Who are the true Greenies?

Christians are the true “Greenies”

What do you talk about as a Christian with a Greenie, someone whose passion is the environment, who spends their life campaigning for protection and preservation of the environment and wildlife and so on?

I would first ask them on what basis they justify their stance on the environment? Is it purely pragmatic? Is it for their personal benefit? In which case we’d point out that others disagree so it’s merely a matter of preference or “taste” on their part.
What I mean is that we need to ask why what matters to them should matter to anybody else and an answer like “I think that this effects everybody else” is not an adequate reply. Why does what they think mean they can impose on others their standards or views?

And that gets to the crux of the matter - it’s about standards, who determines what is right and wrong, what is of value or not.

We must check out their worldview, and get them to reflect upon their worldview. How does their worldview answer What is man? What is reality, What is true and right? Who if anything or anyone is God? We need to point out they have no basis upon which to ground their beliefs about the environment. That they are merely being selective and stating their own preference or taste.

Then after that has been done we can turn and say that the Christian worldview gives us a true basis for looking after our environment. The Christian worldview as laid out in the Bible tells us that God created this world. And then we can point out that it was good, declared good by it’s Creator, the Lord God before it was determined by man as useful for something, Genesis 1:12, 21, 25. Before man decided he could use a tree for shelter or for heating or as a bonfire for a romantic evening with his wife, the Lord God declared it good.

That’s the start, that at Creation God said it was good and then after the creation of man he declared that particular creation of man very good. Man is made from the dust of the earth, he is part of God’s creation, and yet he is also apart from it in that he has life breathed into him by God and he is made in the image of God. And he is given to care for the creation, Genesis 2:15. To not abuse it, whilst still using it for his benefit and others.
That is a true basis for our actions of caring for this world we live in.



In Christ,

Gary