2.07.2007

An Inconvenient Truth - A Christian Perspective

Jamie and I just got done watching the highly publicized documentary An Inconvenient Truth. I had been meaning to see it for a while but apparently catching up on Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler is more important than the apparent demise of the planet.

While I greatly appreciated the message on a whole, I think Al Gore lost some validity by throwing in an assortment of political overtones. Had it been just straight facts and repercussions, I think it would have been much more accessible for the masses.

The real point of this post though is the burden I feel this movie should have on all Christians (not just environmentalist liberal sorts). As much as I agreed with Bono when he said, "How we respond to the AIDS emergency [in Africa] will describe us for posterity," I think that there is a much larger issue here.

As Christians, we are called to be the caregivers of the oppressed, widowed and orphaned. We are called to be the wise stewards of gifts and talents. We are called to protect the creation God has give us dominion over.

It is a high bar for sure. When we are doing our best to make the most of this life and to simply try and understand the life of Christ, it can be difficult to even make the token trip to the local soup kitchen once a year. It's no wonder the world often has a hard time differentiating Christians from non-Christians in most aspects of life.

But what if we responded to this great obligation in simple ways. What if we were more careful about the resources we used? What if we didn't automatically vote Republican on all issues simply because we once were told it was synonymous with Christian? What if we didn't just do a once a year fund drive for AIDS in Africa, but did a rolling collection that was always reemphasized with achievable goals?

It's a lot of what-ifs, and I know I have a lot of work to do in my own personal life. I guess this movie just started me questioning if God would really be pleased with what He sees from me here on earth and if there is something more I can do to glorify Him more.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't agree with you more Nick...Well said! I have been thinking those thoughts for a long time too...you just happen to put them into words.

Nick said...

Thanks Tim. It has been rattling around in my brain as well, but this movie really brought it to front of mind.

Congrats on the move to MN as well! I have been reading your blog regularly and I am excited to see how you like the change of scenery (and temperature)! I'm sure God will do great things in Alexandria.

Anonymous said...

how bad is the political side of the movie? I have been interested in seeing it, but am afraid I am just going to be peev'd over some sort of "blame Bush" comment, then I miss the actual meat of the movie.
I agree that we (as a world) need to cut our consumption, I just get irritated when people just blame America for the worlds problems.

Nick said...

I think you need to see the movie regardless of the political moments. Just look past them. The data that is presented is pretty compelling and scary. There are a few jabs at the Bush administration, but no more than watching SNL or any late night talkshow.

As for the role of America in the problem...well...we are the worst. This is presented in the movie pretty convincingly. Even countries much larger than ours (India, China) are producing much less emissions simply because it is a priority. For us it always comes down to how much it would cost to change which is kind of selfish and sad.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Nick, that is just not true, China OWNS us on emissions...
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/6-6-10/42510.html
16 of the top 20 most polluted cities are in China, no cities in the USA made the list.
I am not saying we aren't needing to cut back, but we are not the world leader in pollution.

Anonymous said...

sorry, that comment reads snobby, not the intention...

Nick said...

Sorry Lidz. You picked the wrong person to debate statistics with!

http://www.terradaily.com/2004/041109074517.kn4zftrm.html

And even if they overtake us in total emissions, the per person emissions will never be close at our current rates of consumption.

Anonymous said...

I am enjoying this debate, we will have Chinese leg wrestle to determine a winner...
For starters, your link is over 2 years old, china's industrial growth has been much greater than the US over the last 5 years (or so)
Also, the Chinese figures taken were from 1994, all they could do is speculate that China’s emissions are "higher" than they were then (duh.) Of course the US was worse in 1994, but the article still states the US is worse today, even though they didn't have China’s current pollution figures.
Stop watching Captain Planet. Love ya Bro.

Anonymous said...

Hey Nick, it was me Tim McBride your brother in-law who made that 1st comment. Sorry for the confusion.