Embracing Kingdom Hope for a Broken World
Posts tagged Theology
Praying Confidently in the Midst of Disaster
Jun 11th
Helpless as at least 12,000 barrels of oil continue to spill into the ocean each day with no end in sight.
Helpless as massive oil plumes harm and kill creatures in the ocean.
Helpless as oil washes onto beaches, marshes, and wetlands.
In the face of this awful tragedy, I am utterly helpless.
*Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/lagohsep/4660763303/sizes/m/in/set-72157624183995944/
As I watch images of the Gulf Coast Oil Spill – of oil spilling out at an alarming rate and of the damage already caused – I can’t help but feel overwhelmed and underprepared. What do we do? What can we do? For so many of us, there is absolutely nothing we can do about this catastrophe. We are utterly helpless!
But perhaps it is in our helplessness that we can truly make a difference.
At such a time as this we have three choices. First, we can ignore the situation, though this is really no choice at all. Second, we can despair at our misfortune and inability to change things. Third, we can turn to God in prayer.
But in the midst of such a disaster, how can we have any confidence in prayer? Is it even worth our time? Will it make any difference at all?
Having launched Oil Spill Prayer, an initiative to unite Christians in prayer for the effects of the oil spill, I have been wrestling with many of these questions lately. Confronted by the naysayers who claim that our prayer is worthless, I have had to look hard at these things. Can I pray with any level of confidence or am I just wishing for a positive outcome?
During this time, I have found the Psalms to be incredibly instructive for prayer. Please consider Psalm 85 with me and see what this particular psalm can teach us about prayer in the face of challenging circumstances.
Psalm 85:1-13
LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin. Selah You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger. Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again, so that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation. Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts. Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. The LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.
In the first section of this psalm (verses 1-3) we see YHWH’s past actions in the life of Israel. As we read about restoration and forgiveness, we must ask, “which time?” Indeed it is unclear which time the psalmist refers to here. I suppose that is intentional, emphasizing the number and significance of the Lord’s past actions. As we read this we must keep Israel’s corporate identity in mind. That is to say, what happened to previous generations also was considered to have happened to the current generation (consider Joshua 24:17 for example). You see, what God has done in our community, past or present, He has done for me. Therefore, you and I can celebrate the great acts of our Lord as if done directly for us.
In the second section (verses 4-7), we see the psalmist pleading to God. Note that the plea does not come first. Rather, the focus is on who YHWH is and what He has done. Even here, the subject is the Lord. Now it is fascinating to see how the psalmist prays. Here, the psalmist prayed back God’s character to Him. Put differently, as God has claimed Himself to be a God of covenant faithfulness (often translated “steadfast love,” Israel now calls upon Him to be the God He said He would be. The psalmist uses language from God’s own mouth and insists that YHWH can be no other God. So where the Lord has claimed to be a God of faithfulness, righteousness, and steadfast love, the one praying calls out to Him and commands that He be that same God. What a powerful way to pray! This is not begging. This is not pleading. This is not wishing. This is demanding.
The psalmist displays his confidence in the final section (verses 8-13). He can pray with confidence because of who the LORD has been, is, and will be. Because the Lord claimed to be faithful and has shown Himself to be faithful in the past, now we can trust that He will continue to be so in the situations we find ourselves in. This has nothing to do with ourselves or our “ability” at prayer. This has everything to do with the God to whom we pray – the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Redeemer.
Now this does not mean that this is the perfect or only model for prayer. This psalm is not formulaic. In fact, in the very next psalm we see a different pattern. However, the themes of confidence in prayer and praying back God’s character to Him are found throughout the Psalms. Our confidence does not come from the formula but from Him to whom we address the prayer. Neither does this mean that we get whatever we want. We are calling God to act according to His character, not to act like a genie in a bottle.
Here is what this does mean: in our helplessness and desperation, we must turn to God. Then we put our focus on Him, call on Him to be the faithful God He promised to be, and walk confidently knowing that He will be faithful and His will shall be done.
It is at this point of helplessness that we can truly make a difference. This is not because we hold the key to any power. In fact, we are admitting we are helpless. No, we can make a difference because we are relying upon the most real, the most true, the most potent source of power – the Lord.
