If you haven’t gotten the memo…
It is really “hip” to be “green.” To be “green,” for the purposes of this blog entry, is to be environmentally sound or beneficial. There are a million ways that this very fashionable word can be defined, so I want to make sure that I limit the definition. We also need to do that with our revered term “Siesta.” Mom, can you do that? I know you’re hurting for things to do. Now back to the point. Being green is hip. So hip, in fact, that organic produce and spaceship looking automobiles have become the next best thing since white high-top Reeboks and leg-warmers in the 80’s.
These days I never feel cooler than when I walk into “Whole Foods” with my reusable bag made from 80% post-consumer waste. My fellow organic shoppers and I gaze in dismay as “the others” walk out of the store with several brown paper bags that they will undoubtedly throw away after just one use. Gasp.
And as I make my way out of Whole Foods, I sneak away quickly so that none of the other eco-friendly shoppers can see me get into my big SUV with a Texas license plate. I have to be careful exiting the parking-lot, so as not to run over their three-foot scooters. I then make my way back to my apartment, and I sense freedom. I am sure that none of them can see me anymore. I approach my front door, set down my 80% post-consumer waste bag, and I do the following things: 1) I flip on almost every light switch in the house. 2) I drink a bottled water to refresh me from my hard work. 3) I crank up the air-conditioner full-blast. 4) I throw the bottled water in the trash, without even thinking about recycling. 5) I throw away all of the little plastic bags that the fresh produce comes in because I just want the mess out of the kitchen. 6) I clean up everything with paper towels. The really thick kind (only Viva brand). 7) I take a second shower for the day, because I feel gross. 8) I throw a load of two towels in the washing machine and each towel has only been used once.
The dead-honest truth is that after I get my approval-fill for the day at the local Whole Foods, I go right back to my over-consumptive ways. I can only think of one word for this: HYPOCRISY. Big time. Though my husband does not know about my self-righteous and childish behavior at Whole-Foods, he told me a few weeks ago, semi-lovingly, that my answer to most everything around the house is: “just throw it away.” Ouch. That hurts. And the worst thing about it is, it’s true.
Well, the Lord has really been confronting me not only about my wastefulness but also my apathy about taking care of the world I live in. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that when I walked into church on Sunday morning the title of the sermon was “God is Green.” I will say honestly that the title “God is Green” sort of creeps me out. There is something about this blanket statement “God is Green” that I don’t feel comfortable with. I don’t really want to equate anything with the person of God that can be interpreted as a peppy political agenda. It seems like an easy way to claim and market that God is on board with our current passion. I thought to myself, “Perhaps my semantic disagreement with the sermon title can help me be cynical enough not to receive this holy chastening I am about to get…I mean, good grief, my husband has already left me limp.” The problem is that not liking the sermon title did not rid me of the responsibility to listen to the pastor’s words. One thing I always want to be willing to do is to approach the Bible with an open and willing heart, ready to change any actions that are incongruent with what the text says. And I’ve got to admit, this preacher kept his finger in the biblical text, and presented a clear and timely word for Christians to be better and more informed stewards of the earth. Well, conviction came, even in spite of a catchy sermon title. I even went home that Sunday and did some more research about what the Bible says about the relationship between the people of God and the environment.
Here are my top three reasons for wanting to get more informed about how I can do my part. I know there are a million reasons, but these are simply the ones that are most significant to me:
1. Theologically, taking care of the earth is significant because creation is one of the ways that God reveals himself to mankind. The preacher on Sunday equated damaging or destroying the earth to ripping a page of the Bible. His point is this: God reveals himself in creation (Psalm 19), so when a person is a poor steward or caretaker of the earth, he or she suppresses God’s revelation in creation. I thought this was an interesting comparison. Obviously, God’s general revelation in creation is not salvific, so it is not exactly the same as tearing a page out of Scripture, but he certainly has a point. Since people look at the wonders of the earth and often see the beauty of God, not taking care of it is simply foolish. Since God’s revelation through the creation is a sort of apologetic to all of humankind, we need to be careful not to suppress its witness.
