A bandwagon too many
In recent weeks, two highly respected organisations have urged young churchgoers to become climate change activists, writes Sorted's J John.
My attention was initially drawn to a hard-hitting report that claims “the church’s failure to address climate change threatens to alienate young people”.
I’m afraid I find Burning Down the House: How the Church Could Lose Young People Over Climate Inaction a disappointing publication. But before I explain my objections to the work of the Youthscape Centre for Research and Tearfund, let me say two things:
- I believe climate change is a serious threat and that something needs to be done about it urgently;
- Although I’m delighted to see Christians getting involved with the environment and climate change issues, let me remind you this is no novelty for Christians. This week marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of John Stott who encouraged a biblically-based response to environmental issues and, amongst many other things, was involved in the setting up of the Christian environmental organisation A Rocha. Further, the Church of England is struggling with the practicalities of reaching the target of net-zero carbon by 2030.
So where does my disappointment lie?
Well, on reading this document I can’t escape the feeling that churches are being asked to leap on a bandwagon, the most dangerous form of transport known to the human race, and it’s therefore wise to ask questions before jumping on board. And I have concerns in several areas.
First, I find that this report lacks clarity.
The church, we are told, is supposed to be involved in ‘climate activism’. But what exactly does activism mean? In what way are we to be active? The evidence from the photos seems to be that Christians are to protest. I don’t have a problem with that. But it seems unclear what we are protesting against or for. Are we to march; write placards; spray slogans on walls; or drive electric cars? And is it a sin to eat meat?
If the devil is in the detail, he is also in their absence, and there is an unhelpful vagueness here.
Second, I find this document lacks foundations.
Bizarrely, in a 20-page report that manages to find space to explain ‘intersectionality’, there is only a hint of any Christian framework for our involvement in climate matters. This is particularly disturbing since for several decades there has been a great deal of informed Christian thinking on environmental involvement and climate change in particular. For example, one of the leading climate scientists in the US, Professor Katharine Hayhoe, is a Christian and has done a great deal of writing and speaking on how, as biblically informed Christians, we should approach climate change issues.
Less of a Saint Greta
But such is the advocacy of activism in this report that there are virtually no Bible references and not even a recommended reading list. The result is a shallow report that bears more than a passing resemblance to the placards it displays. The fact is that there is a profound and rich Christian rationale for caring for the natural world. We believe that our wonderful planet is made and sustained by God, that it is his handiwork and that ultimately, we are accountable to Him for our management of it. We are stewards not owners of this world, and cherishing not perishing should be our watchword. Our response to the climate crisis should be deeply rooted in a theology that runs from creation to new creation. We need to submit all of the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of our engagement with creation under the authority of Scripture.
For me, this report feels like we need to take young people’s word as gospel. Reading this report I feel we need more of Saint Peter and less of Saint Greta!
Third, it lacks discernment.
A perennial problem in Christianity has been the misidentification of moral fruit for spiritual roots. Throughout history, people have observed the good deeds undertaken by the church, whether, with the poor, the marginalised or the enslaved, and have assumed that social action is the ultimate priority of the church. Here, however, lies a deep and dangerous misunderstanding. Fundamentally, Christianity is not about social action; it is about lives changed through encountering Jesus.
The cover of the report shows a young woman holding a placard saying: ‘We are the change,’ when the truth is only Jesus brings change. The report implores us to not "let [young people] down by refusing to acknowledge the biggest crisis we have ever faced", but the reality is that the biggest crisis we have ever faced is sin, and only Christ can redeem us.
We will drown in despair if we think climate activism, or any form of social action, will bring us redemption.
Good works do not make a Christian – but Christians do good works. At the heart of any Christian approach to the care of the planet is that it is the right and proper response by God’s people to God’s grace shown to us in Christ. This report seems to me to put the cart before the horse.
Gains little respect
Finally, let me return to the title of this document and let me make two observations. Unless I have misread my Bible, motives for action should always be based on morality, not on popularity. Sadly, it’s not hard to find occasions when the church has put its Bible aside and chosen to listen to the voice of the people. It’s rarely ended well for anybody. Actually, the church that decides to follow the world, rather than lead it, gains little respect.
This leads me to a second thought.
The report’s enthusiastic suggestion is that churches that teach more about climate change will keep young people. Is it possible that this suggestion may be counter-productive? The fact is, most youngsters I know have been overloaded with information on climate change since they came out of nappies. What they are looking for in the church is not more of what they get everywhere else. They seek a radical new way of seeing themselves and the world that includes responding to climate change.
The view in this report that Christians should enthusiastically endorse climate activism seems radical: ironically, it is not radical enough. This report lacks truth and hope. Without Christ, we have a hopeless end, but with Christ, we have endless hope.
J John is a Christian Minister and Sorted magazine and Sorted Digital columnist.