Carbon Guilt and Pollution Penance

Environmentalism has become hip. Its getting more press and celebrity endorsement than ever before. But apparently it’s also weighing heavy on the American conscious. Environmentally conscious people are experiencing what’s been coined as “carbon guilt.” They begin to feel guilty about how their lifestyle negatively impacts the environment. Guilt necessarily isn’t a bad thing; it often leads to change. If someone feels guilty about their negative impact on the environment, then ideally that guilt will lead them to change the way they live. But not in the good ole U.S. of A! Why go to all the effort of changing your lifestyle when you can pay someone to do it for you? Companies are actually cashing in on carbon guilt by offering Carbon offset programs. In Carbon offset programs “Service providers invest consumers' money in environmental projects, such as renewable energy research or forest conservation, with the goal of counterbalancing the carbon dioxide generated by a subscriber's energy consumption.” Walla – no more pesky carbon guilt trips. Its pollution penance! Bye, bye carbon guilt…hello American Consumerism (I’ll just be sure to save some money back to pay someone else to lower their pollution in my name).

I wonder if we bring this same rationale to our faith. We sin and feel guilty…but its hard to change your behavior, so instead we deal with our guilt by giving or serving. Americans are very good at giving to charities compared to the rest of the world. (We should be since we have so much money). However, I wonder how much of that comes from actual joy of obeying God’s command to give, and how much is in response to the guilt we carry. Do we really understand God’s grace? If we serve out of guilt we’re missing incredible joy that comes from serving out of humility and love.

Roosters and Steers

I grew up in rural Indiana and had many experiences with livestock. One of the great frustrations in dealing with livestock is trying to get them to go where you want them to go. Most of the time coercing them with feed usually does the trick. However, some times no matter how much bribery, coercion, or flat out beating, the animal simply won’t cooperate. I found roosters to be particularly difficult. “Herding” chickens into the coop is a challenging task. As you slip in the last chicken there’s always a rooster who slips out, as you chase him down, all the others escape – back to square one! Steers have the opposite problem. Sometimes they don’t move at all. You can push, pull, prod, and goad with all your might, but you might as well be tugging on a 1,300 pound rock. They simply won’t move.

Working in ministry brings up a lot of the same frustrations I had when I worked with livestock. Sometimes things feel like a whirlwind of feathers and dust. Things are moving a mile a minute, and you can barely hold it all together. Other times things are dead in the water. You try to lead and influence someone or some group with all your might, but still nothing.

I often wonder in those times if this is how ministry is supposed to feel. Is leading others in growing relationships with Christ supposed to be this hard? I wonder if in these times I’m frustrated because I’m trying to do God’s work instead of letting him take a go at it. Maybe I feel like things are out of control, because they really are. Maybe the problem isn’t my circumstances. Maybe it’s me and my illusion of control. Maybe its time to let the steers and roosters go.

Guardin' the Garden

Picture the Garden of Eden…what do you see? Lush tropical forests, sparkling waterfalls, succulent fruits on every branch, Adam and Eve swinging on a hammock in the shade – paradise! I recently read an article that made me take a second look at Genesis and the Garden of Eden. Did God really create such a paradise for Adam and Eve?

Genesis 2:4-15
4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- 7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil… 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Notice something…God’s planned paradise involved Adam and Eve working and taking care of the earth. At the very beginning of creation, God intended a partnership between him and mankind and between mankind and the earth. There is something very spiritual about taking care of the world. Too often environmental issues are separated from spiritual issues, and at times from Christianity all together. God’s call to care for the earth involves environmental advocacy. Christians should be some of the loudest voices concerning environmental issues because we know the God who created the environment. Working and taking care of the physical might just be spiritual.