MEN'S BREAKFAST
October 2007
We are in the world but not of the world.
It’s a sentence of ten words, but it powerfully places us. And it gives us quite a few headaches along the way. Where is the dividing line between IN and OF? Should we be monks? Residents on the planet’s surface, but totally removed from any corrupting influence of modern society? Should we be right in the middle of the fire, at constant risk of smoke inhalation, doing our level best to insulate our souls while attempting to save others around us from burning too? That’s pretty well where we men are at the moment. Suburban Australia is truly the belly of the beast – worldly in ways both overt and subtle.
In the world but not of the world… and we know that the world as we know it will end. Strange as it sometimes seems, the world has realised this too. Climate change is the biggest “hot-button” topic going. Everyone is looking at ways to save the world… and here we stand, trying desperately to tell anyone who will listen that we CAN’T save it.
Going green has now become the greatest priority – at least in political and corporate Australia, the greatest priority is to be SEEN to be going green. We are encouraged to mind our carbon footprint, to pay an extra couple of bucks so that we can “carbon offset” our purchases.
It’s the end of the world as we know it. And I feel fine. I’ll borrow the song title from REM for a couple of minutes, because it reflects rather loudly what people see as the Christian response to the increasing worldwide panic surrounding global warming.
Here’s what we know. Christ will come again. There will be a new heaven and a new Earth. So we take it as a given that the Earth will pass away – and we look forward to this day. And so we should.
Strangely enough, the world around us finds this to be a terrible reaction.
Don’t you care what happens to the planet?
It’s a double-edged question, and we can cut ourselves on the answers. Don’t you care?
If we think about a new heaven and a new Earth, and if we assume that God is the Lord of His creation (and we put our trust in His ability to keep the world running until the return of His Son), we can honestly say “no.” I’ll invite you to think about the repercussions of that response…
Let’s be honest, now – it’s how the world sees a Christians response at the moment, and it only reinforces the view that we are all old, neo-conservative hypocrites living in the past with our heads buried in the sand. And, most likely, our views on everything else will be considered just as irrelevant. This is not very helpful when we NEED to talk to them about Christ in order to save their lives…
Don’t you care?
If we consider that the Lord has given us dominion over the Earth and all of His creation that’s in it, and we want to be excellent stewards of His resources, and we answer “yes,” then the next question (logically and rightly) will be “well, what are you doing about it?”
And here is the problem. The Church as a whole appears to be just plain confused. On the one hand, George Cardinal Pell (Catholic Archbishop of Sydney) said this –
I am deeply skeptical about man-made catastrophic global warming, but still open to further evidence. I would be surprised if industrial pollution, and carbon emissions, had no ill effect at all. But enough is enough. A few fixed points might provide some light. We know that enormous climate changes have occurred in world history, e.g. the Ice Ages and Noah’s flood, where human causation could only be negligible.
(Column, Sunday Telegraph 18/2/07)
He also said in his 2007 Easter message that Jesus said nothing about climate change.
At the national Anglican synod in Canberra on October 24th, 2007, the Anglican Bishop of Canberra, George Browning, attacked Cardinal Pell.
“I wrote him a letter saying Jesus had an awful lot to say about the rich taking what belonged to the poor and about the heritage of the children, and as he spoke about both of these things he spoke about climate change.”." He concluded his Synod address by saying that “I want all of you to leave the synod today believing this is our core business, it's not something [that just] greenie Christians do."
And Christians like me can attack both points of view, and very quickly, too.
But in making my own reaction public, I merely demonstrate that I can argue too. I haven’t improved anything, and I’ve just proven my own point… the church looks confused in the face of something that, for the rest of the world, is a deadly serious threat.
So what should we do? What should we say?
As with anything, the first thing we must do before we have an answer for all men is to pray. People who ask need to hear God’s wisdom, not our own.
Ask the Lord for the right reply – a reply that not only answers the question accurately, but a reply that opens the way for the saving Gospel. I have no set suggestions for this – we should all take the time to get acquainted with the problem enough to give a reasoned, clear and cogent answer.
The first part of our answer is in how we live our lives – what we are seen to do, how men see how we live. We need to be above reproach in our word, our morals and our actions.
