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.