wfn.org | TCN Editorial: Loving our planet in spirit and in truth

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>Taiwan Church News

>2982 Edition

>April 20~26, 2009

Editorial: Loving our planet in spirit and in truth

>Translated by Lydia Ma

As natural resources grow scarce with each passing day, the price of  these resources and the price of oil become increasingly

expensive. Natural disasters have struck several parts of the world and  global warming has become a hot topic in many countries in

>recent years.

However, what environmentalist find most embarrassing to admit is that  one of their leading advocates who is a renowned politician

and the maker of the famous documentary “An Inconvenient  Truth” does not set a good example in his daily life when it comes  to

conservation. Such discrepancy between words and deeds only demonstrates  that it is not enough to love the Earth or God through

words, philosophy, law, or scientific research. Instead, we must love  “in spirit and in truth”, as Jesus instructed the Samaritan

>woman.

We believe that God created the world and entrusted us to take care of  it. Mankind may use all available natural resources, but we

must also ensure that there will be enough resources left for our  neighbors and future generations. Sadly, when it comes to taking

care of our planet, we have been terrible guardians and must now try our  best to repair the damage we have done.

Protecting the environment can be one aspect of spiritual training  because spiritual training involves transforming oneself to be more

and more like Jesus, including taking care of the world the way Jesus  would have done. Christians ought to see conservation as an

important personal value and live it out in their daily lives,  otherwise, we would be like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Pharisees  were

superficial leaders and never did what they taught others to do.

How do we love our planet “in spirit and in truth”? First, we  must learn to praise God as we appreciate nature because one of the

ways God reveals Himself to us is through nature. By spending quiet time  outdoors, we can learn to appreciate nature and interact

with it. Psalms 8, 19, 104, 147, and 148 are good places to start as  these psalms are filled with descriptions of God’s creation.

Second, we can live a life that goes with the flow of nature. People in  contemporary society have taken advantage of technology to

twist around the environment to suit their needs or to suit the needs of  their factories. As result, our biological clocks have gone

haywire, our health has deteriorated, and we have wasted precious  resources. Therefore, we must promote a lifestyle that is

“environmentally friendly” by adopting “natural”  habits.

Third, we must practice self-control. Lack of self-control,  wastefulness, and greed are the main sources of environmental

degradation. Jesus warned in Luke 21:34 that we should be careful, or  our hearts will be weighed down with dissipation,

drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on us  unexpectedly like a trap. Therefore, choosing a lifestyle that is

environmentally friendly and practicing self-control is one way we  incorporate environmentalism into our spiritual training.

Fourth, we demonstrate how much we value and respect God’s creation  by maintaining a respectful and responsible attitude toward

it. We must adopt a respectful attitude toward the environment as a sign  of appreciation for God’s creation. When we do, we

acknowledge that we are finite beings in awe of God’s greatness  displayed through His creation. Instead of seeing ourselves as

omnipotent, we must treat God’s creation with humility if we want  to become faithful stewards.

Spiritual training should not be confined to praying in our rooms all  day long. Nature is one important means God uses to

communicate with us. Therefore, we must treat nature as a holy land that  enables us to meet with God. Let’s use all of our hearts

and strength to preserve the environment so that our relationship with  God’s creation can be restored and become what God had

>intended it to be from the very beginning.

>********************

Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Taiwan's local languages.

You may translate and re-use the articles only if you acknowledge the  source as "Taiwan Church News" and list the names of the reporter and  writer.

Contact us before reprinting any of our articles. You may direct  comments and questions to: enews@pctpress.org

Visit our web site: http://www.pctpress.org  (Chinese)

>http://enews.pctpress.org/  (English)

>********************