Some of the greatest destruction of our God given natural surroundings has been an expense in an effort to better our technology. With more electronics we've had a greater demand for electricity and part of that electricity generation is bad for the environment. With new gadgets comes with disposing of the old ones and dealing with how we dispose with the new ones. Many of our gadgets aren't recyclable or don't get recycled; filling large landfills with our waste. So, what is your church doing about it?
Earth Day
Earth Day is coming up on April 22nd. This is a great opportunity for churches to talk about our responsibility as it relates to taking care of creation and what we can do about it.
International Earth Day has a rich Christian heritage. Julius Sterling Morton (the man behind Arbor Day) and Eddie Alberts (an actor behind environmental causes in the past) were Christians whose birthdays were April 22nd. This was big part of the decision for Earth Day to be April 22nd. Add to that, John Muirs (someone who had a strong influence on the environmental movement) had his birthday the day before these men and was a Christian.
Our Responsibility
Yeah, I said it. Christians have a God given responsibility to be good stewards of His creation. If you are looking for some simple justification there are a few biblical things to consider.
First, Psalms 24, along with a number of other passages, points out that "The earth is the LORD’s". It's not ours to do with as we please.
Second, according to the bible we are to "fill the earth and subdue it". When God put man in the garden he put him there to "work it and keep it." There is this tie between man having a responsibility with the rest of nature. If you are curious about what this means check out the article "Just Another Animal" by Jon Petering.
Finally, God calls us to be a good steward over his things which he has given us to run. This is not only a theme but something Jesus specifically talked about.
What Can We Do About It?
There is a lot that we can do in our everyday lives. We can wash our clothes with eco friendly soaps, we can recycle, we can turn off the lights when we leave a room, and thousand other little things that fit right into our everyday lives.
One of the things my little church is doing is handing out a postcard sized reminder to people about taking care of the environment. Are we being bad by handing out a reminder? Well, the ink is made of soy, the paper is from sustainable paper stock, and we are asking everyone to recycle them. On one side of the card is an image with a light justification to get people talking. On the other side is a few practical things people can do and a URL to an online group in our church that talks about this with practical examples on how to live this.
Other ways to talk about this are by adding something to your church bulletin, showing a short video, giving an announcement, or even having a sermon on this.
In any case, I challenge every church to do something this coming Earth Day to highlight our role as Christians in taking care of the this great creation of Gods.
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