Christian Environmentalism

Our current series, The Story of Stuff, continued this past Sunday with a consideration of the question “what does our stuff do to us and to our environment”. This is an important social and political question right now and that is part of the reason we wanted to address it. While we are a community of diverse opinions on the secondary matters, we find it incredibly enriching to at least air out the conversation and search for the relevant Biblical and Christian help. In this way we learn to think together, and hopefully, live differently together. But the story of stuff is also a spiritual question, a question of our most deeply held values. What has been stirring in you over these past few weeks?

The story of stuff carries with it a lot of attendant meanings, all of which we need to consider through the lens of our Biblical faith. We want to ask some deeper questions of ourselves, and instead of asking God to support our lifestyles, see how and where we need to change in order to align with his will and way. The story of stuff should not be a political football. As Christians we should understand that the world we live in is, by definition, a gift to us. This world is the theatre of God’s grace and only ours for a brief time. We receive this world from our fathers and mothers, and pass it on to our children. We are stewards and not owners.

The unfortunate thing right now is that the polarized state of our politics means that we tend to assign issues to the possession of the right and left. And for some reason, even our Christian thinking tends to line up with party politics. But this is a false choice. Don’t we all live on the same planet? Don’t we all share the same limited space and finite resources? Yes we do. The issues of the environment are essentially non-partisan.

But whatever your perspective, I would at least like to nudge you towards an appreciation for the Biblical aspects of earth stewardship. As Biblicists, we see the created order as something God has given us, something we are to care for and manage well. While I would assert unequivocally that it is a category mistake to see the health of the earth as our salvation, or to divinize the earth and make it sacred, I would assert that it is also a mistake to disregard the health of the planet, to use it up and destroy its future liveability. How can either of these choices be right? Biblical Christians ought to be able to discern the differences. Aside from the politics of environmentalism, it is not true to say that this is a non-issue for Christians.

With those thoughts in mind I want to alert you to two current resources which you should take note of: here are the links to The Green Bible ( www.greenletterbible.com ) and to The Evangelical Environmental Network ( www.creationcare.org ). Note especially in the second resource what the Bible has to say about creation care. I will not duplicate here the Biblical case they make, but it is substantial and not to be disregarded.

Finally, it might help some of us to read the poet and farmer Wendell Berry on these questions. Find out who he is and what he has written (you can do this through our friend wikipedia.com). You might find your perspectives changing when you read someone like Berry. He reminds me of my extended family on my mother’s side who embraced many of the same values of Berry, even if they couldn’t articulate them as well as he does. My mother’s family are salt-of-the-earth types, farmers and people of the land. For them, there was no division between a life with the God of the Bible, and our responsibilities to take care of the land he gave us. For them, this was not a left versus right question but a question of responsible living. And that is always the right way to live.

The Story of Stuff concludes this Sunday at 9:29 and 11:11 am. Hope to see you there.

Bob