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SM: Some Christians have been turned off of environmentalism, due to the perceived links to things like evolution, Al Gore, hippies, etc, and other stereotypical “evils” that are often a cause for disassociation. What would you say to Christians who avoid thinking environmentally for reasons of association? AWJ: What comes to mind immediately is that they might want to think how culturally bound their Christianity is if it’s so tightly identified with a particular political position. And how odd, in a way, because Jesus was a homeless person wandering around in the hills. (laughs) I’m a child of the ‘60s and ‘70s, so Jesus as a hippie works for me. But that’s my politics too. I’m encouraged that those kinds of things seem to be breaking down, because to me these issues have the sort of urgency as a World War. We need to realize that it’s in all our interests, no matter what particular stripe of Christianity or political affiliation you’re associated with. Somehow we have to work out ways that we can work together and we have to do it pretty quickly. SM: What steps can Christians take in becoming more environmentally conscious? What’s needed from the Christian community at this point, in your opinion? AWJ: There are so many ways. I think everyone has their own interests, their own callings, so just figure out what you, with your gifts and interests and passions, can best be involved in. Whether that’s planting trees, or working with an environmental
organization, or getting people in your church organized to get geo-thermal heating for the church or solar panels, or whatever. There are so many things that you can do. Different people will have different gifts and passions. SM: Why is it important that Christians see the Earth as more than just fallen, imperfect, and set for impending judgment/destruction? What are the practical implications of such a mindset? AWJ: Thinking of the Earth as sinful and set for impending destruction leads to attitudes towards the Earth and other people and other creatures that, to me, are just violent, destructive and immoral. If you think of the resurrection, that’s the resurrection of both your body and spirit. Your body needs to be redeemed, and the Earth needs to be redeemed, too. If the Earth is a creation and gift of God, and even if you think that Christianity is just about going to heaven, when you get there what is God going to say about the way you trashed the gift? If this life is practice for heaven, then we should be practising care for creation—God’s creation.
Arthur Walker-Jones is a member of the University of Winnipeg Faculty of Theology and is author of The Green Psalter: Resources for an Ecological Spirituality.
seven – issue thirty-one july – august, 2013 page 15