God is Green

Michael and I have been thinking a lot lately about going green, as cheesy as that phrase is to say. I'm embarrassed to admit that we have not recycled since the start of our marriage. And we've done little to nothing in the way of reducing and reusing. I could blame our previous non-green attitude on ignorance, but the truth is that we've pretty much ignored our responsibility. It's too much work, I thought. During these last few months we've started to feel really convicted about our poor treatment of our environment. And this last week, Michael took the initiative and called the city to ask for a recycling bin. I'm hoping that that's just going to be the start. We're thinking of ways we can conserve energy, and I'm hoping to use my creativity to be more effective at reusing things around the house. Yesterday I brought up that maybe we should get one of those cloth bags to bring our groceries home in.



I'm feeling really good about our decision to move in this "green" direction. Not only because I feel like I'm making a difference, however small, but that I'm becoming more in tune with what God envisioned His creation to be. This morning I listened to a message given by Rob Bell; it's part of a series that Mars Hill Bible Church (www.marshill.org) is currently doing titled God is Green. He speaks to Scripture (Job 38, Proverbs 8, and Psalm 104), emphasizing that all of God's creation is for His joy. Matthew 6:25-29 also speaks to God's love of his creation. But it goes further than that. The earth doesn't even belong to us. Leviticus 25:23 says "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me." Psalm 50:10-11 "For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine."

After all of that, Rob took a look at how we're treating creation, and he gave a few statistics that are staggering:

We are losing 1.5 acres of rainforest every second.

70% of rivers in China, for example, are polluted (which means that they are unfit for human contact)

Last year the World Health Organization estimated that 4,600,000 people died from air pollution diseases.

In any given year, we lose 50,000 different, distinct species of plant, insect, and animal.

Last year we dumped 14,000,000,000 pounds of waste into the oceans.

We produce 80% more trash than we did 15 years ago.

Obviously, these are just a few of the many devestating statistics involving our consumption and waste. And, obviously, I can't prove that any of these are true. But say that they are. . .what is going to happen to our living situation in a matter of years? And how are we honoring the Lord by living in this way?

I'll get off of my soap box now. I just wanted to share what's been on my heart and mind lately.