Now this does not exempt us from action. A sincere prayer will bring about transformation and action with us. How could I possibly come to the Lord day after day about the oil spill without having my life transformed? I love this quote by Ronald Rolheiser in The Holy Longing, “To pray as a Christian demands concrete involvement in trying to bring about what is pleaded for in the prayer.” While the sovereignty, power, and control remain with God, the call to “follow me” is not negated. Prayer centers us on God, gives us hope, and transforms us.
When we find ourselves in the most dire circumstances – surrounded by poverty, need, disease, death, destruction, chaos, hurt, broken lives, broken relationships, and a broken creation – we call upon the God who has proclaimed Himself to be merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in covenant loyalty and faithfulness, forgiving, loving, living, redeeming, restoring, and active in our lives. And that God – who has proved Himself time and again to the people of Israel, to the New Testament churches, to subsequent generations, to you and your family, and to me and mine – is listening, is moving, and will prove Himself to be faithful once again.
Perhaps we are helpless, but our God certainly isn’t.
{This article was originally written for Flourish where it was posted as “Praying Confidently in the Midst of Disaster.” Thank you to Flourish for featuring it and allowing us to use it here on Creation Hope as well. In addition to their website you can connect with them on Facebook and Twitter.}
Also consider:
Eco Theology: Redemption of All Things
Apr 9th
Eco Theology: a series which explores the theology of creation care in bite-size chunks
Redemption of All Things
Have you ever had one of those total eye-opening, aha moments? You know, the ones where some new experience or piece of information makes everything come together? Where a puzzle piece suddenly makes the big picture so much clearer? Where in a split second your brain processes a world of thoughts? Where in the blink of an eye your worldview was transformed and your life changed?
I had one a few years ago. While some key foundations had been laid, it was the discovery of the fact that God was redeeming all of creation, not just individual souls, that was that moment for me in my journey to care for God’s creation. Two critical passages opened up my eyes to the breadth of Christ’s redeeming work. This was the turning point for me. So, please let me share it with you.
Romans 8:19-23
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
Christians believe that there will be a day when Christ redeems mankind. However, we often forget or don’t even realize (as it was in my case) that the scope of His redemption is much grander. In last week’s post on the brokenness of creation we that despite the commands to care for creation in the Old Testament, creation is fallen and awaits redemption.
The broader scope of redemption is now made clear in this passage. Just as God’s children await redemption (verse 23) so creation longs for redemption as well (verse 19). One day it will be set free from its brokenness. Restoration will come. You see, up to this point in my journey I had boxed God in so tight that I failed to see that the scope of His redemption is much broader than saving souls (as great as that is). But here I began to see that the coming redemption will include the restoration of all of God’s creation.
The Peace Lily
Colossians 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers– all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
If there was any lingering doubt after the Romans passage, it became crystal clear upon a closer reading of Colossians 1:15-20. Here in Colossians we see that Christ is going to reconcile “all things.” The Greek here does not at all indicate that this means “all people,” but rather clearly indicates that “the all” (or all things) is being reconciled. Donald Bloesch in his book The Last Things notes that, "we hope not simply for our own salvation but also for the redemption of the cosmos.”
The coming redemption will include the restoration of ALL of creation. “Nothing lies outside the creative redemptive scope of God’s grace” (Steven Bouma-Prediger in For the Beauty of the Earth). Our God is so amazing that He is working to redeem all of His creation: plants, animals, you, me. All that He made.
It is helpful to note that it is the same “all things” that were created in Christ Jesus (verse 16) that were reconciled to Him (verse 20). It is so important here to note that the Creator is also the Redeemer. My favorite early church father, Athanasius, said the following in the 4th century: “The renewal of creation has been wrought by the Self-same Word Who made it in the beginning. There is thus no inconsistency between creation and salvation; for the One Father has employed the same Agent for both works, effecting the salvation of the world through the same Word Who made it in the beginning.” The very God who created all of His glorious creation is now re-creating it. There is no inconsistency because the Creator is the Redeemer, the Re-Creator. Do you see what a beautiful, poetic idea that is?
