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Shouldn’t the Pastors of churches be discipling their flocks in the ways of the Lord? This seems to be worship of creation, and not creator. The church was not called to be green, it was called to be salt and light.

Hi Scott,

I agree with you that the job of pastors (and all of us) is to disciple. But we’re not worshiping creation. We’re worshiping the Creator by caring for a sacred gift.

The ways of the Lord as revealed in Christ is compassion and concern for the least among us. Being salt and light is at the heart of what this ministry is about. We want others to recognize our moral responsibility to those who will be most affected by climate change.

p.s. Thanks Steve for posting the video!

Chad,

I see. Thank you for the clarification. My family and I try to minimize our negative impact, as best we can. I just thought that as part of our walk with Christ, that taking care of creation would come naturally, and an organized, in-church effort seemed strange. I didn’t mean to imply that this seemed to be a priority in the church. It simply seemed strange to me, not necessarily wrong. I hope I didn’t come across as offensive.

Interesting idea, none the less.

I would think that we wouldn’t be able to destroy the Earth, if a sovereign God did not want us to. Nor do I think that we are destroying the Earth.

I think this kind of thing is just a shallow ploy at being “hip” and “in with the culture” or whatever else is popular at the moment. Another weak attempt at “being relevant”, since apparently scripture just isn’t as “cool” as it should be.

The church giving out money that was received as tithe, or offering as “Cash Prizes for whomever has the lowest carbon footprint” is in serious need to check themselves against scripture.

And another question for the “cool congregations”.

Why not use that money towards true religion, such caring for the widows and orphans of James 1:27?

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Holy irony, anyone? I especially love the mock-Tracy Chapman-esque acoustic guitar. It ‘rocks’. Thank you for this post, Steve. The message matters. The method is mock (moque) -able.

In what sense was Jesus not “green?” He walked lightly on the Earth and saw creation as a place where the Presence of the Creator is revealed. His carbon footprint was negligible.

“Orphans and widows,” ie. the poor, are the first ones harmed by climate change and other effects of an economics based on greed. The “culture” defined by this system is what the church needs to be separate from.

The fact that the tenants can destroy the vineyard does not mean that destruction is the Owner’s intent.

If using fossil fuels is bad for the environment, why do you suppose they are here? Why would God create oil, natural gas and other combustible sources of energy if we as humans would only damage the world with them?

Is God’s created world so fragile that we can really mortally fracture it by careless living? And wouldn’t the poor of the world—those in the remote regions of South America, Africa and Asia—benefit greatly from increased use of fossil fuels in order to battle disease, increase productivity and remedy unsanitary conditions?

As the emerging church strives to take greater steps in alleviating the conditions of poverty and discrimination against the poorest of the poor, it would seem to me that those same poverty stricken souls would benefit more from increased use of energy, not reduced.

Maybe I’m thinking to modernly here, but although I’ve heard ad nauseum that the poor will suffer the most from climate change, it would seem to me that they would also benefit the most from increased productivity in their regions.