Powerful statement on stewardship of our natural resources

Mitch Hescox has written a powerful post, entitled "New Wine," for the Creation Care blog of the Evangelical Environmental Network. Read it and share it with friends. What had me shouting with joy was the elegant way Hescox summarized the fight between the old and comfortable with the new and transformative.

Our predisposition to "old wine" demonstrates why so many in the evangelical church openly resist many of the Christian social justice issues hotly debated in today's world. These issues become culture wars as they force us to consider how to press new wine versus the old vintage. The new wine presses us to reconsider our models, lifestyles, and understanding of the good news in Jesus, and perhaps nowhere is that more apparent than the reaction of some to climate change.

No one denies that cheap and abundant energy transformed the United States into a world power. Our inexpensive energy fueled a national sense of independence and self-reliance. Fossil fuels provided the individual freedom to get in our cars and go anywhere. The creation of the rural electric-cooperative powered even the most remote household with cheap electricity. These societal advancements quickly transformed from a blessings to idolatry. We became dependent on fossil fuel, and our energy addiction foils Christ's goal for the common good. As with all addictions, they transform into self-interest idolatry. Our self-interest for cheap energy fails to account for all costs, especially those dumped upon our neighbors.

Preference given to culture wars, self interest, and maintaining the status quo at all costs instead of being advocates for the common good and the most vulnerable is not just an affliction of the evangelical community. All who follow Christ have seen it in action. Until we reject old wine past its prime and the temptation to put the best new wine in the same old containers, change will be far too slow.