Today is Blog Action Day for the environment. The idea is to get bloggers all blogging about a single topic (this year the environment) to help raise awareness and funds for that issue. Part of it is to donate the proceeds from your blog that day to the cause, but I guess that would assume you get proceeds from your blog to begin with. Nevertheless, I decided to add my voice and join in.
In some ways I really don’t get why we still need to raise awareness for environmental issues. It just seems like a no-brainer – do what we can to take care of the planet. Al Gore just won the freaking Noble Peace Prize for crying out loud. But then I step back into reality. Even beyond those who think global warming is a hoax (and they are out there, in droves) and those who think it is our God-given right to destroy the environment (shockingly too many of those out there too), the bigger problem comes from those who just don’t care enough to do crap. Sure they don’t want the world destroyed, they like the idea of swimming in the ocean, and they aren’t too eager to get cancer – but none of that is motivation enough for them to change the way they live. Convenience, cheapness, and sheer laziness win out over conviction any day.
Which is why I really appreciated the call in the Emerging Church to live holistically and put our beliefs into action. Makeesha just posted a reaction to the recent Emergent Gathering in which she debunked and affirmed popular stereotypes of the emerging church. One stereotype she affirmed is the “hippie” vibe one finds at such gatherings. She writes, “all you had to do was step into the room with the food and notice the almond butter, gluten free granola, sprouted bagels, quinoa salad and organic fruit.” Our food was healthy and organic. Sure that gets us labeled “hippie” but I see in that a true commitment to the values of the Kingdom.
For many of us in the emerging church, our faith isn’t just a set of beliefs we affirm by talking endlessly about how blessed we are to have them and by singing songs about why they make us so happy. It is instead a commitment of our whole life to living in the way of Christ. And that includes the areas of how we eat, shop, and treat the environment. If we care for the poor and the oppressed we are not going to buy food from systems that keep them in poverty or that expose them to unhealthy working conditions. If we care for God’s creation we are not going to buy food that dumps poisons into the environment or is unsustainably grown. If we care for our bodies (as temples of the Holy Spirit) we aren’t going to fill them with chemicals and high fructose corn syrup. Living holistically as followers of Christ changes that.
So call me a hippie. Call me a freak. Call me emergent. I am just trying to follow Christ.
And yes that means I care about the environment.