Sometimes we Christians settle for a less than complete theology and view of what the Bible says. We settle for an incomplete gospel. But the gospel – the GOOD NEWS – is so great! It is God coming into our world. It is the arrival, the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom. It is good news for the poor, the sick, the captive, the broken. It is freedom and healing. It is new life and a new way of living. It is reconciliation. And it is the redemption of all of God’s creation.
You see this is where I get so excited about this. About the magnitude of God’s plan. About the amazing beauty of His restored creation. About the possibility of being a part of that work. We worship an incredible God who has come into our broken world to redeem all things. How exciting!
Also consider:
Eco Theology: Repair Needed
Apr 2nd
Eco Theology: a series which explores the theology of creation care in bite-size chunks
Repair Needed
I have previously talked about my involvement in a community garden that I set up at my church which benefits the needy in our community. When we began last fall we were overflowing with excitement for the great work that we were doing. Some initial success bolstered those feelings. One of the things that I was most excited about was the fava beans that we had planted in our plot. I had constructed a crude trellis from repurposed wood and was thrilled to see them shoot up toward heaven.
Early picture of fava beans under the trellis
But them something happened… a black spot showed up. Then another. And another. A closer look revealed these tiny black bugs had infested our beloved plant. Now you have to know that while passionate, I am still a rookie gardener. So I picked up some sort of organic bug spray and used that a couple times. Unfortunately, for some reason (too late, wrong thing to use, not often enough?) it didn’t work. Our bean plant was broken and dying. Before long the death sentence caught up with it and it died a sad death.
Weird black bugs destroying our bean plant
We have previously talked about how God made His creation good. In fact, we consistently try to affirm that here at Creation Hope and seek to appreciate God’s creation more and more, especially in our Beauty of Creation series. But the goodness of creation is only the first act of a much larger story.
Now we all know the story of Adam and Eve and the fall. However, we often think of the repercussions of their actions only with regard to humans. The reality though is that sin had an impact on all of creation.
We see in the judgment speech in Genesis 3:17 that the ground is cursed because of them. It had ceased to have the same level of productivity. Now it would bear thorns and thistles. In Redeeming Creation
The extension of this brokenness to the rest of creation is seen throughout the Bible. Consider Isaiah 24:5.
The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.
The brokenness of the earth is inextricably linked to our sin. Here Isaiah connects the pollution of the land to the sin of Israel. You see, the earth is cursed because of their actions, because of our sin.
Now, you might be wondering how exactly it is broken. While now is not the time for an in-depth description of the degradation of creation, let me just list a few of the ways in which this is seen today:
- Rapid species loss – the rate at which creations are going extinct is alarming
- Deforestation – forests, which are so critical to the ecosystems of our world, are being eliminated at shocking rates
- Climate change – while some may be skeptical, if you believe the scientific data and analysis, the world climate is experiencing key shifts and is at risk for increasingly greater ones
- Water quality – much of the world does not have access to clean water
- Animal treatment – around the globe animals, creations that are precious to God, are brutalized for food, fur, and even sport
This same idea of a broken creation continues into the New Testament. The most prominent place we see this is in Romans 8:19-23 which we looked at a few weeks ago.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
God’s creation is broken. This is not just in some abstract, static sense like when a piece of plastic is split in two. Rather, it is broken in such a way that it groans under the burden. Creation cries out in its brokenness and longs for the coming day of redemption when it can be restored and made whole.
Today is Good Friday. It is the day we remember the sacrifice that Christ made in order to bring redemption to all of creation. We, along with the rest of God’s creation, eagerly await the restoring work of Christ. Yes, we (along with creation) are broken. Yes, we (along with creation) are in bondage. Yes, we (along with creation) are groaning.
BUT…
My fava beans actually withered and died. But…
{to be continued}
Also consider:
Eco Theology: Rainbows & Promises
Mar 19th
Eco Theology: a series which explores the theology of creation care in bite-size chunks
Rainbows & Promises
I’m not one of those people who usually remember their dreams. As much as I want to, even when I make a mental note during the night, when I wake up I just don’t seem to be able to remember. Now, there is just enough on the tip of my brain to let me know I actually had one and to taunt me. But then as I struggle to piece together what happened they slip into oblivion. So perhaps it is significant that I still remember a little bit about two dreams I had before I was six years old.
