ENVIRONMENTALISM: Just Because You Can...

Just because you can leave all your electronics on in the house all the time because you don't worry about your electricity going out doesn't mean that you should.

Just because you can take long showers and leave the water running in the sink because your water is always clean and available doesn't mean that you should.

Just because you can throw everything away without recycling because it is easier than sorting the recyclables from the trash doesn't mean that you should.

In recent conversations I have had with friends and with the Lord I have come to think about how I view our resource blessing in America. Most of us can get as much clean water and electricity as we want and are not required to recycle anything. Up until about a year ago I viewed conserving resources as important only when they were scarce. It makes sense that when there is a water or electricity shortage to save as much as possible, but the rest of the time its ok to use as much as I want.

This was challenged when I spent 6 weeks in China last summer on an InterVarsity Global Project. In China these same resources are scarce all the time, so much that at the University they had 1 shower house in which the students could take group showers twice a week, Thursday evening and Sunday evening. Not only was there not enough clean water for everyone to take showers everyday but there would not be enough electricity to pump that much water. This got me thinking about my everyday practices back in America. What does God think of it? Does He care?

I have since completely changed my view because of the Holy Spirit's conviction. Just because I can use a certain resource as much as I want does not give me the right to do so. This is not a liberal tree-hugging hippie kind of thing, this is a profoundly Christian concept. God's Word tells us that we will be held accountable for how we have taken care of His creation, how we have used or abused the resources of the earth. This is about being a good steward of what God has blessed us with. Christians should be the best environmentalist of all, not because it has become popular to 'go green' but because we want to be obedient to our Lord. It is also reminds of how our brothers and sisters of the church around the world live with a resource scarcity constantly.