We have but one home planet to inhabit. We have but a single space in the universe to explore all that is positive about life as we know it. God asked the first humans in Genesis 1:28 to “Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!" in regards to the earth, and in heeding this first commandment, the earth's health is central concern. The earth is our pallet for positive human free will; our canvas of conservation. Yes, the first page of the Bible asks human beings to be green. In God's first communication with humans, he/she/it begs we homo sapiens maintain the earth's homeostasis.
God demands this of us all and none more than others. Prosperous, unpolluted land is a gift from God to us all. Money is not mentioned on that first page of the Bible. Despite what some disillusioned might say, corporations are not people and have no right to dictate how the earth and its inhabitants should be treated. The responsibility of being good shepherds of the planet is the duty of poor and rich, L&G&B&T&Q, Western and Eastern, Southern & Northern, Dark & Light, Men & Women, etc. In fact, our shared responsibility to the maintenance of our planet to give forth and support all life is also what binds us. God's love built a home for life to flourish, and it was God's love that entrusted humans with the task of protecting it!
With this in mind, why don't Christian missionaries incorporate environmental activism into their outreach? Why wouldn't we include deliberate social/political/economic activism into our daily schedules while in the mission field? Because Christians are called to save souls, we have to have a planet on which to do so!
In Honduras, environmental activists are under fire. As Christians, do we ignore the assassination of those advocating on behalf of God's original commandment, or do we take up their mantle? Is the health of our planet a Christian cross to bare? Jesus asked us in Matthew 25:40 to love God by working for justice on behalf of what society judges to be "the least." But who are "the least?"
"The least" is not a who but a what. Jesus is asking us to fight the either/or mentality causing humans to pit the priorities of the greedy over those of the needy. It is the mentality that says it is okay to tear down families' homes and gardens to convert mighty currents, dig dark coal, pump thick petroleum, and trade the earth's other sacred treasures for cash. It is the mindset that permits the purification of drinking water for those who can afford it and the pollution of water for those who can't. It is the mindset that fools our politicians into thinking health care is a business instead of a right. When Jesus says "the least," he is talking about the whales, lions, and yes, even mice and cockroaches being slaughtered. "The least" are those whose true survival is out of their hands. In this way, all earth inhabitants are bonded too. Our shared survival depends on the implementation of true justice and peace within our shared space. We are all "the least" and equally deserve self-determination within our interplanetary home.
Everlasting life, salvation if you will, through Jesus is the core message of Christianity. More than words or self-preservation, though, salvation inherently requires an active struggle against climate collapse for the planet's survival. Saved by Jesus, the Christian Ecofeminist Missionary's own salvation depends on the salvation of all other living and nonliving earth inhabitants. In this way, we do live forever in the life cycle's continued rotation.
There is no time for bias against earthly division. God's first creation welcomes you with open arms into both the salvation of humans and our planet.
Glory be to God
and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost,
as it was in the beginning
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Together, we are the difference.
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