god is green
I have been working my way through Mars Hill Bible Church's current teaching series, "God is Green." At the center of the series is a book called Serve God Save The Planet by Matthew Sleeth. His story is a provocative one, while his speaking style is not so engaging. Both Rob Bell and Sleeth use the Scriptures (mostly OT) to reflect God's delight in creation, and His delight in restoring creation (NT), as a foundation for a call to Christians to live more simply. Specifically to work counter to the driving forces of our culture which call us to consumption, exploitation, and entitlement.
What role does God want us to play in caring for, preserving, and restoring the planet?
5 comments:
I noticed from your link to Mars Hill that they were going through this series, and I've been interested and a bit angry about this subject. It seems to me that environmentalists, whether they know it or not, are leading us to poverty. By vilifying all that is man-made and championing untouched nature, we must reject industry and freedom, which have been the prime source of prosperity throughout history, and most notably over the last three centuries. Consider that America, the most industrialized nation in the world, has never had a famine. Until the Industrial Revolution, famines were commonplace. By rejecting machinery, we will experience that could have been ridden for good.
I just finished reading "Pollution and the Death of Man" by Francis Schaeffer, who argues that Christianity is the only worldview that has a proper view of man and nature. He says that man is equal with nature in the sense that they are both part of God's creation, but man is higher in the sense that he was made in God's image, and is a personal being. We should respect nature and treat it with integrity. I was pleased to find that he did not endorse legislation for environmental reasons, though that might not have been as big of a deal when he penned the book back in 1970. The concluding chapter notes that socialism leads to catastrophes such as Chernobyl, where as capitalism is compatible with the Bible.
I guess the main issue I still have is when is OK to exercise our dominion over nature? It's acceptable to eat animals - Jesus even helped his disciples to fill their nets with fish. What about the What Would Jesus Drive campaign? If a driving polluting Hummer is a sin, then is a less polluting car that's still "bad" for the environment sinful? Is nature's only purpose to serve man, or is a good in itself to be preserved? Or are those both true?
Toph -
I ahve a bunch of thoughts, but am leaving on the Water Ski Trip. I am also going to be reading Matthew Sletth's book, so I will let you know my thoughts when I return.
I have refused to listen to this series. I get a little annoyed with the environmental hoopla that is so extreme and usually hypocritical. Just the idea of using God to sell the environmental agenda stops me dead in my tracks.
I would encourage you to listen to the messages that Rob did on 7/14 and 7/21. They are by far the best of the series and reflect the heart of the matter as far as why "God is Green." While the goals are lofty, the practicality and personal examples that Rob shares make it much more than a political or social agenda, which is certainly not what they seem to be pushing.
I personally appreciated that they do not take the angle of "Climate Change" as a driving influence for change, but emphasize the impact our consumption has on our own children and the world's poor (which God certainly cares about). These are less "controversal" as far as their truth. The series does address God's intentions for our relationship with the Earth, and again, I appreciated that they emphasized the sustainability of our lifestyles if projected into the future, instead of walking into the murky waters of "An Inconvenient Truth" presentation.
What I took away from it was that "Environmentalism," from a Christian perspective, is a matter of the condition of our heart as far as consumption, explotation, and entitlement. I am left asking: Is my comfort distancing me from God? Do I consider my "stuff" mine, or God's? Is my lifestyle sustainable if my children continue in my footsteps? Are my choices leading me to experience peace with God, others, and Creation (all part of the Hebrew understanding of Shalom)?
More thoughts to come on Sleeth's book . . .
Thanks, that's reassuring.
I still have trouble with the issue of the earth being a good in itself. Obviously it's part of God's creation, and is worth preserving. But how far can we take that? Can I cut down a tree to build my home? Can I kill an animal for food?
Presuming the answers to be yes, and inferring that the earth is for man (we have God-given dominion over the earth), can we do whatever gives us pleasure? Can we morally participate in dog fighting, as long as we're using our dogs?
And I guess I want to have not only a moral system of how to treat the earth (based on Biblical principles), but also an ethical system based on property rights, Austrian economics, sans state intervention. I also think those are very Biblical, but that's another discussion.
Anyway, thanks for your thoughts. From what I've heard, Trinity Western is involved with environmental concerns, and being in the science department, I'm sure to learn from them. I'll let you know what I find out.
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