“Everyone worships the god they believe in.”
I first heard these words from a spiritual director twenty-five years ago. At the time, my reaction was; “Duh???!!! Tell me something I don’t know.” Muslims, Buddhists, Christians…. It’s pretty obvious isn’t it?”
In time I learned that she had more in mind than a Wikipedia-like catalogue of world religions. The deeper truth is that our core beliefs form and shape our daily behavior. A life lived is testimony to whatever god drives it.
Perhaps this is why Jesus said, “Follow me….” There’s a forming and shaping quality to following. Each step away from a life not-well-lived is closer to a life lived well. Each step toward Christlikeness brings one closer to the genuine God of creation. Each step is a change of view, from my perspective to God’s perspective.
None of which is to say that this is easy. Change is hard, even for good reasons! I’m thinking of these things today in the wake of the latest IPCC report on the climate crisis. Long story short—we have to make radical changes and there isn’t much time: twelve years they suggest. It appears that our way of living—revelatory of our core values—isn’t turning out well.
Following Jesus calls for a turnaround. But Jesus wasn’t naïve, he knew that letting go of an old life is hard. In fact, scripture says that many early followers turned back; his teaching was too difficult to accept. They made a choice, but in doing so forfeited the joy of the kingdom. Do not, however, confuse joy with happiness. Joy is costly.
Mitigating climate change will be costly in terms of life style, mobility, and consumption. There’s no way around that, but you do get to choose. At the moment, the world collectively is saying, “No, not going there. Not part of my core values, man.”
Christians, however, have the opportunity to witness to a basic truth, that in God’s design for creation all things work together for good. So, if we choose to turn, what sort of changes might we make in order to mitigate the effects of climate change?
I have some suggestions, none of which are exhaustive. For a fuller discussion, turn to Paul Hawken’s Drawdown – The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. So here goes:
- Catalogue your annual miles driven and reduce the total by 5,000
- Minimize consumption of red meat
- Invest in residential energy efficiency – Set a Net-zero goal
- Eliminate recreational air travel
- Advocate for walkable neighborhoods
- Limit screen time to minimize exposure to consumerist advertising
- Car pool to church
- Let your legislators know that you really mean it
Jesus tells the story of a merchant who upon finding a great pearl sells all that he has in order to purchase it. That was a costly decision, and most likely in the eyes of the Wharton Business School, a bad move. But he did it because he had a different understanding of treasure. My prayer is that, when the day comes, we won’t say that we lived well, but rather that we lived in such a way as to bring about Gods’ kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven.”
~Peter Boogaart, Caring for Creation Co-coordinator