Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - July/84

Contributor - Rev. Wayne W. Joosse

Title - What Have You Done To My Good Earth?

Topic - Environment

"In the beginning, God created heaven and earth ... and God saw that it was good ... and God created man in his own image ... and said unto him ... replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over ... every living thing that moves upon the earth."

Armed with this mandate, man was sent out to subdue a perfect world. Then came Satan, the wily deceiver. He taught man selfishness and turned the heart of man away from God.

Now, in the twentieth century, God asks of mankind "What have you done to my good earth?" If man were honest, he would hang his head in silent shame at the state of a world left in his charge.

The major rivers of the world, once tourist havens, are now little better than open sewers. Chemicals, heedlessly buried years ago, are polluting the soil and ground waters, creating horrors like New York's Love Canal where birth defects and cancer rates are many times the average. Smokestacks belch out clouds of chemicals that form acid in the moisture of the sky, and rain down to kill our forests and waters. Buildings and sculptures that have weathered two world wars are being eaten away by acid rain. The ozone layer, protecting us from the rays of the sun, is becoming dangerously thin due, at least in part, to the propellants in spray cans. Fish from the lakes and many parts of the ocean are inedible due to high mercury content. Countless species of wildlife are extinct and many more are in imminent danger. But man is not ashamed. Even though the list of things spoiled in the world would fill reams of paper, man still dares to shout: "How great is man. How marvelous are his works".

There is a growing awareness of the problem. Conservationists are protecting endangered species. Spray cans are being replaced by the old pump action bottles and so on. Some efforts are very effective. But unless more people care, it will only serve to postpone the inevitable.

What positive action can we as Christians take?

1. Reform our lifestyle. The waste and extravagance of the western countries are a source of amazement to less prosperous lands. A simpler lifestyle would be more ethical and reduce production of pollutants.

2. We must learn from the Indians, whose philosophy of ownership is much more Biblical than ours. They acknowledge that the land and waters, as well as the air, belong to God and we may only use what we need to live.

3. We must make an outcry against wasteful production and careless dumping.

4. We must openly support those who try to protect the environment.

5. We must protest short-sighted, stop-gap measures (e.g. the plan to make a sea wall so the poisons from the Humber River will go farther into Lake Ontario and not pollute Toronto's beaches. The poison will now go to other beaches.)

6. We must petition the government to develop alternate fuel sources.

7. We must conserve fuel whenever possible.

8. We must teach our children a responsible lifestyle.

9. Above all, the churches must proclaim, for all to hear, that the earth is the Lord's and we are but stewards who must deal carefully with what is entrusted to us.

I wouldn't dare to presume that these suggestions will give us a clean. unpolluted earth. but it will be a large step in the right direction.

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