The first one took place in South Carolina (where I must have recently visited my grandfather). I was outside walking around a lagoon when an alligator surfaced, landed on the shore, and decided he wanted human tacos for lunch. Now when I was a kid I was fast. But I wasn’t alligator fast. I ran and ran but could not escape him. We were running so fast that just as he was about to sink his teeth in we both ran through the portal between dream world and reality. He continued to chase me all the way down the hall into my parents room and then he somehow disappeared. No matter how much we searched the whole house, especially underneath my bed, he was not to be found. To this day, there has no further sign of him; though that’s not to say I don’t keep a close eye out. I have no idea how this is significant, relevant, uplifting, or educational but I thought I’d bring you along for the run anyways.
The second dream took place on a very rainy day. I had been raining all morning and I chose to curl up in a bean bag next to the window. Now those of you who live in other places around the country and the world would surely laugh at us in Southern California if you knew how insane we get when it rains. At the sign of the first drop of rain we go into a frenzy. Plans change. Rain gear comes out. The doppler radars fire to life. And we move into storm mode. All the news stations interrupt your regularly broadcasted soap operas and courtroom absurdities to announce “Storm Watch 2010” as if the world is teetleling(?), tottling(?) – you know – is on the brink of disaster. Then an 1/8th of an inch of rain and 3 days later we assess the situation and thank our lucky stars. Anyways… that day I was in that mindset. The ground was not absorbing the water quick enough and I was on Storm Watch 19–, let’s just call it Storm Watch year 5 of Scott’s life. So I fall asleep thinking about the coming flood. Of course, this leads to a dream about Noah’s ark where fortunately I am one of the good ones who wins a complimentary ticket aboard the ark. I don’t remember if I was the Noah-figure or not. I do remember is that I was saved though. The dream would be much cooler if I cool tell you what I remember of the animals, how they all fit in there, what we ate, etc, but I can’t. What I do remember is waking up from that dream to the sun shining, rainbow beaming across the sky, and water fading into the ground. I thought about how lucky I was to have been on the ark. How good it was to be a person chosen by God. How lucky must Noah and humanity have been to have been preserved by God. And fortunately God had saved the animals so we could still have hamburgers and zoos, not to mention the ground so we could build houses on top of it as opposed to everyone living in boats like in the movie Waterworld.
This idea that the whole ark story was only about God saving mankind pervaded throughout my life. We like to talk about the 2×2’s in Sunday school because it shows God’s power and, frankly, kids think animals are cute. So we put them up on the flannelboard and play up the cuddly and exotic animals. Good thing God had this afterthought to bring them along because I’m just not sure I could be a vegetarian.
For me, and I believe for many other Christians, this afterthought idea pervaded. People were important. Animals help people in various ways. Bring the animals too.
More recently though I have re-read the story of the ark with an eye for detail. I have to tell you that a lot has changed for me and my view on creation care as a result of this story. If you have the time I encourage you to read Genesis 9:1-17 before going on. This section takes place after they have disembarked from the ark. Here we see God establishing His covenant.
Now, often section headers here will talk about God’s Covenant with Noah. In fact, in theology this is referred to as the Noahic covenant. While this is helpful as an identifier, it is not helpful descriptively. You see, the covenant extends well beyond Noah.
Please take careful note who God covenants with throughout this section:
- Genesis 9:9-10 you (Noah) and your descendants after you and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark
- Genesis 9:11 you (Noah)
- Genesis 9:12 you (Noah) and every living creature that is with you
- Genesis 9:13 the earth
- Genesis 9:15 you (Noah) and every living creature of all flesh
- Genesis 9:16 every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth
- Genesis 9:17 all flesh that is on the earth
Six times here God covenants with the living creatures or the earth. When I first grasped this, it shook me. I had thought the rainbow was only a sign of God not flooding the earth to destroy man. But now I saw that it was so much more. It was the sign of the covenant between God and His creation. That was so much bigger, so much grander than I had thought.
