Issue 26 Creation HopeBlog | Care for Creation – Essential reading for preachers
Care for Creation – Essential reading for preachers
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 13.03.21
Last Christmas, my eldest son announced he had ‘gone vegan’. I was shocked for three reasons. Firstly, because for the first 20 years of his life, he had really, really loved eating meat. Secondly because, for him, I had just stocked my fridge up with the biggest turkey ever. And thirdly because he hadn’t changed to impress a girl, or follow a trend, but for considered environmental and theological reasons. I tried to persuade him out of it, but his arguments from maths, science and the Bible all outweighed mine. The net result was that our whole family has spent most of 2020 without meat in our diet. (Occasional McDonalds trips excepted!)
I am not the only one who has significantly reduced my carbon footprint this year. Many of us have used our cars less and worked and travelled abroad using Zoom rather than air traffic. But we all still have a long way to go in fulfilling our responsibilities when it comes to our planet. The Bible has much to say about ecology, stewardship of creation and honouring God with our choices. This year I have enjoyed digging into the following books that unpack this a little and offer a robust theological and practical toolkit for ecological discipleship. None of them will tell you to go vegan, but each of them will challenge the choices we make on a daily basis.
SAYING YES TO LIFE Ruth Valerio (SPCK, 2019) Too often caring for the environment is portrayed as a negative: no meat, no diesel cars, no plastic bags, for example. That mindset can make us resistant to change because we see only loss. Ruth Valerio helpfully reframes our thinking about the environment by taking the six days of creation as a positive framework, showing how God’s intention for life is for our flourishing.
