What will it take to keep Christ at the center of the "green" wave?
No, I'm not talking about Tulane. I'm talking about the insane hype around "going green." Christ is at the core of true stewardship of Creation, but I fear that most motivation to "care" for Creation is selfish: anything from vanity (bragging about driving a Prius) to greed (saving money by saving energy).
Truth is, caring for Creation is hard and will require sacrifice and thoughtfulness. To engage this green wave, I think we need to give serious consideration to these three issues:
1) We willingly bow at the altar of a three-headed monster: Consumerism, Excess, and Distance
The best way I know to illustrate this issue is to compare exceptional stewards of God's Creation to us. Native Americans are renowned for their use of every part of a buffalo. They lived on the land and respected the buffalo. They were personally involved with each kill. There was no excess, no waste.
It is laughable (in a heart-breaking way) to picture those same Native Americans shopping at Wal-Mart. It would be completely counter to their belief in the Created order to shop for shelter or dinner walking down aisles stocked with thousands of buffalo. But this is our reality. We are so removed from the kill (be it a cow for a steak dinner, a tree for office paper, or an entire habitat for oil) that we welcome ignorance as an excuse for irresponsibility. I believe that if we reconnected with Creation, eliminated that distance, our souls would be stirred to dramatic and lasting change.
But eliminating distance isn't enough. We have to fight the excess that plagues America. It is a shame that we can drive to the store to buy food any time we want. There used to be a time (and it is a present reality for most of the world) where food came from the ground, not Kroger. But in America, we have so much -- and we can have it whenever we want -- that we can afford to waste and just go buy more. I can buy 12 bananas and, if 5 of them turn brown before I eat them, I'll just throw them away and buy more. Nevermind the energy consumed in flying them halfway across the world to get them to my grocery store. Nevermind the landfill that is filling because I bought too much.
Excess is the disease that leads to pantries full of food we can't remember buying, newspapers delivered daily that we don't read, and 35 minute commutes to work (and these are just 3 examples from my life). I believe that if we had to wait longer to get less, we would be dramatically closer to the way God designed us to interact with Creation.
Finally, consumerism -- whether it's shopping for a TV or shopping for a church -- tells me my decisions are all about me. I'm certain I don't have to expound on the dangers of this kind of selfishness. But we do have to acknowledge its nagging presence in virtually every decision we make.
2) We believe in a false, separate entity called "the environment"
Consumerism, excess, and distance are symptoms, I believe, of deeper issues: false understanding of the relationships with our Creator and within Creation.
The Oxford English Dictionary says Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to use the word "environing," from which we get our word "environment." Today, the word "environment" is so culturally ingrained that we don't stop to consider the implications of that word. Until Chaucer's writings in the late 1500s, it seems the English language had no way of expressing ourselves as separate from Creation. Creation, as described in the Bible, was the whole of things created. Today, however, we have humans and the "environment."
Separating ourselves from the rest of Creation is a dangerous and -- I think proving deadly -- mistake. Not only do we suffer the physical consequences of our resulting mistreatment of Creation, this false separation causes us to miss the spiritual significance of our interconnectedness with Creation. "The environment" was not created to serve man. Creation was created to serve God. If we truly believed the latter to be true, we would learn to live as true conservationists -- never taking without giving back.
3) We substitute "global warming" for "Creation care"
Unfortunately, the most public of "environmentalists" have led us to set up camp on what I believe to be one of the shakiest possible foundations: global warming.
The Bible commends to us stewardship of God's Creation. All of it. Global warming reduces the conversation to the emissions that result from our energy consumption. It doesn't address water conservation, topsoil erosion, sustainable agriculture, waste management, etc., etc. But, because we live in a culture dominated by single-issue marketing and celebrity-endorsed advocacy, global warming has become the one issue of ultimate concern. In fact, people now often use "global warming" as a substitute for a broader concern for Creation, e.g.:
We must acknowledge the consequences of this singular focus on global warming. Caring about CO2 emissions and not water conservation (for example) is like giving a band-aid to someone who broke multiple bones in car accident. Marketers believe we can only understand one issue at a time, but I think we're smarter than that. I think we know something is broken -- lots of things, in fact -- and we need much more than a band-aid to set those bones so true healing can take place.
Culture will continue to tempt us with the lie that we can "save the planet" without giving up our comfortable lifestyles. But I'd argue that for real, Christ-centered change to take place, it's going to require sacrifice -- both materially and in terms of time dedicated to studying a Biblical view of Creation. It's going to be hard and we shouldn't listen to anyone who tells us otherwise.
Truth is, caring for Creation is hard and will require sacrifice and thoughtfulness. To engage this green wave, I think we need to give serious consideration to these three issues:
1) We willingly bow at the altar of a three-headed monster: Consumerism, Excess, and Distance
The best way I know to illustrate this issue is to compare exceptional stewards of God's Creation to us. Native Americans are renowned for their use of every part of a buffalo. They lived on the land and respected the buffalo. They were personally involved with each kill. There was no excess, no waste.
It is laughable (in a heart-breaking way) to picture those same Native Americans shopping at Wal-Mart. It would be completely counter to their belief in the Created order to shop for shelter or dinner walking down aisles stocked with thousands of buffalo. But this is our reality. We are so removed from the kill (be it a cow for a steak dinner, a tree for office paper, or an entire habitat for oil) that we welcome ignorance as an excuse for irresponsibility. I believe that if we reconnected with Creation, eliminated that distance, our souls would be stirred to dramatic and lasting change.