2. In the creation account in Genesis, God gives man dominion over the earth. He says, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over…all the earth, and over every creeping thing” (1:26). He then takes Adam into the garden “to cultivate it and to keep it” (2:15). Some have interpreted this sort of dominion language as some sort of beastly mastery over the earth. This is a blatant misinterpretation of the text. As the preacher said on Sunday, “We do not beat the earth into submission.” As Philip Hughes says, “God, in short, gave man the world to master, but to master to the glory of the Creator, by whom man himself, to be truly human, must first be mastered” (Philip Hughes, The True Image: The Origin and Destiny of Man in Christ). The earth remains God’s earth, and we are simply stewards over it. A very important part of our function as human beings then is to carefully rule over the earth as the Lord God would see fit. Stewardship in general is a very significant theme throughout Scripture, especially in the gospels, and should be applied wholistically to each of our lives (see Matthew 25).
3. Christians have been known to argue that since the earth is just going to burn up in the end-times, our efforts to save it are futile. This is not only a very negative application of eschatology, but it is a good example of how our theology affects our behavior. My very favorite professor Dr. Douglas J. Moo has briefly discussed this sort of attitude in an article called “Nature in the New Creation: New Testament Eschatology and the Environment” that was published in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 49 (2006) 449-88. Dr. Moo is in my humble opinion in the very top tier of New Testament evangelical scholars. His point here is that apathetically thinking “the earth is just going to burn up anyway” flies in the face of the “biblical mandate for Christians to be involved in meeting the needs of the world in which we now life”. As Dr. Moo remarks, “I may believe that the body I now have is destined for radical transformation; but I am not for that reason unconcerned about what I eat or how much I exercise…To be sure, our efforts must always be tempered by the realization that it is finally God himself, in the future act of sovereign power, who will transform creation. And we encounter here the positive side of a robust eschatology. Christians must avoid the humanistic ‘Green utopianism’ that characterizes much of the environmental movement. We will not by our own efforts end the ‘groaning’ of the earth. But this realism about our ultimate success should not deter our enthusiasm to be involved in working toward those ends that God will finally secure through his own sovereign intervention.”
So there they are, the top three arguments that beckon me to change my ways, even if it is inconvenient. In case you haven’t noticed, this blog is RANDOM. In many ways, this blog is a reflection of what it is like sitting at the Moore-Jones-Fitzpatrick family dinner table. RANDOM. The conversation goes from the intense to the absurd, the devastating to the triumphant, and the controversial to the mundane, all in record time. Oh and if you get this memo before we run onto the next random subject… don’t just jump on the eco-friendly bandwagon because it’s cool or trendy, but please don’t rebelliously avoid it for the very same reasons. At the end of the day, do it because as Christians we should be at the forefront of those who care for God’s earth. Perhaps acting as good stewards and taking excellent care of this earth for God in the here and now will somehow prepare us for a time when we will reign along with God in the new creation (see Revelation 5:10; 20:6; 22:5). So, if you are like me, a complete dummy when it comes to eco-friendly consumption, let’s take it upon ourselves to learn a little more about caring for God’s earth. I think I’ll start by trying to figure out where the closest recycling center is.
Melissa, when are you gonne write a book. I just love the way you tell stuff.
And I guess with you I will go find the recycle center 🙂
Well done, Melissa! Your posts are very thorough, very sound, very user friendly. Thank you for this WORD.
Bless you Melissa, this has been on my heart too latelly, and I must admit that I too, am very bad about taking care of the earth. This was brought to light as I took my kids to the new disney movie, Walle. Walle was a real eye opener to what could happen if we don’t all start taking better care of the world God has made. Thank you again for reminding us of how important it is to take care of what God has given us.
Preach it Sis! I am sure I’m not only speaking for myself when I say, get up on that box anyday honey, we are glad to listen…well read! I find myself in almost the same situation. My husband and I have been “talking” about doing more for some time. We need to make the decision to be part of the solution NOW:)
Since we are being random…
I had a dream about your mom last night! Somehow, she and I ended up sitting on my bed while chatting in my childhood room. I think I talked her ears off:0 It was time for her to catch her flight but I convinced her to stay and eat spaghetti! I woke up and when I recalled the dream, absolutely cracked up!
