Loving our neighbors!

    These past few weeks Texas Governor Rick Perry’s views on the environment have been front and center in the media. Perry has stated that a substantial number of scientists have manipulated the data on global climate change and that weekly, indeed daily, scientists are abandoning the theory of manmade global warming. In his book, Fed Up!, Perry calls global warming a contrived phony mess that’s falling apart under its own weight (9/7/2011, NPR). A 2010 survey by The National Academy of Sciences concludes that over 97 percent of climate researchers active in the  field believe humans are causing global warming (08/23/2011, The Washington Post). However, Christians, including Gov. Perry, should not need data from the science community in order to live out our faith in a way that cares for creation.

     We start with Scripture. In the first chapter of Genesis, God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it. “God saw everything he had made: it was supremely good” (1:31, Common English Bible). God gave humans charge of all the animals of creation and put the first human “in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it” (2:15).

     We are to use and care for all God created but God retains ownership. “The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants too” (Psalm 24:1). When I ask someone to take care of my home and pets while I am away, I expect that they will use and enjoy my possessions.  But, I expect to find everything well cared for when I return. If I was to return home to find my pets dead and my home trashed, I would not be pleased.

     Christ tells us, “You will love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark12:31). In loving our neighbors, we want them to have the opportunity for a fulfilling life. We want our neighbors to have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, good soil to grow food and a decent place to live. For my neighbors to have these things, I must pay attention to how I live. Whether we believe the findings of 97% of climate scientists or not, our Christian faith, not science, requires us to care for all that God created: the air, the water, the soil and all those who need them to live.

The Rev. Carol Devine is Minister of Green Chalice, a joint ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Kentucky and Disciples Home Missions.
Carol lives with her husband and three children in Versailles, Ky.

This article and others like it can be found at The Disciples' Advocate.