Tossing Out Trash

Our house is situated right on a relatively busy street here in town. As as a result, we see lots of cars pass by, and at high traffic times of day, they get stuck right in front of our house. Occasionally, we can not even pull out of our own driveway for awhile, but we try not to let it bother us to a great extent. The truth is, because of this traffic, we believe we got a very good deal on our house. Most people didn’t even want to look at a house in our location, and failed to see the back yard, which is what sold us on it. Never judge a book by it’s curb address...or a house by it’s cover...or something like that.

Now that spring has sprung, so have the weeds. All over my yard! I’ll see a nice green lawn at some point in May, but for now, it’s just messy. This all means, of course, that it is time to mow. Now, with this house situated on a busy street, I have a regular brush with death as I mow the part closest to the street. I am literally inches away from cars that drive by with high speed and velocity. So far, I still have all my parts, but I worry.

The other issue about having this yard near the street is that inevitably, I have to clean up trash on the grass. Everything that people throw from their windows between Kempsville Road and my house ends up in my front yard. We are the only house with a fence on one side of the front yard between us and the neighbors, and so it works as a trap for all the junk that the breeze blows our way. I have cleaned up many fast food bags and cups, candy wrappers, empty drink cans, plastic drink bottles, cigarette butts, cigar wrappers, newspaper, plastic bags, used losing lottery scratch-offs, even scarves and a sock. Don’t worry, I use gloves to clean up. Why can’t people toss money out the window?

It’s mostly irritating when I fail to see something hidden when the grass gets taller, and the next thing I know, my mower is making really odd sounds, and spitting pieces of whatever from the side shooter. (Beer bottle caps are the worst--they’re like little ninja throwing stars, ready to do some real damage!) I end up left with a really large mess, and the clean up is a pain.

I just try to clean up with a good attitude, because I am very thankful for the house. But yesterday, as I tore through a green plastic wrapper of some kind, and subsequently cleaned up the approximate 1,478 pieces that it left in the wake, I silently prayed down a curse on the person who left it to end up in our “crap trap.” If they only knew…

So THAT got me thinking: how often do we throw nasty words around with little to no concern with where they will end up or who they affect? Are there times that we let “trash” come from our lips thinking that the ones that hear it won’t mind?  Ephesians 4:29 is one of my favorite Bible verses to deal with this very idea. Paul says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

The word Paul uses for “unwholesome,” or “corrupt” in some translations, was SAPROS. It is a Greek word that means rotten or putrefied. The idea is that it is offensive and immediately draws a reaction as rotten meat or a putrefied animal corpse would immediately make you gag, cover your nose, or any other colorful responses. It can also basically mean something that is no longer of any use. If you speak a word that is profane, hurtful, slanderous, gossipy, or immoral in nature, you’re using SAPROS speech. There’s no reason for any of it. It’s all rotten, and does not bring a good response.

Instead, he says, we need to be speaking things that are encouraging and supportive of others, but not just randomly--according to their needs at the time! Truth is always supportive, even if not easy to hear. Compliments are encouraging, and are usually welcome in all situations. Scripture is valuable for others at any time, and if you can’t say anything good, then silence is golden. There are so many different things that can come from our mouth that we do not have to toss that SKUBALON around. (You’ll have to look that one up.)

The other idea here is the “toss off” quality of what we say. The truth is, you never know who is standing just around the corner. You never know how thin your walls really are. You can’t guarantee that what you say won’t be heard by someone else. While the words we say should be worthwhile to the intended recipients, they should also be beneficial, or of some constructive value to anyone who is standing nearby and overhears what we say.

If you offer an encouraging word to a friend with relationship struggles, the person behind you in line at the grocery store may get a nugget of wisdom from that. If you are gently correcting your child for pitching a fit at Walmart, another parent may observe it, and be challenged to better handle their own responses to similar situations. These are the positives, but the negatives can go just as poorly as these went well. What if you claim to be a Christian at work, but your quiet gossiping about a co-worker reaches her ears while she’s getting coffee just outside your office? What if you are criticizing your wife with harsh words and your daughter is playing around the corner where you didn’t realize she was there?

You see, the stuff you toss out there haphazardly can get caught on the winds of life, and can reach people you never intended. What is the clean up that will be necessary? Will it damage the ones that finally hear it? Will it kill your reputation? Will we lose all chance to share Christ with someone because we couldn’t exercise our self-control and choose our words more carefully? I put this in the collective, because I am equally as guilty of it as anyone, and I regret all the times it’s happened before.

Don’t let your trash end up in the yard of innocent home-owners. Choose carefully the words you put out there, so that if anyone hears it unintentionally, they can still receive it as if it were something of great value!