Spring 1998

Christians, money & ecology
An environmental engineer goes to seminary (*)
Getting the goods out of the trash (*)
Praying to God, eyes wide open (*)
Doing business, eyes wide open (*)
Stop feeding the power company from your collection plates
Keeping an eye on Washington as endangered species struggle looms (*)
Family Time
Book Review revisited: Calvin Beisner responds (*)
Inspiration

(*) Full text not available online

Christians, money & ecology

Eugene Dykema

What do you suppose a teenager thinks about on the way to the mall? Largely, those things we all think about, that society thinks about. Our children perceive the world, and value it, largely as they see their culture doing. They learn their decision frames from others and they learn appreciably through emulation. This is one of the scariest facts of parenting, but here it should give us all pause.

What sort of model of good economic life are we setting for the next generation?

Well, what are we adults thinking about on the way to the mall? Anything different than on the way home from church? What should we think about on the way to the mall? The conventional answer is that we want the mall to deliver the goods. Failure to deliver the goods brought down the Soviet empire, according to some. Failure to promise the goods will bring down an American political candidate, it seems. Is that what economic life is about, delivering the goods?

Sometimes, as Ursula LeGuin has pointed out, it's the little words that make the big difference. She contrasts, for example, the difference between pursuit of "the good life" and the pursuit of "a good life." The littlest word in our language changes our destiny. Should we settle for an economics that delivers the goods, or do we need an economics that delivers the good?

Conventional economic arguments settle almost entirely for the former: Any economic system or economic action that delivers the goods is good enough. The argument is bolstered with some vague talk of freedom and autonomy, and more explicit talk about efficiency. But when the dust settles, here is the bottom line: Were the goods delivered? This is a consequentialist view.

One challenge to this view asks: How do we know they were? What goods did you have in mind? Economics is ambiguous about this. Sometimes it is individual pleasure or satisfaction that are the goods that are sought, sought so fervently that "maximizing" these goods is the prescription. This is a utilitarian view.

Other times it is clear that either a materialistic world view, or the search for a concrete way to measure consequences, leads to putting dollar figures on the goods in order to add up quantities of consumption or output. The activities that produce and deliver the goods are given little attention.

What do we do when we work? When we consume? The reasons we give for either of these are all presumed to be unimportant or to belong to some other field of study, some other "sphere."

So economic rationality, the one embodied in economic theory and the one prescribed to consumers, goes something like this: I take to the mall a set of fixed preferences or "tastes," the origin of which is no concern. The shape of these preferences dictates how much pleasure various quantities of goods will give me. That these tastes are not fixed is precisely what the retail industry is banking on and explains most of what I see in the mall, but never mind for the moment. Maximizing the total amount of pleasure I will receive, subject to my ability to pay (which can be postponed in our credit-rich society) is the standard decision frame for consumption, the one we are teaching our kids.

There are reasons for concern. They include concern for the startling limits this view places on having good reasons for our choices, on the relationships entailed in economic dealings, and on the notion of human responsibility for economic choice. The focus for economic rationality has been on the "how" of economic life, not the "why." How can we arrange things in order to achieve maximum pleasure? To ask any of the "why" questions is to transcend economic discourse. The language of modern economics isn't rich enough to handle it, neither within the theories, nor, tragically, in ordinary life. When it comes to the reasons for economic choice, we have lived with a don't ask/don't tell policy for so long that our linguistic muscles have atrophied.

What is going or gone is a non-utilitarian, non-consequentialist view of valuing things. While the delivery of the goods matters, it isn't the only thing that matters. If other values don't return to our language of economics, we will be unable to express the various ways we should and do value God's creation, our neighbor, and our own beings. We have come to treat things, and sometimes people, as commodities. To treat something as a commodity is to presume that it is fully alienable and fungible; that is, that it can be removed from its context, from any context, by the payment of a money price. It is pretty much the ultimate degradation, the ultimate disengagement, to be treated like this: solely as an instrument. Sometimes we balk at treating people this way; we need to understand how we treat things this way as well.

