“For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.”
1 Thessalonians 1:5
To be clear, I believe that we are commissioned to be good stewards of the environment. God gave this earth to us to manage it in the cleanest and most respectful way. We are commanded to be stewards of every area of our lives and it is incumbent upon Christians to be prudent, save, conserve, and reverence all of God’s creation. Sadly, this point has become politicized insomuch that the unbeliever worships “Mother Earth” instead of God the Father. I’ll side with the latter, thank you very much.
The issue here is not so much about pollution as it is about moral conviction. Years ago, a basketball player, Kobe Bryant, was found guilty of cheating on his wife. In response, he bought his wife a new multi-million dollar diamond ring and his mother-in-law a new Mercedes. The gifts were considered an “offset” for violating his vows.
Here are a few numbers for you: The Average home consumes 10,656 kilowatts of power per year. Former Vice President Al Gore has been an outspoken leader to reduce energy consumption. His platform, enhanced by his Inconvenient Truth series, speaks of global dangers from warming trends caused by human consumption of energy.
Once again, I think it’s important to conserve and not to waste. It’s a foolish thing to throw trash on the ground and waste fuel. I’m not even here to debate the nuances of climate change. However, it does strike me that Mr. Gore uses nearly 20 times more energy on his own house than the average American home. Last August alone he burned through more than 22,000 kWh of energy on his home. That is more than twice as much electricity in one month than most homes use in an entire year. Moreover, while he pronounces judgment on the average citizen, the electricity to heat his pool would power six homes for an entire year. I’m so glad the water’s warm.
In response to these alarming numbers, Gore does not deny them, but says that he plants trees and pays people to plant trees in order to “offset” his offenses. Really? So that means that you can do wrong, be wrong, act against your own speech as long as you buy diamond rings and plants trees?
Before we find joy in this communique, we better check our own record. We say that we love the Lord and people; believe in the Gospel; accept everybody and pray. People, we better have some evidence of our conviction. The Apostles did not come in “word only.” They did not just say all the right things without evidence of their message. There was power and authority that backed up the word. They lived a life that exemplified what they preached and there were no “offsets.” Even the pharisees knew as they tried to punish the disciples, but could not because of the hard evidence presented. They had real fruit to show the unbeliever.
If you are Christian then you must act like it. If you profess Christ, then you are required to live like Him. No excuses, or allowances, or “offsets” are permitted. It’s either real or fake; genuine love or fair speech. I’m not talking about being perfect; I’m talking about striving to live according the Word.
Pastor Jeffrey Harpole