(Post by Renewal's Co-Coordinator, Anna Jane Joyner)
Growing up in my family, youth group gatherings were encouraged because they were safe. They were (at least perceived) to be removed from the big, bad secular world “out there.” (Never mind that my first kiss happened at youth group during a game of “truth or dare.”) Church activities were meant to be insulated, removed, safe. And to some degree they were (sans the occasional game of truth or dare ;)
Today’s Christian youth are encouraged to stay in safe little Christian cocoons. We’re subtly instructed not to ask scary questions, or challenge the status quo.
But when did Christianity become safe? The Jesus I’ve read about was anything but scared to challenge the status quo. In fact, his whole life was a challenge to the status quo. He did not stay holed up in safe and detached synagogues. Jesus ventured out into the world. With love, he exposed societal ills and offered a new hope, a vision of a renewed creation. In fact, he was so committed to needed change that he died living for it.
As followers of Christ, shouldn’t we also boldly, humbly and lovingly stand up for needed change? I hope that most of us won’t be asked to die for this vision. But we’re all called to live for it.
During a recent creation care talk at a prominent evangelical university, my colleague begged the following questions:
What are the challenges?
What needs to change?
What is the role of Christians?
The students were able to answer the first question- water shortages, climate change, environmental justice, loss of biodiversity, and on and on... But when it came to the next two questions, the room was silent. As Christians, perhaps we need to start asking some new questions. And start living the answers.
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(Written by Renewal Student Leadership Team member, Megan Risley, in honor of World Water Day- March 22nd,2009)
You may have to fight for your right to party, but you shouldn't have to fight for your right to drink.... water, that is. We are made of it. Our planet is made of it. We can only live three days without it. And, in less than 15 years, two thirds of the world will be living in conditions of water shortage and/or contamination. compared to today's 40%.
So, one third of the world will have enough water in less than two decades. Not to mention the fact that we will see the decimation of a continent in our lifetime due to spreading desert. I really hope we're not ok with that, even if we are the lucky 33% who have enough water to stay alive. The way we treat water, though, it's like we don't even know that people are literally dying of thirst. You know it's bad when the poor in your city start asking for water instead of spare change...
Car washes, I think, are the most offensive waste of water. Not only do they waste tons of water to clean something else harmful to the environment, but they dump toxic chemicals and soaps into the water supply. Watering lawns and non-native plants uses water desperately needed by people, and it doesn't make sense. We have leveled forests and cleared out native greenery to make room for our water-guzzling lawns and perennials that require exorbitant amounts of water, instead of allowing plantlife that has adapted to the natural amount of water to flourish. Bottled water may be a trendy thing to do, but it is also rather senseless - people waste billions of dollars, and half of it comes from the tap anyway.
Clearly, the problem is not a lack of information: there are entire sites dedicated to the issue of water. There are books written that include system-oriented ways of thinking that detail ways to not only detoxify effluents, but to make outflow even cleaner than inflow. It is possible to actually make the world a better place. Here are few two-second tweaks you can make in your life today:
1) Put a rock (not a brick, they crumble!) in your toilet tank (that is, if you don't already have dual-flush toilets installed!)
2) Do not buy bottled water. Instead, buy a filtering system for your tap water. It's actually better for you (and the earth anyway!)
3) Take shorter and less showers. (And turn off the shower when shaving/brushing teeth).
4) Think about what you are pouring down the drain. There are safer ways to dispose of things - and there are also ways to green clean. In planetary terms, we are all "downstream."
5) Encourage roommates and friends to do the same. I was amazed at how receptive a friend of mine was to the issue of water - all she needed was to be told what was going on and something she could to contribute to change.
6) Think "conservation" instead of "consumption." Water is a shared resource and a right, not a luxury. Spend water like you'd spend money in a recession (saving the one saves the other!!).
7) Pray. The urgent concerns surrounding the world's water supply and its contamination affect us all, but they first affect the poor. There is no doubt that God cares for the poor, and those seeking to be Christ-like should care, too! All social justice and poverty issues have environmental roots; the issue of water is not just an ecological crisis, it is a social problem, too. Ask our Father for a heart for water!
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A Small Way to Make a Big Difference |
As Christians, most of us want to help change the world for the better! Whether it's by volunteering with local non-profits, participating in ministry, leading campus clubs, or smiling at a stranger even when we don't feel like it, we try to share Christ's love through the way that we interact with the world around us. But often times we get bogged down- in everything from our studies to our families to our jobs- and it's hard to take that step back and see how each of us can contribute to transforming the world with Christ's boundless love.
I encourage all of us to take that crucial step back and practice consciously sharing Christ's love with the world around us. It is truly a life-giving step. But on those days when we're overwhelmed and all one can do is focus on getting through that research paper or that to do list or that (insert task here), it's nice to come across that small, easy step that transforms the world in big ways.. Today, Renewal has just that opportunity for you.