Beth, if we never have the chance to meet on this side of heaven, we will one day sit and finish that chat! Love & Blessings
Melissa, I am a fairly new reader of this blog, but have been a Beth Moore reader for several years now. I thank you for your Godly take on this subject. I do think it is very important that we consider our motivation in going green and not as you said, get caught up in the “Green utopianism’ that characterizes much of the environmental movement.” We need to be good stewards because it is what God has required of us, not because we in our own power could “save the earth.” I think if we go green as Christians, we are stepping out of the box and thus gaining an opportunity to share Christ with others. As Paul said, we need to become all things to all people…
Thanks again!
jamie
p.s. As a new reader, I would be interested in knowing the definition of a Siesta. 🙂
Must be in the (overpolluted) air… this has been on my heart lately too, and I have been making tiny efforts. I haven’t approached it from a Biblical perspective, so thanks for getting my mind rolling on that concept. It seems overwhelming to consider all of the changes we have to make as individuals in our own lives and homes, largely because we have been indifferent for far too long. So, I agree, let’s get up and go with it… one step at a time of course, by bicycle or on foot, not in our gas guzzlers. Preach on, girl!
Thank you for this post. My family and I just got back from a mission trip in deep Mexico to an Indian village that does not have running water or electricity. There was not any wasting of anything there. It was so eye opening and God taught us valuable lessons (like surviving without a daily shower!) We can live with so much less and take better care of what God has entrusted to us.
Blessings,
Sandy in San Antonio
Good for you Melissa. good for you.
I got really angry with my church when they discontinued the recycling program because, now get this
the person who was “all into that sort of thing” left the staff
ouch! I think I need to do something about that.
It’s good to hear Christians tackle this topic!
Melissa, Great post!! Loved it. I feel your same sentiments about the title “God is green.” God isn’t hip, nor is He supposed to be. He just IS. 🙂 Keep up the great posts!
Melissa,
I so enjoy your posts! I don’t know anyone else who would use a word like “salvific” – and I love it.
And I love RANDOM. I do RANDOM well. Keep the random coming. 🙂
Paulette
Og please not here too. I’m soo tired of the “green”. Be a good steward period.
I feed a lot of people a day. We live on a tight budget. Very tight. Gloriously tight. I think more about how so many mouths can be fed and guarding my heart from fear or greed then I do about organic foods, etc. Not to knock it, I would if I could but I “ain’t” there yet. So many childen hang at my house each day along with my six. They want to eat lunch with us, dinner, snacks, drinks, etc. I don’t know if Jesus still multiplies loaves and fish but I know He multiplies deli meat, bread, mustard, drinks and chips. One thing we do that is “green- ish” – we don’t waste. Not much is thrown away unused in these parts and my loads of laundry are ALWAYS full. Pat on the back.
Love you guys!
Kara
I had to look up the meaning of salvific and I’ve never heard of Dr. Moo
But, indeed Melissa, what you are saying is so true
Melissa,
I live in a village in Kenya where I’ve often been convicted of how frivolous we as first-world citizens are. My neighbors find use for much of what I’d discard, even using old magazines to paste on the walls of their huts as wallpaper!
Your observations and convictions are right on. When we ignore the mandate from the Creator to take care of his creation, we are, in all practicality, turning our backs on the Creator, thus becoming functional Unitarians (rather than Trinitarians), following Christ alone, not the Creator/Father and the Spirit, too.
Anyway, preach it, sister.
Adele
actually, when I first read the phrase, “God is green”, I thought of Kermit the Frog, not politics …
I recently moved to Ohio from California, and didn’t realize how much stewardship of the Earth had been ingrained into my psyche – it seriously is second nature – until I realized that the trash service here does not provide “bins” … you have to do all that on your own! Recycling and composting are things that I actually have to work at now! And feel a pang of guilt when I don’t …
But, ya know, there is grace for this too.
Just yesterday I was telling my family how much I enjoy reading what you write. Today you’ve reminded me of why that’s true. Not only do I enjoy your writings, but I also gain from them. Thanks for provoking my thoughts on this topic. I will be praying about what I can do & doing what I already know to do.
I have been there. SO many times. Sometimes I still rebel, thinking about those “hippie tree huggers”. And then I realize, God wants me to make the best use our of His resources. I don’t have to go all crazy, like doing without bathing or never leaving my house in my vehicle (which is an SUV because we have 7 kids) because God wants us to treat our bodies nicely and I like to be clean so as not to offend people around me. And when I go places I get to be God’s witness. But I do recycle and don’t buy things I don’t need. I am careful about the cleaning supplies I use. I make sure to get all my errands done at one time, so I don’t have to make piddly little trips around town. Just common sense things. Thanks for the reminder!