There are several things to consider;
We have been given dominion over the Earth (Genesis 1:28-30), but that still implies a great deal of stewardship. It is still God’s creation, over which He has ultimate sovereignty. Further, many of Jesus’ parables were focused clearly on stewardship – it is an issue clearly in God’s heart. How we use our money – and for that matter, any of the Earth’s resources – must be seen in this light. It is NOT ours to use, abuse and discard. It doesn’t matter whether we call it “reducing carbon footprints” or simply wisely (not wastefully) using whatever resources God has provided for us.
Think before we buy an overpackaged item. Buy what we NEED rather than what we WANT or DESIRE. Be conscious of how much petrol we use. Switch off the lights in rooms we’re not in. Don’t waste, don’t spend frivolously, don’t be mindless consumers. Buy clothes or cars because we NEED them, not because they are due to go out of fashion at eight o’clock next Wednesday. Andrew Cameron pointed out in one of his excellent Social Issues Briefings (#69) that living frugally used to be a recognised hallmark of a Christian life, at least until recently.
Is this saving the planet? No – but it is reducing the damage caused by excess waste, as well as freeing up God-given resources to accomplish His work. Reg raised a lot of these points to consider a couple of months ago when he brought John Wesley to our attention, and he didn’t bring it to our attention for reasons of saving the planet. It’s unbelievably ironic that the lifestyle that the Green Movement now encourages has already been championed by Christian reformers. It’s unbelievably sadder that the world sees us uncaring because we’re lagging behind.
But above all we must use this opportunity to show people how to be saved from the end of the world. Our friends and family around us, our workmates, neighbors, protesters on street corners, people carrying surfboards or chairing boardrooms are beginning to wake up to the fact that the world is going to die – and they are beginning to get serious in their anxiety. How long have we been praying for an opportunity to talk to these people about Christ and His salvation? What better opportunity can there be to show them the only way mankind can be saved? This is the Ultimate Inconvenient Truth – there is nothing that Man can do by his own efforts to save the Earth, or himself.
Like the Philippian jailer in Acts, the world has felt the first tremors, and is in dread of a great earthquake. The world is genuinely scared, and is rightly asking in a trembling voice “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And, like Paul, our answer has to be both unexpected and bold; “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, both you and your household.”
October 2007
We are in the world but not of the world.
It’s a sentence of ten words, but it powerfully places us. And it gives us quite a few headaches along the way. Where is the dividing line between IN and OF? Should we be monks? Residents on the planet’s surface, but totally removed from any corrupting influence of modern society? Should we be right in the middle of the fire, at constant risk of smoke inhalation, doing our level best to insulate our souls while attempting to save others around us from burning too? That’s pretty well where we men are at the moment. Suburban Australia is truly the belly of the beast – worldly in ways both overt and subtle.
In the world but not of the world… and we know that the world as we know it will end. Strange as it sometimes seems, the world has realised this too. Climate change is the biggest “hot-button” topic going. Everyone is looking at ways to save the world… and here we stand, trying desperately to tell anyone who will listen that we CAN’T save it.
Going green has now become the greatest priority – at least in political and corporate Australia, the greatest priority is to be SEEN to be going green. We are encouraged to mind our carbon footprint, to pay an extra couple of bucks so that we can “carbon offset” our purchases.
It’s the end of the world as we know it. And I feel fine. I’ll borrow the song title from REM for a couple of minutes, because it reflects rather loudly what people see as the Christian response to the increasing worldwide panic surrounding global warming.
Here’s what we know. Christ will come again. There will be a new heaven and a new Earth. So we take it as a given that the Earth will pass away – and we look forward to this day. And so we should.
Strangely enough, the world around us finds this to be a terrible reaction.
Don’t you care what happens to the planet?
It’s a double-edged question, and we can cut ourselves on the answers. Don’t you care?
If we think about a new heaven and a new Earth, and if we assume that God is the Lord of His creation (and we put our trust in His ability to keep the world running until the return of His Son), we can honestly say “no.” I’ll invite you to think about the repercussions of that response…
Let’s be honest, now – it’s how the world sees a Christians response at the moment, and it only reinforces the view that we are all old, neo-conservative hypocrites living in the past with our heads buried in the sand. And, most likely, our views on everything else will be considered just as irrelevant. This is not very helpful when we NEED to talk to them about Christ in order to save their lives…
Don’t you care?