But eliminating distance isn't enough. We have to fight the excess that plagues America. It is a shame that we can drive to the store to buy food any time we want. There used to be a time (and it is a present reality for most of the world) where food came from the ground, not Kroger. But in America, we have so much -- and we can have it whenever we want -- that we can afford to waste and just go buy more. I can buy 12 bananas and, if 5 of them turn brown before I eat them, I'll just throw them away and buy more. Nevermind the energy consumed in flying them halfway across the world to get them to my grocery store. Nevermind the landfill that is filling because I bought too much.
Excess is the disease that leads to pantries full of food we can't remember buying, newspapers delivered daily that we don't read, and 35 minute commutes to work (and these are just 3 examples from my life). I believe that if we had to wait longer to get less, we would be dramatically closer to the way God designed us to interact with Creation.
Finally, consumerism -- whether it's shopping for a TV or shopping for a church -- tells me my decisions are all about me. I'm certain I don't have to expound on the dangers of this kind of selfishness. But we do have to acknowledge its nagging presence in virtually every decision we make.
2) We believe in a false, separate entity called "the environment"
Consumerism, excess, and distance are symptoms, I believe, of deeper issues: false understanding of the relationships with our Creator and within Creation.
The Oxford English Dictionary says Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to use the word "environing," from which we get our word "environment." Today, the word "environment" is so culturally ingrained that we don't stop to consider the implications of that word. Until Chaucer's writings in the late 1500s, it seems the English language had no way of expressing ourselves as separate from Creation. Creation, as described in the Bible, was the whole of things created. Today, however, we have humans and the "environment."
Separating ourselves from the rest of Creation is a dangerous and -- I think proving deadly -- mistake. Not only do we suffer the physical consequences of our resulting mistreatment of Creation, this false separation causes us to miss the spiritual significance of our interconnectedness with Creation. "The environment" was not created to serve man. Creation was created to serve God. If we truly believed the latter to be true, we would learn to live as true conservationists -- never taking without giving back.
3) We substitute "global warming" for "Creation care"
Unfortunately, the most public of "environmentalists" have led us to set up camp on what I believe to be one of the shakiest possible foundations: global warming.
The Bible commends to us stewardship of God's Creation. All of it. Global warming reduces the conversation to the emissions that result from our energy consumption. It doesn't address water conservation, topsoil erosion, sustainable agriculture, waste management, etc., etc. But, because we live in a culture dominated by single-issue marketing and celebrity-endorsed advocacy, global warming has become the one issue of ultimate concern. In fact, people now often use "global warming" as a substitute for a broader concern for Creation, e.g.:
"Do you care about conserving and preserving Creation?"
"Yes, I am very concerned about global warming."
We must acknowledge the consequences of this singular focus on global warming. Caring about CO2 emissions and not water conservation (for example) is like giving a band-aid to someone who broke multiple bones in car accident. Marketers believe we can only understand one issue at a time, but I think we're smarter than that. I think we know something is broken -- lots of things, in fact -- and we need much more than a band-aid to set those bones so true healing can take place.
Culture will continue to tempt us with the lie that we can "save the planet" without giving up our comfortable lifestyles. But I'd argue that for real, Christ-centered change to take place, it's going to require sacrifice -- both materially and in terms of time dedicated to studying a Biblical view of Creation. It's going to be hard and we shouldn't listen to anyone who tells us otherwise.
posted by Matthew at 11:36 PM
3 Comments:
Busy day, so here's a quick one. Like the topic. Be careful when you type "greed (saving money by saving energy)." There is no necessary correlation between saving money and greed. Greed is simply a concern for money (this can involve extravagance or its inverse) which disrupts one's attention to God. Gotta run...
Just read an article saying 31,000 scientists have come out refuting the "myth of global warming."
The fact that they think global warming is a fraud is not what intrigues me most -- it's quotes like these:
"A review of the research literature concerning the environmental consequences of increased levels of carbon dioxide leads to the conclusion that increases during the 20th Century have produced no deleterious effects upon global weather, climate, or temperature."
"Research into data on climate change does not show that human use of hydrocarbons is harmful. To the contrary, there is good evidence that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is environmentally helpful."
The biggest danger of the global warming hype -- as I mentioned in the post this week -- is defining all environmental impact according to one criterion: CO2.
If more CO2 means healthier plants, keep burning up non-renewable fuels. Really?
This report says human use of hydrocarbons produced no negative impact on "global weather, climate, or temperature." What about the impact our hydrocarbon consumption has on biodiversity or air pollution or even global hunger (driving food prices up)?
Interesting post...
I've recently noticed how "greed(saving money by saving energy)" has become the popular outlet for self-glorification. Reducing the carbon footprint is more of a bragging right than an actual concern, and fads like hypermiling are thriving on popularity, not sincerity.
To answer your question: "What will it take to keep Christ at the center of the 'green' wave?"
I think people are finally ready to listen to Christ-centered ecological preaching because we are feeling the result of our extraneous living in our bank accounts. If you want people to listen, hit them where it hurts. Now that people are seeing brands like Hummer being discontinued they will be more likely to examine their own wasteful consumerism.
God has our attention, so we should preach sternly about being a good steward of the Earth. How backwards is it that we have previously labeled anyone caring for the environment a "tree hugger." Not all environmentalists are motivated by the love of Christ, but we should be involved in actively removing the social misconceptions about caring for the environment.
Obviously its a balance. We can't get caught up in the chauvinistic "going green" movement, and we can't maintain the judgemental "tree hugger" attitude.
"All things are from him, through him, and to him, to him be the glory forever."
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