The Challenge: Does discipleship really involve the environment?
Discipleship is about following and learning from Jesus. So isn’t the environment peripheral? And isn’t the church’s preoccupation with Net Zero actually a distraction from what really matters? Isn’t it another example of following secular preoccupations rather than Jesus?
OK, it makes an appearance in the Anglican Communion’s Five Marks of Mission but, at number 5, isn’t it an add-on?
Isn’t the environment more like the scenery than the drama of God’s saving work? Isn’t it peripheral to centre-stage gospel?
Back to Square One
Perhaps it depends on where we begin. If we take the Jewish and Christian scriptures as our stating point, we begin with God who is introduced as Creator. God takes pleasure in what God has made and pronounces it to be good. It’s not just the scenery – Creation is the stage. It is never relegated to being just environment – defined by human need and there for human exploitation.
In fact, the sweep of the Old Testament stays with Creation, for example, expressing God’s awesomeness to Job (38-41) and Creation’s delight in the Psalms (e.g. 65 and 104) And the New Testament, Jesus is presented as integral to Creation – the firstborn of creation in whom all things hold together (Colossians 1.17). The vision is of the destiny of the whole of Creation (Romans 8.19-23). So our attitudes to the created world and how we live within it are part and parcel of our relationship with Christ. Being his disciples means being part of the narrative of Creation. In turn, we find we are being drawn into a new Creation.
Creation and Mission
In fact, every one of the Anglican Communion’s Five Marks of Mission impinges on Creation – not just the fifth. Creation is integral to our faith. As our Diocesan Climate Justice Policy states:
1. As we proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom we declare that God made the world, and it tells us of God’s glory.
2. As we teach, baptise and nurture new believers we affirm that:
- the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it
- we are God’s creatures
- disconnection from God affects relationships with each other and with the natural world
- following Christ means becoming content with enough and entering into a new relationship with our environment
- Christ’s death and resurrection are the beginning of a renewed creation.
3. As we respond to human need by loving service we will:
- contribute towards relief of suffering due to climate change
- support our global neighbours adapting to the climate and ecological emergencies.
4. As we seek to transform unjust structures of society, challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation, we join in challenging structures, systems and enterprises, including those of which we are a part, that perpetuate the injustices of climate change and conflict between peoples.
5. As we strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth, we delight in and wonder at the natural world and seek to live sustainably as fellow creatures within it.
Creation and Diocese
Given all this, it’s not surprising that concern for Creation both flows from and enhances our Diocesan strategy:
- In seeking to be a church that is renewed we also work towards the renewal of the earth
- In seeking to be a church that is released we find increasing freedom from lifestyles that abuse the natural world
- In seeking to be a church that is rejuvenated we stand by succeeding generations, who will be most impacted by the climate and ecological emergencies.
For those who commit to being Lights for Christ it’s also about our Personal Rule of Life. In the context of our care for God’s creation and as his followers:
- Receiving Christ’s light includes being aware of the created world, learning from it and seeing God in it.
- Walking in Christ’s light includes living in gratitude, wonder and awe at creation and holding lightly to money and possessions. We are content with enough.
- Reflecting Christ’s light happens when we’re seen living in harmony with the natural world and responding to injustice.
It’s the way of ‘shalom’.
So how can I respond?
The best place to begin is simply to be more aware of the natural, non-human, world – to notice it more, appreciate it more and see it through God’s eyes – indeed showing God’s handiwork and glory. “O Lord my God, when I, in awesome wonder, consider all the works thy hand hath made …”
We can allow the grandeur, power, immensity and mystery of the created world to reflect something of the transcendence and utter awesomeness of God. We can let the intricacy and minute detail of the Creation reflect something of God’s concern with the detail of our lives. We can allow the resilience and profligacy of nature to tell us something about God’s providence and generosity.
If we love the Creator we will love the Creation and share God’s delight in it and, as disciples, take Jesus as our example – see Matthew 6.25-33. We will join God in providing for his people and other life through the resources of the natural world.
We find that following Jesus means seeing our ‘environment’ through entirely new eyes – as God’s handiwork, not merely our surroundings or something to be used. And that can deepen and enrich our very understanding of Gospel. For God so loved the kosmos (John 3.16), of which we are a part.