Living on the West Coast, I am constantly surrounded by “Green” messaging. Bring your own reusable cloth bag to the grocery store and get bonus points. Bring your own tumbler to Starbucks and get 10 cents off. Buy local. Buy organic. Use less paper.
Last Sunday, our sermon was about what our attitude should be toward creation. Interestingly, the early church saw people in relation to themselves, each other, God and the rest of creation. In our small group, we had a lively discussion about this. On one hand, how does my recycling one tin can make a difference in the world? And if I’m not the CEO of a large corporation, what say do I have in who can clearcut the Amazon forests? It seems like one individual can do little to help with this global crisis.
I can appreciate this perspective, but my own stance is this: If I respect God, I will respect His creation. My recycling one tin can has more to do with my relationship with the Creator than it does with the effectiveness of the act. In being careful about my choices and thinking through how I’m impacting the earth, I am honouring the fact that God has entrusted me with this place I live in. I may not hold an influential position to stop the destruction of rainforests, but I do live in a country that provides facilities and opportunities to be kinder to this planet. So I will do my best, though I’m far from perfect. Because at the end of the day, when I stand before the Lord, I know I am accountable to Him and Him alone.
The earth is not my god (as it seems to be to some people out here…), God is. But it so happens that God made this earth and called it “good.” So I think I would do well to treat it as such.