This is a response I did for a class about this article that reviewed Green Like God by Jonathan Merritt. I have not read the book, but followed the assignment of the class and responded to the article.
First of all, I commend Jonathan Merritt for his efforts in contextualizing environmentalism. Contextualization is something that environmentalists do not understand and rarely use, at least effectively. I worked with someone who was very serious about recycling and saw it as her “thing” at work to try to get others to recycle so that we would be a store that recycled. But she was always extremely insulting, argumentative, and very aggressive. She actually told me one time, “ if you f- with Mother Earth, you f- with me.” (She really did just said the letter f-) We were good enough friends that it was more sarcastic than serious, but still. In the end, she was seen as an environmentalist, with a heavy emphasis on mental. She was never really able to explain her “cause” very well without some aggressive guilt treatment. Though I have not read Merritt’s book, I already appreciate his approach to “reach” conservatives.
Secondly, I personally have a hard time with the idea of adjusting much of my lifestyle for the sake of “Going Green.” I love creation; I get the whole stewardship thing and try in all areas of my life to be a good steward of what God has given me, though I fail all the time. We bought a car last year that meets PZEV (low emission) standards and we even bought my daughter a cupcake / tea set that was made entirely from used milk jugs. But I didn’t buy those things because I wanted to be a good steward or because I thought that I was saving the planet, the car was cool and met out needs as a family, and out of all the tea sets that one was the simplest.
The environment does not rank that high on my list of causes that I’m willing to put my time towards. I’m fine with recycling and do my best to do so, but I’m not going to preach “Green” for the sake of Green for three main reasons.
First, I haven’t seen any real good information (stats, etc.) from things like recycling. Humans are probably recycling more than ever in history, but environmentalists paint the same bleak picture that it’s not enough. Also, there seems to be a lack of honest or complete data concerning things like global warming. Some say it is real, some say the data isn’t complete, and I say it’s inconclusive either way.
Second, people in general do not respond to things like the environment out of duty or even love of nature, but out of their pocket. Ultimately, people respond with incentives. How much is a person willing to pay for a clean environment? How much does it really cost? What are we giving up and what is the real gain? Much of these answers depend on the income of the individual and their financial situation. If we are going to see a massive movement toward a clean environment, there needs to be a competitive, marketable effort that will create the incentive. So now people are willing to buy the product or whatever because it has an immediate effect on their lives, not necessarily out of duty, stewardship, or because it helps the environment.
Third, the best reason I can see to “Go Green,” is really for the sake of displaying the gospel and building relationships with non-Christians. What greater reflection of what God has done inside us, transforming our hearts and minds by Christ, than to recycle and reuse what we can? Does it not also reflect what Christ will do with the earth when He returns? It was a new earth that John saw in Revelation? I never really challenged my friend at work, but went did my best at work to recycle because I valued the relationship more than not recycling. I am much more convicted about my lack of imitating Christ than I am about the Ozone Layer.
I would rather be a Christian who recycles as an imitation of Christ’s redeeming work, rather than out of Christina duty. I tried Christian duty once, and it made me a legalist.
-tam
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