After adding paint, song lyrics, and probably more kissy-pictures, I presented my work of art to him with enthusiasm. He seemed appreciative enough at first, spouting phrases like, “Oh, I love that picture” and “Excellent color scheme!” I assumed this meant he was going to take care of my masterpiece forever and ever.
How surprising it was, then, to find it on his floor months later, next to CDs and socks. No amount of initial marveling could make up for mistreatment later. His casual disregard of my efforts felt more like direct disrespect toward me.
I’ve heard Christians blabber on about how beautiful mountains and oceans are, about how much they enjoy nature – yet they make no real effort to actually take care of it. (And does hunting really qualify as nature-appreciation?) The problem with pollution and deforestation isn’t just that it hurts creation, but that it disrespects the Creator. How you treat the creation reflects how you feel about the Creator.
This is why the aforementioned boyfriend and I eventually broke up. (It wasn’t only because of his misplacement of my arts and crafts project, but you get the idea.) There were some serious respect issues between us, and they influenced the relationship’s demise. Now, God isn’t going to “break up” with the Church over the environment. I think it’s safe to say, though, there are respect issues that could hinder the relationship.
Many Christians presume “going green” means you have to start voting Democrat and dressing entirely in hemp – that somehow being an environmentalist means putting humans second, as if it really were a choice between hating trees or hating babies. This is pretty idiotic, because last time I checked, people live on Earth. When we protect the environment, we’re protecting people. Oil spills and over-farming won’t just hurt sea otters and soil. They will hurt us.
Going green is about loving and respecting the Creator and our neighbors. (This was the idea behind that “Greatest Commandment” in Mark 12:29-31.) So, do some research. Recycle. Raise awareness. Conserve water and electricity. Carpool. Buy organic. Trendy, leftist activities they may be, they can also be acts of worship – steps that prevent the Earth from becoming a dump (and possibly prevent God from wanting to dump us).
Meredith Grady is a senior at Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Georgia. She is also (surprise!) the daughter of Charisma editor J. Lee Grady.