You see, God’s love, care, and even His covenant extend to ALL of His creation. We have developed such an anthropocentric (human centered) view that we have missed that God loves, cares for, and covenants not just with people but with the woodpecker, the beagle, the snow leopard, the poison dart frog, the honey pot ant, the sloth, the spider monkey, and even the earth itself. What an incredible value He has placed on His creation.
Keep in mind that this was not a short term agreement. There were no “if you ______, then ______” stipulations. No, this was an everlasting covenant (9:16). And if you know anything about God and His covenants, you know that God is faithful to His covenants. The psalms say that His covenant faithfulness endures forever (Psalm 136).
Next time you look up and and see a rainbow, think about God’s grand covenant with His creation. Take a moment with your friend, dog, and/or tree and praise God that He has covenanted with you all. May sound silly to some to think of putting your arm around a tree and a dog, and rejoicing together that God cares for you, but it’s true that God cares for each part of His creation.
The God whose promises endure has committed to all of His creation. Next time you feel down because of all of the doom and destruction talk that surrounds the environmental conversation, look to the rainbow as a sign of the covenant between God and His creation. He is in control and He is our source of confidence.
Also consider:
Eco Theology: To Serve and Protect
Feb 19th
Eco Theology: a series which explores the theology of creation care in bite-size chunks
To Serve and Protect
If there’s one thing you learn when you study other languages in depth, it’s that translations do not fully capture what was originally said. Translation is not mathematics. There is not a 1 to 1 relationship between the meanings of most words. For example, if my bilingual daughter uses the word “guardar” I might translate it as “keep” when I tell my wife. But that might leave out much of the original meaning of the word which can also be "guard, watch over, put away, save, observe, bear, protect." You see, when separated from the original language, the event, and the cultural and linguistic context, we face many challenges in understanding what was meant. This is why computers, as smart as they are, still have so much trouble translating from one language to another. Likewise, that is why we often have such trouble understanding what the Bible says or why we misunderstand certain things when relying only on the translation of it.
This is the case with some key creation care scriptures. When read out of context or without an informed understanding of the original text, we can miss the meaning. So, today we will look at one of those passages in depth to better understand its meaning and our theology.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
Genesis 2:15
It is unfortunate that this verse has often been translated inadequately and that the deeper meaning does not come through in the English translations. As such, this verse is often skipped over as the language merely appears to apply to gardening. If I understand it only as tilling the earth (in an agricultural sense), I can think that Adam was a farmer and I am not. So I might think that this verse does not apply to me. However, a look at the original language reveals there is a much deeper meaning behind this scripture. The Hebrew word here translated as “till” is abad. The basic meaning of this word is “to serve,” which implies a very different relationship.
Also, the word translated as “keep” is shamar. While this is not a bad translation is does not capture the fuller sense of the word which includes the ideas of: guarding, watching over, protecting, taking care of, preserving, and devoting oneself to. This implies a much more caring relationship. Calvin DeWitt says, “God calls us to give the garden of creation our caring service.” God has placed man and creation in a symbiotic relationship. Man is not simply told to use creation for his own benefit, but is to devote himself to the care and preservation of creation.
Furthermore, this helps me to better understand Genesis 1:28 in which God tells mankind that they should subdue the earth and have dominion over living things. We often think of this dominion as dominating. But what we see here is more of a servant leadership. Additionally, in Genesis 1 we see God using “sovereign power in a way that shares life and life-giving power, and human beings are in a position to master creatures in an appropriate way because they share these characteristics” (From John Goldingay’s Old Testament Theology). If our great God, the Creator, uses His power in this way and we are made in His image, how do you suppose we ought to use our power? Mankind’s use of authority should not inhibit and damage creation but free and develop it so that it may flourish.
In my personal journey, understanding this difference is where things really began to change. No longer did I have this mentality that I should dominate the earth for my own selfish purposes. Rather, I realized that we have been called into a caring, protecting, symbiotic relationship with God’s creation. What a difference!
