theothegrey

February was an eventful month. I was in Orlando for Humana 2.0. Then, I visited Seattle for another conference. In between those trips, I was down and out with a five day fever and a nasty respiratory infection. Thanks to my good neighbor, Dr. James Toung, I was able to pump some antibiotics into my system and heal.

Lately, like everyone else it seems, I’ve been drifting into thoughts about the health of the environment. A few weeks ago I watched Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.” I enjoyed it. I’m not a fan of Al Gore but his movie was good. I also enjoyed the latest issue of Fast Company and the article on Business 3.0 about entrepreneurial businesses tackling the world’s problems. It’s hopeful. If you read the article, be sure to click on the slideshow on “Next Best Buisness Ideas.” I especially like Idea 43. Apparently, someone in Holland has come up with the brilliant idea of embedding water pipes in the countriy’s asphalt roads. According to the Fast Company editor, if these pipes are placed in 15% of Holland’s roads it would produce more energy than the nation’s utilities!

As someone born and raised in California, environmental messages fit pretty easily into my view of the world and my beliefs about what needs changing. I lived through water shortages and for a time I learned to take three minutes showers — 1 minute rinse, 1 minute turn off water and soap, 1 minute rinse. I was taught to “give a hoot, don’t pollute” and I still find myself deeply annoyed if trash isn’t in the right place. Last week my trash can tipped over and junk spilled out into the street and on to neighboring lawns. I was compelled to pick up every last piece of litter and stick it back in my can. And, speaking of cans, I also recycle. Recycling was something my parents were really good about.

What strikes me, is that in this area of my thinking I’ve been shaped more by my Californian childhood and less from my being a follower of Jesus. My beliefs and practices are more informed by Woodsy Owl than Scripture.

Last week, I started teaching a class on the Book of Genesis. I think it’s very clear from the the first pages of Scripture that we human beings were meant to be environmentalists. God put human beings in the garden to take care of it (Gen. 2:15). I think this is part of the message we were meant to get in Genesis. To be human as God intended is to be an environmental caretaker. Scripture is certainly not silent on the issue. It’s just that most modern evangelicals have been more concerned with asking questions about darwinism and evolution when they read Genesis. But this is changing. I’m sure we’ll start hearing messages about being an ecofriendly Christian in the near future.

I’ve got a lot to learn and change in this area of my life. Even with my California upbringing, I fall pretty short. If anyone in our family is an environmentalist it would be Amy. She still keeps the three minute shower habit to conserve water. But I’m learning…

Your thoughts?