“Going to be Green?” – The Objectives of Christian Ecology
As reported in the last issue of “The Sign”, as part of its social responsibility, St Cuthbert’s is investigating initiatives to encourage “green-ness” both individually and corporately. Behaving in a way which is respectful to the environment is an attitude of mind and not just a fashionable “fad”!
The “Christian Ecology Link” is an organisation which has been established to promote responsible behaviour and they write in their leaflet:-
Stay Committed! The first message is to stay committed to your faith…..Becoming green is NOT joining a new religion.
Right to be green: you are right to be concerned about the
state of the environment and to feel that something needs to be done about it.
We cannot go on regarding it as a sideline, or as a ‘secular’ issue, not for
ordinary Christians.
You are not alone! Leading Christians of all persuasions have gone on record about the importance and urgency of environmental issues. Groups of Christians are responding to the problems.
How it fits in: The Christian Church has sometimes been accused of opposition to environmental concerns. However, in the Bible and in numerous other Christian writings the importance of care for creation has been emphasised. The Creation Story in Genesis tells us that God created the world and everything in it (Gen 1:31). Adam and Eve were put into the garden of Eden to “till it and keep it” (Gen 2:15). Christians acknowledge that “The earth is the Lord’s (Ps 24:1). We should care for the earth because it is God’s creation. Humans were put on the earth to look after it, not pollute it. The basic principle is often described as stewardship – that the Creator has given us a role in caring for His creation.
Other concerns: Stewardship is usually understood by Christians in terms
of responsible and regular financial giving and the wise use of money by the
Church and individual Christians. Occasionally the concept is widened to
include issues of social responsibility, poverty and unemployment, but
environment issues are usually ignored because, it is said, people are
ultimately more important than trees or animals (Matt 6:26). Yet trees and
animals are also God’s creatures. He feeds the sparrows and clothes the grass
of the fields. They are good in His sight (Gen 1:24). In other words, the whole
of creation is of value to God.
Stewardship relates to everything in God’s creation. For example climate change and pollution affect the quality of the environment and the lives and health of people and animals.
These principles appear to be sound and irrefutable. It will be part of St Cuthbert’s task to develop guidelines to help us as individuals and as a community to apply the ideas in practice. It is proposed that “Going to be Green” should become part of our agenda.
Jean Haskell