Also consider:
Eco Theology: It’s All Good
Feb 5th
A series which explores the theology of creation care in bite-sized chunks
It’s All Good
A week or so ago I took my daughter over to the park. We were having a blast playing on the playground together. It was a great time, except for one thing… I kept finding myself cringing as she would get dirtier and dirtier. It had rained just a day earlier and the slides were still wet, though that didn’t stop here from using them. So as her clothes got wet the dirt, sand, avian fecal matter (a.k.a. bird poop), and who-knows-what-else was sticking to her. I was saying over and over, “no toques eso” (don’t touch that). Of course, it’s hard to stop a 2 year old from touching anything so my commands went unheeded. As we got home my first thought was to strip her down, clean, and sanitize her immediately.
Upon some reflection I realized that on that afternoon in many ways I had reverted back to the view of the universe that has been ingrained in so many of us since we were little kids: namely that spiritual things are good and physical things are bad. As Christians we talk about getting to the other side and being with God in heaven so that we can be past the ailments of the physical world. Many look forward to a spiritual, ethereal place where we can just float around untainted by physical things. While there is much to be said for looking forward to being with God (please don’t get me wrong on that), there is something wrong with this view we have inherited that basically says: spiritual good, physical bad. I don’t want to get technical on you, but let me simply point out that this is very much the heritage of Plato’s view of the universe as well as of the Gnostics who claimed that matter was evil. As we look back on history here we realize how much we have been influenced to treat spiritual things as good at the expense of treating physical things are bad or evil.
Of course, as Christians it’s not that we don’t appreciate spiritual things. However, that is not to say that the physical is evil. Broken yes, but not evil. Consider the words of God as He looked over His creation in Genesis 1:31 (NRSV).
God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
It is important to note that the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, holds to a view that creation is good. God Himself declares repeatedly that His creation was good. If God values His creation then so should we, who are made in God’s image. As we look at the physical world (specifically at God’s creation), we must not forget Who created it and that it is good. Certainly brokenness has crept in, but that does not change the inherent goodness of creation.
A couple days ago my daughter and I went out again. On the way to the park we stopped to enjoy God’s creation, dirt and all. We played with dirty leaves that were absolutely beautiful and glorified their Creator. We touched the bark on trees, felt the grass, and just enjoyed the goodness of God’s creation, dirt and all. She still got cleaned up when we got back but not in order to wash of the evil stain of the physical world.
Praise be to our Maker and Creator for the goodness of His creation.
Also consider:
Avatar and Nature Worship
Jan 21st
Avatar has now made over a billion dollars at the box office and everyone seems to have an opinion. Even the Vatican! I came across some of their comments (in the article linked to below) the other day and thought I would respond. I saw Avatar, more out of intrigue then actual interest. I was intrigued to see what cost 400 million, what took James Cameron 10 years to make, and why so many people were waiting hours and hours in line for a ticket. I agree with the Vatican, in that it did have “extraordinary visual impact.” As for the story, it was typical Cameron, formulaic and cliché. The movie will make a ton of money but it won’t win best original screenplay.
The Vatican also made a statement about Avatar’s theological perspective. L’Osservatore wrote that the film “gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature.” I’m sure the Vatican using this as an opportunity to remind the church that God isn’t a tree, or a bush, or a sunset. True. In a world where Christianity is being mixed with a variety of other “spiritualities,” I for one am glad they are using pop-culture opportunities to confess the Christian message.
However, Vatican Radio also said the movie “cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium.” This is where I take some issue. Ecology is the issue of the new millennium and Christians are re-awakening to the Genesis call to engage in the tending of the earth. To obey God’s first call on humanity is for everyone to be an ecologist.
Genesis clearly reveals that God is the creator and sustainer, and we were called to be in partnership with God in caring for His creation. Moreover, we need to see nature as an avenue of Yahweh worship. If I look at a tree, bush or sunset and reflect on the beauty, complexity and awesomeness of it, it reminds me of both how big, powerful and loving God is. The tree becomes a catalyst/reminder to worship God.
We do need to keep the Christian message straight in the era of buffet spirituality. We are not to worship nature. However, we can no longer pit Christianity and Ecology against each other. The very good news of God contains a great hope for all of God’s creation. We see brokenness all around us and in us, but the Good News is that God has already set in motion the reconciliation of all things, in heaven and on earth (this includes nature). It is our great call and honor to participate in realizing as much of that redemption today and hope for tomorrow.
If you want to interact more on this, read C.S. Lewis ,Perelandra.
