buildingbodies4christ

New Movement

Being a certified health nut, I listen to many speakers and read many articles concerning health. However, I have to discern what to keep and what to throw out based on the Truth that I know. For the last several years, I have been living a more holistic lifestyle – more is not always better. I read the book 7 by Jen Hatmaker that really opened my eyes to my consumer mentality. I went into cleaned up mode and purged my unused stuff, cleaning out the closets, also changing how I shop for items that I use. I think differently now about “stuff.” My eyes were also opened about sustainability.

When I read about sustainability, it really hit me as a follower of Jesus. I had never really thought about how we were the stewards of the earth in this day and time. It changed how I thought in regards to chemical use on my plants at home and on my plate; how I drink water – no water bottles if possible; using shopping bags instead of plastic bags, which seem to float through the air around every shopping center. Not to mention, the garbage dump in the ocean that is larger than Texas; clean water and food deserts that no governmental agency seems to fix. Poverty is everywhere, but if we bought responsibly maybe things could change for those communities.

Climate change is a hot topic right now. Is the earth getting hotter because of man or is it a part of God’s plan? However, we’re doing things now that are unsustainable – our natural resources are finite and eventually they will run out unless we switch to a new mindset. The governments of this world aren’t going to solve the problems. There are many “grass-root” efforts that are taking on the challenge to better this world. As followers of Jesus, we need to be involved. I am not a tree hugger, but we need our Amazonian rain forests – they are the lungs of this planet. We need to be instrumental in doing good – even for our planet.

There’s a lot of “new age” thought that I have to sort through to get to the truth, but one thing that stood out to me this week is this thought of a “trance” we are living in that we think we don’t have enough; it’s a scarcity mentality. Lynne Twist (Pachamama Alliance) mentioned in an interview that we used to be citizens, now we are consumers. We are supposed to keep money moving; however, we have been seduced into this trance of wanting more. We don’t know when we have had enough and it’s killing us and this earth. We need to wake up to the big lie that is keeping us from being responsible citizens of this world.

This trance that Lynne Twist mentioned is really a tool of the enemy. This really got me to thinking. Christians should be at the front of every movement to bring about change. Whether it is resources that need to be sustainable protected; using money to give a helping hand up (not a hand out); consuming products that are produced in a living wage environment as well as resourced ecologically and giving back to a community from where it came (this will end poverty in those places).

Whatever the cause, we should be moving the cause forward; holding a different conversation than the one being held today. We are not to find fault that leads to argument. We need to shift the conversation to the things that are working and make a model to replicate it elsewhere. We need this conversation today because it’s not going to get any better without us.

One day Jesus is going to return. According to Scripture, there will be a thousand-year reign on this earth – this earth, the way it is now or the way it will be if we don’t stop the destruction. We will not get a new heaven and a new earth until after the thousand years. I don’t know if we will have the ability to receive water from a rock or if we will have food that will once again be nutritious because the soil has been replenished by our responsible habits of organically grown produce and rotating crops.

We can see in the Book of Acts how the people helped each other – anyone who had need was helped by the ones who were able to meet the needs. In health circles, communities are seen as a good thing. Community is one of the ingredients for a healthy body. God created us for community. We are not meant to do these things alone. We need each other and we need a healthy earth to live on at least for another thousand years or so. We need to think differently about these things. We need to pay attention to what we use and throw away. We need to wake up from the enemy’s trance. These things should concern us and motivate us to be different. Are you out of the trance yet? Let’s wake up to the destruction and steward our resources well. It’s on us to make a better place for those coming behind us. Time to join the movement!

God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself,
and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”
God created human beings;
he created them godlike,
Reflecting God’s nature.
He created them male and female.
God blessed them:
“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.” Genesis 1:26-28 (MSG)