLord's and everything in it,
the world and all who live in it.
When we fail to see the worldas God's creation, we will end
up abusing it.
Selfishness and greed take overand we end up not caring about
(05:02):
the environment or the problemswe're creating for future
generations, and I think that'sabsolutely true.
We are selfish when we don'tcare about the you know
pollution or what we're doing orhow we're living, because we
aren't thinking at all aboutthose who come after us and and
building a foundation for themand planting, you know, doing
(05:24):
things correctly so that theycan prosper.
And yeah, I just thought thatwas pretty powerful.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Very powerful, very powerful quote.
You know, I think there isthere's so many layers to this
and so many aspects to it, mo,and this is again one of the
questions that was raised by oneof our listeners.
So thank you for raising thisone up so we can take a few
minutes to reflect on it.
There are so many greatscriptures.
Billy Graham quoted Psalm 24.1.
(05:52):
You referred to Genesis 2.15,.
The Lord placed the man in theGarden of Eden to tend and watch
over it, that we have a role inthis of tending.
I mean it's like a gardenthat's been entrusted to us, but
it's not really our garden,it's God's garden.
And so how are we doing that?
And I think you know, just tostep back a minute from this all
(06:20):
as we were preparing for it, Iwas just thinking that animals
impact their environment.
I mean birds gather grasses andthings to make a nest, and
gophers burrow underground, andso they change that.
And beavers do it the most whenthey create dams on a stream
(06:40):
and flood an area, so theychange their environment.
But clearly the creature thatchanges the environment the most
are human beings that we arechanging so much.
I just think of the propertythat we're on.
We had big bulldozers over hereto recontour the land, to do
what we needed to do on it.
We change the very environmentwe live in.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
And so often without thinking ahead of time and
really thinking how is thisgoing to impact the ecosystem?
How is this going to impact,you know, just everything the
biodiversity that lives in thisspace?
I think about invasive speciesand how we've introduced them,
you know, into different placesand how it's really impacted
(07:24):
certain places, like, forinstance, so many species are
becoming extinct because of this, especially on islands, because
of we invite these invasivespecies in.
I read a quote that and we'llgive you guys all the content,
everything will be cited wherewe got this information from.
But the natural rate ofextinction is estimated to be
(07:47):
one in five species per year,but the current rate now is a
thousand to 10,000 times faster.
On average, one species goesextinct every hour.
And then the World WildlifeFund reports that the population
decline of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles have averaged 60%
(08:07):
lower in the last 40 years.
So I mean we're just becausewe're continuously doing this
without thinking of how it'simpacting One man's collection
of a South African beetle and hewas from South Carolina, so
this was in 1996, his collectionof these beetles literally
(08:27):
destroyed the bee colonies inthe area and then they went on
to even go do that in differentareas like Florida and bees are
so important pollinators.
They make up one third of theglobal crop production of fruit
and vegetables.
Um, they, they also providehalf of the world's supply of
oils, fibers and raw materials,and so it's like wow.
(08:50):
Yeah, I mean, it almost startsgetting overwhelming when you
start talking about it in thatway, it's like your beetle
collection dude.
Did you need it Really?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
You know, I think there is this challenge that we
do things yeah and the challengeis we never fully know the all
the implications of it I don'tthink we think about it well, I,
even when we I mean I think asa as humanity, we've started to
think about it more.
I mean I think back 50, 60years ago, when they introduced
ddt to wipe out certain insects,and then it it started
(09:24):
weakening the shells of birdsand so, like eagles, were dying,
and then eventually we had toban DDT.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Weren't they like spraying that off the back of
trucks?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
or something too.
I don't even remember.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
That was before my time, my mom said that that they
were like spraying it off theback of trucks and the kids
would go chasing the trucks.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I don't know about that story, but I do know that
there are things where we thinkwe're doing something, even
right or good, and sometimesthere are ripple effects, but we
also can't stop doingeverything.
And so how do we find that andhow do we continue to think
about not just what works for me, but what works down the road?
What works down the road, whatmakes sense not just for me, but
(10:05):
for my kids or my grandkids or,yeah, future generations?
I think is a helpful way toframe it that, if we have been
entrusted with the gift of thisplanet, you know, and we're
passing it on, what are wepassing on?
And we need to be thoughtfulabout that.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Absolutely Well and you know being created in God's
image and you know we see in thePsalms especially how God
delights in creation.
And also our commandment is tonot just love God and what God
loves and steward that, but alsoto love our neighbors.
And if we're really honest,most of the areas where there's
the most pollution and those whoare affected are really
(10:44):
impoverished areas and poorareas.
In developing countriesespecially, that's where most of
the air population are linkedto deaths because the laws there
are incredibly weak, there's novehicle admission standards and
there's lots of coal powerstations, and this is impacting
lives.
(11:05):
And yet out of sight, out ofmind, like what do we have to do
to maybe bring some of thisstuff as leaders in the church
to the forefront and have usthinking about this?
And have us talking about thisBecause in essence, it's our
responsibility If we are thebody of Christ and every member
matters, and how we care for ordon't care for our brothers and
(11:27):
sisters half across the world inthese areas are impacting us in
ways beyond our comprehension.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
I think some of the challenge becomes is it starts
getting so overwhelming?
