God Please Save Your Planet...from us.

Chapter Eighteen- The Odd Couple

I do not understand. Maybe you can help me. Nearly two thousand years ago a man living in the Middle East shared a message of hope with his community that eventually spread around the world in one form or another. His message was a simple one. He spoke of the importance of 'loving our neighbor, as we love ourselves'. He even suggested that we should extend love to people we consider our enemies. He advocated the very opposite of self-interest.

Today, this individual is either worshipped, or at least admired by untold millions (possibly billions) around the world. He taught his followers to share what they had with others in their community, and beyond.

This sage of antiquity is remembered by the name Jesus Christ. Regardless of our particular worldview, I think we can all agree, he had some pretty novel ideas about interpersonal human relationships. That is, ideas about how we can get along with each other on this planet.

Now, I get why we all have difficulty getting along with each other. There are a lot of different religious belief systems in our world today. Ironically, many other sages of antiquity made similar statements about how to get along with our fellow humans. But this is what I don't understand: Why would the adherents of the various Christian denominations that claim to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ be so unconcerned with an environmental destabilization? As Christians, don't we believe that we were created to be good stewards of this planet, and all life on it?

Did I miss something? Why are people who may hold an atheistic worldview often more vocal about our environment than a believer in Christ? According to our own holy book, the Bible, didn't the bad behavior of mankind already lead to worldwide catastrophe in a global flood? As a Christian, you may believe this paradigm with all your heart. So, why would we continue to behave so recklessly with our current world? I just don't get it. What is it about our faith as Christians in various denominations, that triggers such a cold indifference to everyone who doesn't share my particular worldview?

Could it be, that our perception of God as Christian's, may be influencing our ability to respond to the current global issues facing our planet? To be blunt: Is God a throw away God? After all, it's do or die. Right? Obey or burn? Is the incinerator view of God influencing our personal choices down here on earth?

Granted, not all Christian's believe exactly the same thing when it comes to these common Christian doctrines. I am not challenging anyone's doctrinal views here, but could this be a factor?

As Christian's we believe that we must accept Jesus as our Savior in order to gain salvation. As Christians we also believe that this world will end. Some of us may even believe this doomsday scenario is imminent.

Much like someone who is visiting a hotel room, we may be under the impression that, since God will just clean up the mess after we're gone, there is no need to be tidying up the room. After all, that's what housekeeping staff are for. Right?

Do you see the problem with this line of reasoning? Imagine you believed something bad was about to happen at a hotel. I once experienced a scenario where a hotel was seized by people armed with machetes. These are crazy times in which we live. Aren't they? But imagine you knew what was about to happen.  Imagine you wanted to help people get out of the building before things got ugly. So, you literally start knocking on every door on every floor warning people about the danger. You would be showing genuine concern for your neighbor. Well done. Even if they don't listen, you did what you could. There's no time to clean up after yourself. It's not going to matter anyway. This is a crisis. It would seem ridiculous to fret over tidying up in such a situation.

As a Christian, I was raised with this mindset, and I can tell you that I was neither, uncaring, nor indifferent to the plight of my neighbor. That being said, there is an underlying fallacy to this approach. Our holy book also warns that God "will destroy those who destroy the earth." Our earth is not a hotel room. More importantly, God is not the Head of Housekeeping. Based on your current worldview, would you want to incur the cleaning fee that your holy book tells you that God would impose on your bill? Wait! There is no bill. Jesus paid for my sins. Case closed. If that is how you reason, all I can say is: "Wow!"