BIOL 101 Individual_Assignment_4_Instructions

NDIVIDUAL

W

RITING

A

SSIGNMENT

4 I

NSTRUCTIONS

Ecological Encounters

1. Should We Teach stewardship principles In the Church?

Following a morning church service you enter the foyer and overhear a discussion that you

decide to join:

Bert: ....so we really, really need to get the message out to the world that we are selfishly

ruining our environment. Politically important people are exploiting poor people and the

environment itself. This is not what Jesus would do.

Herbie: Well, I think Jesus went about teaching the Kingdom of God, not saving the

environment. When people are walking down a road that leads to continuous torment and death,

how much time should you spend teaching them to repair the road they’re walking on? These

issues are distracting.

Sally: Well, regardless of which road you’re walking on, you make little choices each day about

how you will walk that road.

Bert: Good point. Jesus walked that road. He probably had one suit, simple food, borrowed

mattress to sleep on and no recreational vehicle to drive. So He was making choices that we

don’t think about enough.

Herbie: (sigh...) To get people to think about those choices, you have to change their hearts first.

You must communicate the gospel to people. When they are healed, then the Spirit of Christ will

point them to less ecologically extravagant choices.

Sally: But Herbie, is that really happening in our churches? Are new converts just naturally

choosing more environmentally responsible patterns? Don’t we need to help them with this?

Jesus said to make disciples. Doesn’t that mean teaching them on a variety of issues?