ELCA Environmental Statement

The ELCA, I think, did a very thoughtful job on their mission statement. What I like about it most is that it takes a very integrative approach to environmental ethics and its relationship to religion. What struck me most is the language that it uses about sin. The statement reads:

Not content to be made in the image of God (Gen 3:5; Ezek 28:1-10), we have rebelled and disrupted creation. As did the people of ancient Israel, we experience nature as an instrument of God's judgment (cf., Deut 11:13-17; Jer 4:23-28). A disrupted nature is a judgment on our unfaithfulness as stewards....Our sin and captivity lie at the roots of the current crisis.

It doesn't let us off the hook. We are part of God's creation and called to be stewards of it, yet the statement affirms that our actions have a very real and direct consequences. The judgment language is a little unsettling though, because it brings God into the equation of natural disasters. For instance, some have made the argument that Katrina was a man-made disaster due to loss of the marshland in the southern Louisiana. Are we to say then that this consequence was a judgment by God of our poor stewardship to the earth? We don't like to think about God in these terms, but in times of crisis and national disaster, we are faced with tough questions like this that require serious reflection.

The statement also looks at the dual roles that hope and action play in our response to these environmental threats. Of hope, the statement reflects on how the cross of Christ empowers us to be stewards saying:

Sin and captivity, manifest in threats to the environment, are not the last word. God addresses our predicament with gifts of "forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation" (Luther, Small Catechism). By the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God frees us from our sin and captivity, and empowers us to be loving servants to creation.

Frequently the voice of the hopeful is labled as naive, but without the belief that restoration of the earth is possible, there would be no sense in any behavioral changes. Our hope lies in Christ, that in him we are able to overcome sin and do good in this world.

Finally, the ELCA statement acknowledges that action is necessary for the care of creation. As a Christian people, we are moved by our faith into the process of reconciliation with creation. The statement says:

We of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America answer the call to justice and commit ourselves to its principles--participation, solidarity, sufficiency, and sustainability. In applying the principles to specific situations, we face decisions made difficult by human limitation and sin. We act, not because we are certain of the outcome but because we are confident of our salvation in Christ.

As a people of faith, if we are not compelled to act, then we must assume that our faith is no longer alive in us. Neglect for God's creation has created many problems in our environment and only action can help us avoid further disaster.