If we consider that the Lord has given us dominion over the Earth and all of His creation that’s in it, and we want to be excellent stewards of His resources, and we answer “yes,” then the next question (logically and rightly) will be “well, what are you doing about it?”
And here is the problem. The Church as a whole appears to be just plain confused. On the one hand, George Cardinal Pell (Catholic Archbishop of Sydney) said this –
I am deeply skeptical about man-made catastrophic global warming, but still open to further evidence. I would be surprised if industrial pollution, and carbon emissions, had no ill effect at all. But enough is enough. A few fixed points might provide some light. We know that enormous climate changes have occurred in world history, e.g. the Ice Ages and Noah’s flood, where human causation could only be negligible.
(Column, Sunday Telegraph 18/2/07)
He also said in his 2007 Easter message that Jesus said nothing about climate change.
At the national Anglican synod in Canberra on October 24th, 2007, the Anglican Bishop of Canberra, George Browning, attacked Cardinal Pell.
“I wrote him a letter saying Jesus had an awful lot to say about the rich taking what belonged to the poor and about the heritage of the children, and as he spoke about both of these things he spoke about climate change.”." He concluded his Synod address by saying that “I want all of you to leave the synod today believing this is our core business, it's not something [that just] greenie Christians do."
And Christians like me can attack both points of view, and very quickly, too.
But in making my own reaction public, I merely demonstrate that I can argue too. I haven’t improved anything, and I’ve just proven my own point… the church looks confused in the face of something that, for the rest of the world, is a deadly serious threat.
So what should we do? What should we say?
As with anything, the first thing we must do before we have an answer for all men is to pray. People who ask need to hear God’s wisdom, not our own.
Ask the Lord for the right reply – a reply that not only answers the question accurately, but a reply that opens the way for the saving Gospel. I have no set suggestions for this – we should all take the time to get acquainted with the problem enough to give a reasoned, clear and cogent answer.
The first part of our answer is in how we live our lives – what we are seen to do, how men see how we live. We need to be above reproach in our word, our morals and our actions.
There are several things to consider;
We have been given dominion over the Earth (Genesis 1:28-30), but that still implies a great deal of stewardship. It is still God’s creation, over which He has ultimate sovereignty. Further, many of Jesus’ parables were focused clearly on stewardship – it is an issue clearly in God’s heart. How we use our money – and for that matter, any of the Earth’s resources – must be seen in this light. It is NOT ours to use, abuse and discard. It doesn’t matter whether we call it “reducing carbon footprints” or simply wisely (not wastefully) using whatever resources God has provided for us.
Think before we buy an overpackaged item. Buy what we NEED rather than what we WANT or DESIRE. Be conscious of how much petrol we use. Switch off the lights in rooms we’re not in. Don’t waste, don’t spend frivolously, don’t be mindless consumers. Buy clothes or cars because we NEED them, not because they are due to go out of fashion at eight o’clock next Wednesday. Andrew Cameron pointed out in one of his excellent Social Issues Briefings (#69) that living frugally used to be a recognised hallmark of a Christian life, at least until recently.
Is this saving the planet? No – but it is reducing the damage caused by excess waste, as well as freeing up God-given resources to accomplish His work. Reg raised a lot of these points to consider a couple of months ago when he brought John Wesley to our attention, and he didn’t bring it to our attention for reasons of saving the planet. It’s unbelievably ironic that the lifestyle that the Green Movement now encourages has already been championed by Christian reformers. It’s unbelievably sadder that the world sees us uncaring because we’re lagging behind.
But above all we must use this opportunity to show people how to be saved from the end of the world. Our friends and family around us, our workmates, neighbors, protesters on street corners, people carrying surfboards or chairing boardrooms are beginning to wake up to the fact that the world is going to die – and they are beginning to get serious in their anxiety. How long have we been praying for an opportunity to talk to these people about Christ and His salvation? What better opportunity can there be to show them the only way mankind can be saved? This is the Ultimate Inconvenient Truth – there is nothing that Man can do by his own efforts to save the Earth, or himself.
Like the Philippian jailer in Acts, the world has felt the first tremors, and is in dread of a great earthquake. The world is genuinely scared, and is rightly asking in a trembling voice “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And, like Paul, our answer has to be both unexpected and bold; “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, both you and your household.”
Very unfortunate photo taken from http://officespam.chattablogs.com/archives/forklift-bomb-thumb.GIF
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