Renewal has dispatched its coordinators on "The Green Awakening Tour," an 8-week, cross-country tour to over 30 Christian campuses! Throughout the journey, Renewal is inviting young Christians to participate in a postcard petition to the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, an important office that partners with faith communities to address key social justice issues. Currently, caring for creation is not among the office's priorities. Understanding that creation care is a moral, spiritual and social justice concern, Renewal is urging this office to make creation care a priority. Taking 2 seconds to help save the planet, droves of Christian students have signed the postcard petition.
Since we had such a great response from students, we decided to launch the petition online. So now YOU have the opportunity to help save the planet in 2 seconds! Please support this call by signing the petition to Mr. Joshua DuBois, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Here's the petition text:
"Now is a momentous time for the faith community; the planet is in crisis and creation care is a priority. As a young Christian, I am doing my part to heed God's call to:
- Love my neighbor as myself
- Value and protect all life
- Care for God's creation
Environmental degradation is harmful to life –whether it is a lack of clean water or the negative impacts of toxic pollution or our reliance on fossil fuel and the effects of climate change. Deteriorating ecosystems contribute to unhealthy people and communities.
We, as Christian youth, are looking to our country's leaders to take action on these issues. As President Obama's point person for the faith community, I urge you to make the good stewardship of all of God's creation a national priority. Specifically, I urge you to call for a summit of US religious leaders to address today's most challenging threats to our environment."
To sign, please click here!
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Change the world, start with your campus |
(Green Awakening Tour dispatch from Renewal's very own Student Leadership Team member, Megan Risley)
"A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead
AJ and Ben come to Seattle Pacific University! Preparing for their visit proved quite interesting - arranging for rooms, events, tables and classrooms presentations isn't as easy (or as hard) as it seems. University Ministries has a standing reservation of a large lecture hall on campus, and apparently, I was the first student (not in a student government-recognized club) to request use of the room. It was a learning experience for everyone, but we did manage to pull it off. Despite the early hour (9:30am on a Thursday morning), interested students and staff came to listen to Ben Lowe talk about the biblical basis for creation care, discuss his new book "The Green Revolution," and host a Q&A touching on Renewal's reception on other Christian campuses during the tour.
A somewhat surprising (to me) trend that came out of this discussion was the curious breakdown in communication between administration and students. Faculty and staff on a lot of Christian campuses are doing a lot - like, for example, signing the "American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment," hiring sustainability coordinators to head up sustainability committees, building LEED certified buildings, and making plans to go carbon neutral by the year 2025 (or at the latest, mid-century). However students are, by and large, blithely unaware of all this excitement. It's not that they don't care - we here at SPU are very service oriented and have a staggering amount of programs, ministries and organizations that do a lot of good to our hurting world - but "the environment" is still an emerging issue. "Ignorance," said Jason Clapp (the president of the budding environmental club on campus) when asked what he saw the greatest need for our campus was, "is bliss." The greatest need, it seems, is communication between administration and student body. The talk was recorded and is promised to be put up here in the near future.
That evening we gathered to address the issues raised during the morning's meeting. Alice VanderHaak, co-founder of the new community garden about to break ground at SPU, hosted interested students at her house to discuss needs, desires and ideas for how to get this green thing moving among the larger SPU student population. How do we reach students who are already loaded with classes, books, homework and other extra curricular activities going on without overwhelming or annoying them?Where do the funds for what great ideas we do generate come from? How can we involve the student body more? Renewal, Ben and AJ discussed, can be a resource and springboard for many campus' needs in these areas, providing resources, training and encouragement to those who care and those who don't (yet...).
On Friday, we met with Bethany Walrad, the new sustainability coordinator at SPU. Many wonderful ideas for websites, "quick communication" websites (with more visual and quick fact links than paragraphs of reading) to offer to students and "advertising" for creation care were generated, and Bethany provided a detailed description of what is already going on at SPU. The Sustainability Committee, which had one of its first meetings since the snow in December, convened the previous morning to discuss plans for carrying out the agreement Pres. Eaton signed in the Presidents Climate Commitment.
Over lunch that afternoon, we tabled in the dining hall on campus and met a number of interested students. Many signed postcards to send to the White House to turn up the pressure on creation care concerns.
The close of Renewal's visit was a presentation to Dr. Kathleen Braden's geography class. At the end of the talk, Ben left us with one last (and lasting) thought: "When you leave SPU, how would you like to see your campus changed because you were here?"
Student leaders and staff meet with Renewal's coordinators to discuss sustainability at SPU. Pictured above, left to right: Jason Clapp, founder of SPU's budding environmental club, Alice VanderHaak, co-founder of SPU's new, student-led community garden, Megan Risley, Renewal student representative at SPU, Bethany Walrad, SPU's Sustainability Coordinator, and Anna Jane (AJ) Joyner, Renewal's Co-Coordinator
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