St Peter's Anglican Church East Lindfield

Caring for our Environment

0 comments | Posted by Steven Layson on 27 Mar 2011 in From Steve's Study ::

The environment is a huge issue in the news at the moment (and has been for some time) – with the debate about the “Carbon Tax” polarising opinion across all levels of the media and Australian households. On top of this, there is much debate about the impact that we, as humans, have had on climate change… many scientists say we have had an enormous impact, while some disagree. What are we, as Christians supposed to do about all this?

At our recent Weekend Away, we were reminded, from God’s word, of our privileged place in God’s creation. We alone were made in the image of God & we alone have been delegated the task of caring for the world in which we live. You don’t have to be Einstein to realize that on the whole, we’ve done a pretty poor job. Pollution, deforestation & eradication of wildlife are just some of the adverse effects we, as a race, have had on our world (to which “Global Warming” may possibly be added).

Just imagine for a moment that God lent you his car for a week. My guess is that you, like me, would want to take pretty good care of it, making sure we didn’t dent it or get it dirty as we drove it around. In many ways, this is exactly what God has done with our world. Whether or not we can solve all the problems we face is beside the point. God has left us as stewards of this beautiful planet and we are responsible to care for it in the best way possible. Here are some of the ideas that came up over the weekend away:

Be better informed – there is plenty of “misinformation” and “scaremongering” on both sides of the current debates. Don’t trust what the media (or politicians) tell you… find out the facts for yourself.

Ethical shopping

Spread the message at work etc

Be careful in your use of the earth’s resources – use heaters and A/C less, switch off lights when not in the room, walk or ride instead of driving etc.