Gina
Ouch, Melissa. Thank you for speaking the truth in love. My hubby and I have made a number of changes (taking the bus to work, keeping lights off when we’re out of the room, reusable grocery bags, combining errands into one trip, etc.) but I had dug my feet in there thinking we were doing plenty for the environment, when in truth, I’m sure we could do more. Like others, I’ve grown wearing of the complete innundation of the “go green” message, to a point of having a not-so-Christian-like attitude about it. Thanks for reminding me to get over myself and start thinking about who’s world I’m called to be a steward of.
Blessings,
Tracy
Thank you, Melissa, for the reminder that God gave us this earth to live in and on and we need to be good stewards of his creation and beauty. I’d never once thought about “going green”, just because it’s such a pain in the rear, but now I’m really going to think about it and pray about it. I think my husband will really think I’m crazy then…
O’well! Thanks, girl!
Ouch! Guilty as charged.
Thanks for presenting such a clear and timely word.
Ramble anytime, please!
Yea Melissa! Good for you- and don’t beat yourself up too much, this is a process, you can’t do everything in one day!
We live in South Austin, the mecca of green living, but have only recently succumbed to being better stewards:
-4 Walmart sacks of plastic recycling each week
-a brown paper bag full of paper recycling each week,
-we stopped buying bottled water
-we turn the AC off when we leave
-even my kids at school love to fill up the recycle bin instead of throwing stuff away! They’ll call me on it too, if they see me putting recyclables in the trash!
At VBS, our missions project was Hope for the Orphans, these poor African children did not even HAVE paper, much less a pencil- they write in the dirt- what an eye-opener for our Texas kiddos!
Now if I could only remember to get my cloth bags out of the trunk before I go in the store…
Heidi in Austin
I’m going to be honest and say that I may not go-green anytime soon, but I am definitely more informed about God’s green earth and about being a fore-front Christian regarding it. I just love reading your blogs, Melissa. I had to open a new tab and look up two words (salvific and eschatology) because you stretch my mind and I love it. I wasn’t going to read this post because it looked so long, but it was so great as usual, that it took no time. This blogspot and LPM bless me so.
Heather G, Charlotte NC
Melissa,
I am sooooooo guilty! Thank you. You know, I tell my twenty-one year old daughter when I see how she doesn’t take care of the auto we bought for her, that she is being disrespectful to her dad and I must say OUCH when I look at how I am so disrespectful to MY Father when I don’t take care of this beautiful planet that He gave to me. Thank you.
Melissa, I feel the same way walking into Whole Foods. I would rather shop there than my local Wal-Mart anyday. It is hard though, to live in a house that isn’t so eco-friendly and know that I don’t have the money to transform it either. Balance, that is where I am right now. It’s not easy to transform everything over night, yet I know that Mother Earth can’t take much more. I often remind myself of the Indigo Girls song, Galileo.
“I offer thanks to those before me
Thats all Ive got to say
cause maybe you squandered big bucks in your lifetime
Now I have to pay
But then again it feels like some sort of inspiration
To let the next life off the hook
But shell say look what I had to overcome from my last life
I think Ill write a book”
This just makes me think of the lives before me trying to make a difference and what we can give to our children who follow in our footsteps.
I think we are moving in the right direction if we continue to teach our children how to reuse, reduce, and recycle.
~Brooks Reid, Franklin, TN
Wow! Loved this explanation. Thank you so much for sharing. One of the big things God is teaching me through NOG’s is to think about my motivations. This was a great example of that!
I think I just heard my recycled Starbucks coffee cup just say “Amen!”. I have definitely been playing on Team Rebellious in the Go Green Game, with the excuse that I’m allergic to “post-consumer waste”. Melissa, considering your initial reaction to the title of the message, it’s obvious that you clearly possess the spiritual maturity of someone like…Billy Graham, or at least some really old preacher man. Oh, and honestly, just when I think I’ve got the best vocabulary on the block, you post something like “salvific”. What’s that about? I’m getting an image of God drooling all over the earth. Anyway, the combination of your insight and your youth is just plain astounding. What a bright future!
Sam*
Melissa, I added a little present for you on our sidebar.
Melissa,
I have a confession: I still hold that 80’s leg warmers are beyond hip 🙂
You know I’m loving textual basis and support for any of our theology informing our activities. And I’ll stop before I write a book.
