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Subscribe to CommentsClimate change is testing us–the global human family, that is. That’s what I think. Obviously, you don’t have to agree with me. But climate change is also testing the American church, in particular. Tests on a global scale are promised in Scripture. ” I will keep you safe in the time of trial coming on the whole world, to put the people of the world to the test.” (Rev. 3:10)
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It’s truly amazing how the mere mention of climate change in a blog post stirs up objections from believers. I’m guessing that three-quarters of those who read this blog think climate change is a hoax.
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Why should human beings care about whether the population of blue fin tuna is decimated by overfishing? Its pretty unusual in the realm of living things for one species to care about the fortunes of another, even though we live in a delicate balance of competition and cooperation with all other living things. So far as I know, human beings are the only species capable of caring whether or not another species flourishes or declines. Which alone makes me think perhaps we are meant to care, or that in our caring we are expressing our uniqueness.
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This is a guest post from Steve Hamilton, a young Vineyard pastor in Maryland who is active in mobilizing the church to help the victims of human trafficking. Steve hosts his own blog, verse by verse.
The pathos [sorrow, suffering, pity are synonyms] of God is on the prophet. It moves him. It breaks out in him like a storm in the soul, overwhelming his inner life, his thoughts, feelings, wishes and hopes. It takes possession of his heart, giving him courage to act.”
- Abraham Joshua Heschel
You know how when you are in a conversation with someone and stumble upon some topic that they are really into, and they start getting all passionate and animated, and it makes you take a step back and say “Okay…tell me how you really feel about that…”; well, I believe for God, that issue is justice or what we might more precisely call biblical justice. Biblical justice is the more precise term that I prefer, mostly because it reflects the range of justice issues that I see God clearly and deeply cares about, as witnessed in scripture and in my own experience. The issues of biblical justice are social, economic and environmental. They are also intertwined and interconnected.
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Carl Safina, an environmental scientist and science writer of some note, spoke at the Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor two weeks ago. Our first secular scientist as a speaker–a man who professes no Christian faith, but is an admirer of Jesus of Nazareth along with Charles Darwin. He was nervous to be speaking to a congregation in the evangelical wing of American Christianity. He was nervous as one might be who is crossing a minefield without knowing where the mines are located. Would he offend people without even intending to? Would he get me into trouble with congregants by what he might say? I told him not to be nervous: we wanted to hear what he had to say about the oceans and science and the environment. Tell us what you know. But I was nervous too.
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Carl Safina, the preeminent ocean conservationist alive today, and author of Song for the Blue Ocean will be speaking at the Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor this coming Sunday. Why? Because he is the friend of sinners. I met Carl in November of 2006 at a retreat bringing together top enviornmental scientists and a group of evangelical leaders. It was an historic meeting inasmuch these two groups hadn’t done a lot of retreating together in the past. We were asked by the organizers (Harvard and the National Association of Evangelicals) not to tell people where we were going, with whom, or why, because they didn’t want to draw media attention. I think that was overkill, but it reveals the sense of nervousness surrounding the meeting.
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I stumbled into a concern for the environment. It’s not something I sought out. It was thrust upon me. And my interest in this topic is fueled by my concern for the gospel, which has been getting a bad name of late. For good reason. Because we pastors have allowed the gospel to become polluted by political ideology.
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Nine years ago today we were all breathing a sigh of relief about the Y2K disaster that didn’t materialize. Evangelicals more than most. Because for some reason many evangelicals and fundamentalists bought the idea that the world was headed for a techno-cataclysm. Why would we be so alarmed by Y2K and so apathetic about the environmental crisis we are facing, including climate change?
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Just getting back from the arctic with various luminaries and a week’s worth of memories to unpack with family and friends. On day five we saw a rare sight at close range: three polar bears on the sea ice after taking a seal for food, with the arctic ivory gull flying around. It was a stunning sight. And a sight that is itself at risk because the ice is melting at a higher rate than expected. We sailed through areas normally shut off from the pack ice, but that’s all changing and it’s the reason polar bears have been placed on the endangered species list. Throughout the trip, I was meditating on Genesis, chapter one: the days of creation.
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Time arrived with this cover copy a while back: How to Win the War on Global Warming. Shall we confront a brutal fact in evangelical perspective? The thoughtful person on the outside of American Christianity looking in at its dominant form (evangelicalism) has every right to think: Evangelicals have been among the most dismissive of the effort to address global warming. If I am considering the Christian message, I should take this into account. If I support efforts to address climate change now for the sake of the vulnerable poor and future generations, I will be viewed as one of those environmental whackos by evangelicals. Life is stressful enough. I think I’ll get my spirituality on the golf course instead.
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