Speaker 1 (11:38):
to think about.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
You know, one of the things that I've just become
conscious of in the last fewyears is packaging.
How much one-use packagingstuff that I end up using, you
know.
I just think of all theseclamshell things that you know
those things?
Speaker 1 (11:55):
What are those?
Those like styrofoam-y thingsthat fly everywhere?
No, I'm not talking about those.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
I'm talking about those clear plastic things that
I just got my Costco cookies in.
That keeps all the cookies notgetting mushed together.
But I use it once and then Iget this big old plastic thing
that I just try to recycle, buta lot of it doesn't get recycled
.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
You don't upcycle that.
You change that into like yourtool holder or something.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yeah, no, I have not figured out.
That would be ideal.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
That would be the reuse part of it, if you cared
you would upcycle that and putConnie's makeup brushes in it.
There you go and be like here,honey.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I made this for you, Okay, but then what do I do with
the cookie container that I gettwo weeks later, or the one two
weeks after that?
I think there are a lot ofchallenges, even when you get
conscious of it, to begin tochange behavior, that I think
there's both individual thingswe need to thinking like okay, I
can't do everything, but can Ido this, this and this to to
honor this, the gift of thisplanet?
(12:55):
And even if I can't changeeverything, can I change these
things so that we don't getparalyzed with how overwhelming
but how do we learn even how tochange those things?
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Because, if we're on it like I'm going to be really
honest, I don't remember muchconversation about creation and
caring for it.
Growing up in the church, Idon't remember it being talked
about.
Even in churches I've led, I'mgoing to be like I mean I've had
, unless I had someone in thecongregation who was like very
into it.
It wasn't an initiative that Icould personally take on because
(13:27):
I had so many other thingshappening.
So it's like how are we beingintentional in the church to
talk about this?
No, we're not going to save theworld.
It's like talking about poverty.
It doesn't stop us from helpingcertain, maybe children,
receive clean water.
Right, like when we ran themarathon.
(13:48):
For what is it?
Speaker 2 (13:49):
World Vision.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
World Vision, yeah, to help provide clean water in
certain areas of the world.
We don't go like, oh, it'severything's so overwhelming
with this idea of needing cleanwater.
Let's just not do be paralyzedand not do anything, but like
how do I think, just how do we?
Maybe it's educate more um,come up creatively, maybe make
space at the table to talk aboutways we can, we can do this
(14:13):
better.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yeah, we have probably not led in this area
here.
At Light of Christ Mo.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Well, I'm not just like talking about Light of
Christ, but like in general.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah, well, yeah, I don't think it has been a major
focus, yeah, and because thereare so many things to focus on,
but I do think we need toacknowledge it and engage it.
And again, it's kind of likethe how do you?
When issues are so big andthere's so many implications and
(14:45):
so much that we can't controlat all, it is easy to just sort
of throw your hands up and go Ican't do anything about it.
And what are the things that wecan do?
And rather than what can't wedo?
Are there a few things we cando?
And some of it is becomingaware and some of it is taking
the action that we can take as acommunity of faith, as other
(15:09):
churches, but also as individualChristians.
I think some of this is alsohow do you, as you reflect on
your own voting and in yourchoices in those ways, how do
you shape things that way?
I think there are differentways to choose, to act and to
think about that, but again,there's so many layers to it
(15:33):
it's hard to sometimes know.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
I would love to hear from our listeners are there
certain things that you'veimplemented in your life to be
more aware or conscious of howto care for creation, how to
care for our air, our water,other people in different
countries or different areas?
Even Because I was even lookingat different stats and I was
(15:55):
shocked because it's like Iwonder if we're not talking
about it because it reallydoesn't affect us that much in
certain more establishedcommunities.
Honestly, we don't see it.
The American Lung Associationtalked about all these studies
that showed evidence that linkedareas of low socioeconomic
status with premature death fromfine particle pollution among
(16:20):
13.2 million Medicare recipientsand Medicaid recipients.
So here are areas where thesepeople premature death is
because of pollution, and that's3.2 million people of lower
socioeconomic status.
(16:40):
And that was like heartbreakingand it's like if I lived in an
area where my children wereexposed to this factory and all
the pollutants that are beingpumped out, and I would be
enraged as a mother and it wouldmatter.
And so I wonder, I feel kind ofconvicted a little bit about
(17:01):
this, like I should.
How do I care more?
I should be caring more.
What are we supposed to bedoing?
Not that we're going to savethe world or change everything,
but thinking through it, atleast as the community of body
of believers, as people who arecalled to do this work body of
believers as people who arecalled to do this work.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Well, I think the challenge I mean, I think those
facts are real, I think thechallenge for all Christians is
well, but I don't own thatfactory, I don't know how I can
impact that issue, and so someof it comes back to.
I think there is an awarenesswe need to have so that we
aren't oblivious to thesedynamics.
But then what are the actions Ican do?