I’m with you, sister! Thanks for your Biblical thoughts on caring for the environment. My husband and I have been thoughtfully trying to put these sort of practices into action in the last couple of months. Something that has hit me the most is that going against the American Consumerism grain is not only good for the earth, but also is good for the Christian. I have been doing a lot of research lately on what it means to go green and it’s all fascinating! I even started a new blog recently where I put my findings and thoughts… nicoleviola.blogspot.com. I have some cool resources up there and hope to find more!
I especially appreciate your point about Dr. Moo, and now I want to read that article!
Thanks again and God Bless!
Nicole
California girl in Colorado
Thank you for including us at the Moore-Jones-Fitzpatrick table. Thank you for light shed on this current topic…especially for teaching us how to directly seek GOD’s face on current issues rather than reject or accept based on culture!
I haven’t read all the comments, so forgive me if this has been said. But you have GOT to read Serve God, Save the Planet. It is an EXCELLENT book on this very topic! I read it a few months ago and was very, very convicted. And he gives you alot of practical help as well!
Well stated! However, I want to tell you that since many people in the world don’t have a bible, or access to one, then trashing the earth IS like tearing a page out of the bible, because for them, the creation around them can be the only or 1st sign they have of a God who is loving and caring and in charge of it all…and that can lead to prayers of “God, I don’t know you; I want to know you…” and that sort of thing. I heard a missionary story once of a little boy who had grown up being taught about “the gods,” and all of the things they had to do to appease “the gods,” so as not to anger them, or to bring rain, or whatever, but he looked at the world around him and saw such beauty, and so he prayed “God, you must be good to have created such beautiful things. Please teach me who you are.” And soon after that, a missionary came to his village and taught him about Jesus. So creation can lead to a person’s first understanding of the one true God, and that is HUGE. I have always believed that we do need to take care of the earth; it IS God’s creation, it WAS the first job God gave man, before the fall, God loves and cares about his creation, and we should, too…as long as we remember to worship the creator, and not the created. Creation itself makes us marvel and worship our God, and long for him. It also shows us about his character. So please don’t underestimate the importance of taking care of it. God bless you this day. Love, Michelle in California
I ADORE YOU, MELISSA!!!
I want to sit at the table with you guys! I am starved, starved, starved for this indepth discussion!!!!
I love the pure milk of GOD’S word, the meaty parts and lots of “honey” from true praise and worship of HIM! BUT, this is “heady” as your beautiful Mama says. I am starving for more heady!!
YOU are such a teacher!! The kind of teacher that makes the students think and search and dig for the answers.
Ok, enough gushing – I had just heard someone “well-known” say that the “green” thing in churchs is all about worshipping the “created instead of the creator”.
Reverend “Well-Known” said that as Christians we cannot be pulled into that worship of nature/new age thing.
Of course, “Rev Well-Known” gives me a bad stomach ache whenever I hear his voice and I didn’t think it was conviction of the HOLY SPIRIT. No – it was just a stomach ache because he is “always” right- period. Every time I’ve heard him, it’s a new apostasy/heretical teaching of the week or month. If you are “green” that is a smaller catagory of a bigger evil.
I am so glad that you and your professor (love Douglas Moo’s writings!!!) doesn’t think we are becoming the “evil, crystal rubbing, amulet wearing, new age whatever”, if we do our part to take care of what GOD has given us.
Please keep teaching us, Melissa!! What about once a month random “heady brain food” from Melissa? You could do “real food” recipes at the end and “kill two birds with one stone”. 🙂
Love you dearly, Girl!! You inspire and encourage me with your bravery!
Blessings,
Teri
WOW well said! Thanks for the balanced view to help sort through the media hype. God is teaching me about better stewardship, and used this post to do it. If you can believe this, I just finished reading Genesis 1-3 with my girls. We’re doing the God’s Amazing Creation study this summer (by Kay Arthur and Janna Arndt). Dang, this study is very challenging for me, and its written for kids!
