• How many SUV's and other low mile per gallon vehicles are found in your church parking lot on any given Sunday morning? How many of those vehicles had multiple empty seats on the way to church and will remain empty on the way home? How many of them are non-essential for everyday life and work?
• What about energy usage? Churches are, because they typical have at least one big open space, are very expensive to heat and cool, but how many churches have implemented an energy saving plan? This ranges from shutting down computers, copy machines, and other technology at night, to setting up thermostats to only heat or cool certain parts of the building during the week, to encouraging people to shut off lights when they leave a room. Here's 30 other easy ideas.
• The same for above could be said with water conservation and either dual flush or low flush toilets.
• How about a church that's constructing a new addition? How many congregations out there have made efficiency a key factor in the design process?

While there are other examples out there, there's a few to communicate my point. Why, once we step away from the political and trendy side of the issue, aren't Christians more concerned with, and in some cases even opposed to, creation stewardship? Let me offer a few thoughts on why I see this issue as an important part of the Christian life. Creation stewardship is ...

• ... a calling from God to humanity. This one is perhaps the most obvious. In Genesis 1 there is talk of humanity being given the right to subdue and have dominion over the earth, which means that all of its resources are here for our good and benefit, however, in Genesis 2 we're told to work and keep it, terms that indicate not just use, but care. Just as Anita and I give toys to Robbie so that he can enjoy them, we also emphasize that he takes care of his toys, so God calls us to use and enjoy the creation, but part of that use is its care.
• ... a safety issue. In this increasingly complex world, the use of fossil fuels, particularly oil, has become a safety issue. Petropolitics will remain an issue as long as we have, as George W. Bush put it, an addiction to foreign oil. By removing Middle East oil from the equation, we take away the global power of those who control that oil, which all too often includes those who harbor and fund terrorists. In this sense, through creation stewardship, we're looking out for our neighbor's safety, and therefore honoring the 5th Commandment.
• ... a health issue. Perhaps I'm more aware of this than some because I grew up in Denver in the 1970's and 80's when my city had some of the worst air quality in the nation. I remember days where the brown cloud rose a full inch above the horizon, and it wasn't just a hazy translucent brown, it was a thick, dark, nasty brown color ... and that was the air we were breathing.  Today, Denver has some of the cleanest big city air in the US, but it's come because of changes in the fuel people put in their cars, and an increase in carpooling and the use of public transit. In other words, the city, before it was hip, promoted environmentally conscious practices to improve the lives of it's citizens. In the 5th Commandment, we're called, as Christians, to care about the health of our neighbor, and not doing our part to reduce pollution is a failure to love our neighbor.

However, beyond all of these reasons that others can hold for civil righteousness kinds of reasons, Christians have something to bring to the table that nobody else can. The gospel itself is green. Now, when we typically talk about what Jesus did on the cross we talk about our sin and Christ offering forgiveness, and that's good, after all, justification by grace through faith is the doctrine on which the church stands or falls, but with all of the focus on our past, we rarely focus on the fullness of what Christ won for us on the cross.

Be it Isaiah talking about the lion laying down with the lamb, Paul talking about the day when the creation will stop groaning, Peter talking about the new heavens and the new earth, John writing about the new Jerusalem with what sounds like the Garden of Eden in its midst, or Jesus himself declaring that he's come to make all things new, the ultimate result of our justification is eternal life in a world where we live in harmony with the creation around us.

Now, if that's our eternal future, shouldn't we find ourselves motivated to, in whatever small and limited ways that we can, live today as we will forever?