Thanks for commenting. It is a an honor to have you post on The King’s Green Pad! You have been a leader in the creation care movement for a decade and a half – much longer than most of the rest of us – certainly including myself. I apologize if I painted you into a corner in my post. It was not intentional, as I have tremendous respect for you AS AN ENVIRONMENTALIST, and Floresta is perhaps one of the best examples (if not the best example) of a Christian organization clearly linking social sustainability with environmental sustainability in a practical and transformative way. Perhaps the problem with my post was that I didn’t listen very well, rather than that you did not communicate well. As you said – God can use all of us – thank you for your grace!

Mike

I apparently did not communicate that well. Thankfully God can use all of us.

As for 2), I can’t put my finger on it, but I feel there is likely a reason the people of God throughout the Old and New Testament worship in buildings. Certainly the early church deemphasizes how ‘sacred’ the building has to be – they appear perfectly happy to meet in houses – but they don’t exit altogether. It’s also revealing how the New Jerusalem in Revelation is not described as a garden, but a garden-city. Clearly the Bible resists any pure ‘back-to-nature’ ethos.

Yet I agree, much of our construction, maintenance, and use of buildings is sinful, if not practically idolatrous.

3 is tough. I certainly believe caring for creation is a virtue; clearly others do not. I would suggest, though, that the first step is not to attack on this issue (if you don’t recycle your salvation may be in doubt!) but to ‘cultivate’ the desire to worship God rightly in every area of life and the willingness to re-assess how that is to be done. Then dialogue is possible.