JourneyOnline
The evangelical Climate Initiative submits the following statement as a basis statement for engagement in the emerging battle for the environment.
“The same love for God and neighbour that compels us to preach salvation through Jesus Christ, protect the unborn, preserve the family and the sanctity of marriage, and take the whole Gospel to a hurting world, also compels us to recognize that human-induced climate change is a serious Christian issue requiring action now.”
The world is a finite source that can only sustain life for a set period. This is a pretty hardcore statement but there is wholesale agreement in most scientific communities that we humans are having a negative impact upon our world through the over use and abuse of the earth as a resource.
We have been hearing this message since David Suzuki was pushing his wheelbarrow in the 80’s and perhaps have become either a bit “ho hum” about it or even a little overwhelmed with the magnitude of the problem.
China and India are coming on line as the largest consumers of energy the world has ever seen, and there is no stopping this juggernaut of capitalism and consumerism.
These two countries are likely to double the amount of carbon output into our environment over the next 20 or so years, which will increase the earth’s temperature by about 4%, and have an unimaginably catastrophic impact upon the earth and all of her inhabitants.
We can’t stop India and China from enjoying what we have had for years but we can make changes locally to help relieve the problem. Here are a few suggestions:
Stop travelling kilometres to a church that meets your needs, and focus on local mission by going to a church near you. Better still start a faith community; this will save fuel and wear and tear on your vehicle.
Don’t support the building of new churches or the redevelopment of old ones that are used only on Sunday, these buildings are a massive waste of energy, rather have multi-use facilities that can be used by big mobs of people and support local community development.
Plant trees as a community outreach.
Used the internet instead of paper.
Share a lawnmower with a friend or neighbour, let’s face it how many lawnmowers do we need per household?
There are many things we can all do that assist with limiting this global crisis, and they are all great ways to share our faith, the same faith that is a mandate to care for our earth.
Former forestry worker Rev Craig Mischewski is minister at Townsville Central Uniting Church.
Photo : Rev Craig Mischewski
