Teal is the official color of #LiveFully. Besides for being a nice color, it’s very significant to the purpose of the #LiveFully project. There is a lot of theology packed into it. Seriously.
As you know, teal is a blend of the colors blue and green (welcome back to Kindergarten). Because it’s the color of the sky, blue often symbolizes the heavens. Green, on the other hand, symbolizes the earth (no explanation necessary). Put them together, you have teal – or symbolically, the unity of Heaven and Earth.
#LiveFully seeks to rediscover a Christian spirituality that integrates into all of physical life on the earth. Just like Jesus prayed that God’s will be done “on earth as it is in heaven,” we believe that biblical Christianity is not about escaping the physical earth to go to spiritual heaven.
Instead, Christians are called to engage in God’s project of redemption on the earth today, as they eagerly await the second coming of Jesus and the New Heaven and New Earth, when God will make all things new (Revelation 21:1-7) .
Especially in Western Christianity, there has been a major dualism between what is considered the “spiritual” realm and the “physical” realm. Christians have tended to over value the spiritual and undervalue the physical. Although it seems subtle, the implications for this divide are massive.
Even though the Bible does not teach this, many Christians wrongly believe that God does not really care about the physical world. Isn’t the whole plan to just burn it up and sing worship songs for the rest of eternity? In one word – NO. Colossians chapter one makes it clear that God’s work through Jesus’ death on the cross means reconciliation of everything – in heaven and on earth!
Yesterday was a special day – Earth day – A time for people all around the world (over 175 countries involved) to join together in appreciating the Earth’s natural environment and raising awareness of its needs.
Followers of Christ should be the most environmentally engaged people on the planet. But sadly, our theology has often allowed the opposite to be true. In environmental issues, many Christians have often proven to be so “heavenly minded” that they are no “earthly good,” both in their personal lives and their politics. If our future in Christ is in a completely glorified, beautified New Creation, why not work now to clean and beautify the creation we live in.
I will be the first to confess that I have failed to do even the smallest of things to care for the world. For years I saw no reason to pick up the trash I passed on the sidewalk, and I certainly didn’t think recycling was worth the effort. If you could see my backyard, you would know that I still struggle to do my part. However, I am committed to improving, and this motivation is derived from my biblical understanding.
Heaven and earth will be one again, and this future “Oneness” is why the color teal is so meaningful to us. It’s also why we think celebrating Earth day is important.
In this post, I intentionally did not give practical examples of ways people can care for creation. This is where you contribute.
What is one thing that we can do this week to care for the earth? Secondly, what is one way to intentionally enjoy creation and thank Jesus in the process? Leave your ideas and experiences below, and let’s see if we can’t help each other grow more environmentally engaged.
A few things that I think of are pretty much the simple ones which are recycling,not letting the water run when you brush your teeth,take short showers,and instead of letting the faucet run when you do dishes use the spray instead. You could try to ignore the advertisement that’s everywhere and instead focus on nature. That’s easier said than done but I did it so if I can do it you can definetly do it.
Great examples Adam, and those are easy to do! I also love your idea on focusing more on nature and God’s creation. Thanks!
Caring for the environment suggestions:
1. Start a garden in your backyard or on your porch if you can.
2. Shop at a local farmers market when possible to support your local community and reduce your dependence on non-local crops. (Reduces energy consumption by reducing transportation.)
3. Compost (it isn’t as hard or as gross as it sounds). ApartmentTherapy.com’s green section always has great info on both gardens and composting.
4. If you live in an area with public transportation (or go to a college that has transportation) don’t hop in your car to head to work or class.
5. If you are part of a family and have other options available to you, try to be a one car (or one car and a moped) family. When we made the switch it also saved us money (less insurance, no car-payment, less gas, etc.).
6. Look up tools online that allow you to calculate your carbon footprint and see what you can do to reduce it.
7. Eating meat requires more resources because animals (particularly large animals like cows) require lots of land and resources to sustain them. The same amount of land could could feed more people if it were a garden for vegetables. Going vegetarian may be too hard for many of us, but having a once-a-week veggie night or eliminating meat from your weekly lunches, is one way to curb your meat (and thus your energy) consumption….and it is healthier for your body.
Thanks for the post!
Also, on a larger scale…
I love it when I see churches who recycle (All those printed bulletins in the trashcan every Sunday? Ew. No!) I have also seen several churches with community gardens. Creating a church culture where recycling and being conscious of your consumption and waste is normative is important for getting individuals on board with efforts to lessen our negative impact on the Earth.
(Though environment-related policy advocacy on the part of individual Christians or collective Christian groups is also great. Micro solutions are good, but macro issues must also be addressed. I’m sure Sojourners is doing some interesting stuff around the environment, policy and religion that people could join in on.)
Tremendous ideas Erin. Thanks so much for sharing with the community!