We can all do better at this at our house!
oh man, and I LOVE viva paper towels. They ARE the best! but yes, i understand what you are saying. thanks for talking about it
Hey Mrs. Melissa!:)
A post to think about…I am one of those health food freak wannabes also, but I haven’t gotten to the point of recycling anything, although that is something to seriously think about…Moderation in everything from rela. to how you present yourself (appearance) to food choices to what you choose to consume, reuse, and throw away is like a balancing act that only you and the Lord can determine what is best for you to do without being sucked into a worldly perspective and/or causing weak christians in the faith to waver or stumble. I guess most people go with one extreme or the other because it’s the easiest or laziest way. The whole “being a good steward of the earth” concept is what I tend to focus on. Also in regards to food and exercise, it’s the idea of taking care of “His temple” that motivates me-along with being able to take care of myself well into old age and not getting dementia or Alzheimer’s truth be known:) (Another one of my fears I need to go to the Lord about…Silly, aren’t I?) Anyway, definitely a topic for us all to take up with God individually…Random is good, Melissa, I like random sometimes:)
((HUGS)) to you in Atlanta! from a K-town girl:), Your sis-in-CHRIST,
katiegfromtennessee
If someone had told me a year ago I’d be bringing my own bags to the grocery store I would have laughed out loud. But…I carry two compact bags in my purse at all times and used one today.
With so many people on Earth, even if we each do a little, it ends up being a lot. I enjoy my frills and cut back where I can.
Thanks!
Nancy
Preach it, girlfriend!
(My Dad is a pastor, so I kid him that I get half a pulpit thanks to his DNA.)
Balance is key in this area, and you put this article right on the fulcrum of “going green” for all the right reasons.
(Also, did you use the word salvific? You are my hero.)
I agree with the ladies who have been to developing countries. I was in Nicaragua June 2006; they too re-use everything. We also went to Paris in 2007 and decided to buy cool Parisian food at a local grocery store. After checking out we realized the store didn’t even offer plastic or paper bags. It was a little interesting carting everything home in our jackets, but I thought at the same time…what a great thing! If the stores stopped offering plastic we would have to use the re-usable ones. And I just think they’re too cute besides :-).
Thanks for the Biblical perspective, Melissa. My husband is a geography teacher and was green before it was cool! We get a little obsessive about the “turn the light off” thing that some of our neighbors may think we’re never home!
Allyson
Bless God, Amanda…I have never loved you more… it seems that more and more people were wanting to know what a “Siesta” was and I didn’t even know what to tell them. Two fist pumps in the air for that sidebar!
Wow – have you given me a lot to think about. Thanks~
Warm in Alaska.
Thanks for this, Melissa. I’ve fought the green for a long time and just started recycling (pop cans and water bottles for now) last month.
Your points are wonderful, and I’ve really felt convicted lately to be a better steward.
Here’s my only thing. Going completely green can turn into a full-time job. (making your own food/stuff, using cloth diapers, shopping only at certain stores, buying expensive stuff on a tight budget, research) Yowzers.
God has called me to be a wife and mom and write books and speak. The more time/money I use going green, the less I have for my family and ministry.
I think it’s a matter of balance. And my balance won’t look like your balance or her balance. It’s between me and God.
And right now, God is telling me “there’s more you could be doing to keep my creation glorious, Marla.”
p.s. Salvific? 32 years old, and never heard this word. You’re brilliant.
people tend to look at me leave the grocery store with all my plastic grocery bags…but i do reuse them. in fact, anyone who owns and walks a dog probably reuses theirs too (if you know what i mean). great article…really gets me thinking
Does anyone else think Viva paper towels have a weird smell when you get them wet? Maybe it’s just me.
I have felt very strongly for a long time that we are abusing God’s great creation and while I’m not a “tree hugger” per se, I believe we do need to take care of the earth. As far as the plastic bags go – I do use the reusable bags, but occasionally I get the obnoxious plastic bags. Here in Florida, Publix supermarkets and also Wal-Mart have bins to recycle the plastic bags keeping them from the landfills. Publix also has bins to recycle egg cartons.
Your right Amanda, Viva papertowels stink when wet!
After moving to Colorado, where it’s “hip being green”. I slowly started changing a few things that I did to think green. I have a dairy delivery our milk, paper no plastic at the store, recycle my newpapers. And I am all for wind power. WOW what a message, I will be looking into more ways to do more on my part.
“salvific”
Now that’s a word!!
(I got to go look that one up!)
🙂
This is so interesting because God has really been putting this on my heart, too. I avoided being green for years while my family carefully recycled and were concerned about water use, forests being depleted, wastelands going the way of housing and golf courses. I am still not where they are, but so agree that we need to be good caretakers of the earth…. absolutely… Thanks for confirming to me that this is what God is saying to us. Now I wish all of the tree huggers would hug the only tree that can save… the cross of Jesus Christ. Amen???
linda