In a segment on All Points West (a regular series on CBC Radio One hosted by Jo-Ann Roberts) earlier this afternoon, Roberts and a select guest discussed the appropriation of environmental concerns by many of today's religions which, if memory serves me, she referred to as "the greening of religion" or the growing spiritual dimensions of socio-ecological issues. She set the tone by opening with the example of the "new sins" described last March by Bishop Gianfranco Girotti [PDF] which include such offences as social and economic inequality; these feed off an "unsustainable form of social injustice and is related to environmental issues," Girotti said, "which currently have much relevant interest."
The following is a letter I wrote to All Points West which describes my mild disagreement because, as I indicate, socio-political concerns is actually not a new arena for the Christian faith.
Dear Jo-Ann Roberts,
This afternoon (21/Apr/2008) on All Points West there was a brief discussion on "the greening of religion." I would include more relevant information, like the name of the guest and the points he raised, but I cannot find a podcast for your show, which restricts me to personal memory.
I wanted to provide a brief response on the relationship between the socio-ecological concerns of our day and at least one particular 'institutional religion'—Christianity. There is always room for continuing education and growth on the individual and community scale, but socio-ecological concerns are not unfamiliar to this religion. As covenant children of God, Christians have a willing and sober obligation to be responsible stewards of God's creation wherever it touches our lives; from the beginning we have been given the ethical mandate of superintending God's creation and are therefore responsible in this capacity before God. Although the Christian community is chiefly concerned with spreading the message of Christ and redemption, it also recognizes manifold social responsibilities and that evangelization is ecologically active, "bringing the message and realities of the kingdom of God into the social affairs of human beings and into responsible stewardship of all creation" (Dr. Grant McClung, "Is Jesus' Proclamation Our Proclamation?" Christian Churches Together in the USA, 7/Feb/2007).
This is addressed implicitly in the Lausanne Covenant (1976), one of the most influential documents in modern evangelical Christianity, written and adopted by 2,430 evangelicals at the International Congress on World Evangelization (ICWE) in Lausanne, Switzerland. This conference was called by a committee headed by Billy Graham of the United States and brought together 150 Christian religious leaders from around the world. In one of the sections it reaffirms the "responsible service to the world" faced by Christian ministry, expressing the belief that "evangelism and socio-political involvement are both part of our Christian duty" because both are logical "expressions of our doctrines of God and man, our love for our neighbour and our obedience to Jesus Christ . . . [The gospel and its mission] should be transforming us in the totality of our personal and social responsibilities" (Section V, emphasis mine).
In the Manila Manifesto (1989), the Second ICWE in Manila, Philippines (sometimes called "Lausanne II") elaborated on the Lausanne Covenant, calling explicitly for an integration of words and deeds, including a "continuing commitment to social action" because it is recognized "that the biblical gospel has inescapable social implications." It affirms the belief that authentic evangelization demands "the prophetic denunciation of all that is incompatible with [God's kingdom]. Among the evils we deplore are destructive violence, including institutionalized violence, political corruption, all forms of exploitation of people and of the earth" and so forth (Section IV, emphasis mine).
There is also the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN), which is a non-profit organization "that seeks to educate, inspire, and mobilize Christians in their effort to care for God's creation, to be faithful stewards of God's provision, and to advocate for actions and policies that honor God and protect the environment" (emphasis mine). The EEN "provides theological and spiritual guidance on Christian responsibility in the light of biblical teaching on the care of creation and the reality of modern environmental degradation." This group expresses the conviction that if "the Bible teaches us that Christ has created the universe, gives it life and sustains it, and has reconciled everything to God, then our actions should participate in Christ's creating, sustaining, and reconciling work."
The examples could be multiplied, especially if consideration is given to Christian social and relief initiatives concerned with food security, emergency management initiatives, economic development, health care, basic education and so forth (e.g. Salvation Army, Samaritan's Purse, World Vision, Adventist Development and Relief Agency, etc).
Although further "greening" of Christian evangelical convictions and efforts are desired and commendable, the existence of such international conferences and initiatives underscores the reality that such "greening" is not a 21st century bandwagon being appropriated by the Christian faith among other religions, but has actually been a growing concern for many decades.
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