And let me tell you, I mean oneof the things there's this big
(17:47):
push about not having straws,because so many straws, paper
straw.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
My kids got paper straws, making me use these
paper straws.
They get soggy in my mouth.
They're the dumbest inventionever.
I'm sorry, they're horrible.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
But see, that's the place where we're wrestling
right now is what we like, andwhat is convenient isn't always
best for the environment,Absolutely.
And so are we willing to giveup our convenience, and I agree.
And I've heard those samecomplaints in vehicles when
we've gotten those, or when theysay we're not giving straws
anymore and we're like I want mystraw, I mean soggy straws.
(18:25):
When you get those paper straws, no one likes that and other
people are like well, let me geta metal straw.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
So I'm reusing that.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
And I think those are little things and I think part
of what as people who recognizethat we have received this
planet as a gift and we want tohand it on and that it is God's
in the first place.
We need to do the things thatwe can do.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
We can't do everything.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
I can't take out the swirling mass of plastics in the
Pacific Ocean.
I don't know how to do that.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
But I can do certain I thought all things were
possible through Christ, whogives me strength.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
They are, but not possible for Kendall.
But the things that I can doare you know, am I thinking
about how much packaging?
Am I buying stuff with double,triple, quadruple packaging?
Or am I even conscious of that?
Am I considering-.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Or when you do get a lot of packaging, what do you do
with it?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Well, we recycle what we can.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yeah.
Absolutely Can I tell you whatI do with it, and I know it
sounds so extra.
I literally put it in likethose big industrial garbage
bags and then I use it to packother things up, like if I'm
moving or I'm packing things orI'm going somewhere, I put it in
there as like cushion.
I just reuse it, but I don'tknow if that's helpful.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Are you talking, those little nuggets, pastor Mo?
Speaker 1 (19:46):
No, I'm talking about those little peanut things.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
I save some of them.
I do, and then I also.
Well, I give some to my friendtoo, because he actually has,
and we'll link this.
He has a program for kids wherehe takes garbage and creates
things out of it, or shows thekids how to make things out of
it, like productive things, likegum wrappers you can make
purses.
(20:10):
He takes different plastics andcreates like bags out of it,
like actual bags you can use.
It's really kind of neat.
I mean, I don't have talent forthat, but he does, so I give
some of the stuff to him.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Well, and I think it does become.
What are the things that youcan do, and are we conscious of
this?
Are we aware of this?
Are we asking God for wisdom?
Are we trying to learn anddoing the things that we can do?
So what are some things that youdo, you guys do well, I mean,
we recycle, um, that, I um, uh,I mean that's probably the
(20:47):
simplest things.
I try to look at what sort ofpackaging I'm buying stuff in
and can I get it in lesspackaging.
Yeah, um, I think the you knowtrying to be conscious of
driving and you know, hold it.
Can we get by with one carinstead of taking two cars
somewhere?
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Just trying to think.
In all sorts of little ways AmI being conscious and a good
steward of the resources, notonly the resources that I have,
but the physical world in whichI live in.
I also think about.
What chemicals am I using?
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
So I mean, I think there's so many different areas
where this applies, and it's notthat everyone has to do.
You know that we should bejudging everyone, because
they're not doing this?
Speaker 1 (21:32):
No, we can't judge what are the ones that we can do
.
Absolutely.
And then is there?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
are we continuing to stay open to other ways where we
can be?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
doing that?
What are the small littlechanges that feel realistic for
us, in our context, that we canactually do?
Yeah, unless God called you tosomething bigger?
Right, like to dive into theocean, like you said, and start
scooping up all the plastic?
Is that what you're talkingabout?
Speaker 2 (21:55):
No, but there are some really cool inventors who
are looking at creative ideas ofhow to deal with that.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
I do love that yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
And so, I think, looking at those and being aware
of those efforts and, whereappropriate, supporting those
efforts, yeah, where we can,absolutely supporting them as
well.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
So we would, like I said, we'd love to hear from you
regarding what do you do?
What are small little changes,things that seem practical or
big?
Has God called you to get outthere and do something, maybe
campaign for something thathelps with taking care of God's
creation?
We'd love to hear from you Nexttime on.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Unpacking Truths.
There is still this stigma ofbeing darker.
I never experienced that If youwere more fair or lighter or
somewhere in my range of skintone, you didn't get those types
of jokes.
But for the girls that weredarker skinned, they would get
those jokes and they would feellike you know they would want to
be lighter.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
And I think even around the world you'll see that
where there's this push to belighter or even to have more of
a European look Like that, wewould experience that in
different ways.
And so for me, like even withmy daughter, when it comes to
like her Barbies, I give her allof the different types of
colors and hair and all thethings, because I know that that
(23:17):
can feed your subconscious.
You don't realize it.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Thanks for joining us on this episode of Unpacking
Truths.
If anything that we discussedsparked any ideas or you have
any questions, we would love foryou to go to unpackingtruthscom
, or you can also email us atunpackingtruths at locchurchcom.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
And don't forget to like, share or subscribe to the
podcast, because you doing thatallows other people to connect
to this content and grow withGod as well.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Until next time, we hope you know that you are loved
.
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