How then might practical reason value things and escape such narrowness? Elizabeth Anderson suggests: "To value something is to have a complex of positive attitudes toward it governed by distinct standards for perception, emotion, deliberation, desire, and conduct." This does more justice to our character as human beings, to our rationality and other aspects of our being, than does the pursuit of maximum pleasure.

This is a far richer story of valuing. It is more appropriate to the nature of things, people, and the creation and to the relationship of all these to God. It suggests that there are a variety of ways for me to perceive and value things, ways that employ far more of my whole being than wherever my pleasure center is located. It allows me to be myself when engaging in economic activity, to express my identity, values, and character, to express various ways of relating to things and to people. And it offers others the opportunity to do the same. It allows us to stand in awe of creation, not just shout our bids at the auctioneers. It allows valuations that involve respect, admiration, and love, none of which can be priced. It allows people to work for more than a paycheck. It allows us to honor the Creator, the creation, and neighbor in ways that prices could only denigrate.

When standards for the likes of perception, emotion, and my conduct are included in my valuing, genuine awareness of the other and of my relationship to the other is possible. First regard is due to God, to his glory and honor. It is his world and those that live in it should find that an awe inspires their economic activity, awe for the Creator, but awe for the beauty and complexity of his creation as well.

One aspect of creation is that everything is related to everything else. Colin Gunton's way of understanding the origin of these relationships is that they are modeled on the perichoretic (mutually indwelling; interpenetrating) unity of the Trinity. If this is true, its implications are immense. It means, for example, that realization of identity can be had only in relationship, that freedom and autonomy can only be defined with appropriate attention to these relationships. Gunton is well aware of the radical nature of this perspective and suggests that in the interest of defending their individualistic sense of autonomy, people find it even harder to accept the notion that our freedom comes from each other than they have had in accepting that it comes from God.

Everything in relationship, everything in context is familiar to the field of ecology, but quite alien to the field of economics. The implications may be too radical to accept. For one thing, there are then no pure commodities. Nothing stands so isolated that it can be treated only as a commodity. To do so would be to fail to honor its relationship to God, to its place in the creation, and to other human beings. Treating goods as commodities would then be a fiction, allowable only as a reluctant concession to pragmatic need. We would buy and sell because we lack deeper relationships, something we might lament rather than celebrate.

The implications for our responsibilities are just as radical. In market dealings, we are offered close to a moral free ride. You pay your money, you get your goods, no questions asked. But if who we are-our characters and our virtue-depend on how we act responsibly before God and neighbor, then much more is going on. Elizabeth Anderson employs the concept of ideals as those things that we use to link our sense of ourselves, the sort of people we are, to our valuations. A step further is to realize that we are Image bearers, so the ideals really link us to God. The "complex of positive attitudes" governed by standards for perception, emotion, deliberation, desire, and conduct are in fact governed by God's commands. Our economic responsibility, our responsibility for forming and valuing things shaped from the creation, is then cut from whole cloth. There is no separation between the health of our religious, psychological, sociological or moral selves and the health of our economic lives.

That is both the good news and the bad. It is good news because it means we can strive to live as whole human beings, even when engaged in economic activity. I have focused here on our activities as consumers because these are familiar to everyone of every age. We need as much attention to our roles as "producers" in the work we do, whether in the marketplace or not. We are as much in need of changes that allow people to work as whole persons as we are to allow them to consume as whole persons. The "bad" news isn't really bad. It's just inconvenient for those pretending that maximizing pleasure and profit are morally acceptable shortcuts. We need to get rid of some notions that prevent us from having a deeper conversation about Christians, money and God's creation: the notion that only the bottom line matters, for example; or the belief that you just can't fight the economics of our times.

We could start by banishing the terms consumer and producer from our imaginations because they isolate our roles and limit our values to the price tag. Instead, we should think of ourselves as participants in a system that touches many things and many lives. That is our answer to God's command to be good stewards of his creation and to love our neighbor. Such participation, even with all of its complexity, is worth celebrating.

Stop feeding the power company from your collection plates

Andrew Rudin

Some suggestions on saving energy in your church

Watts First, many churches with old-fashioned incandescent and fluorescent light can cut their electric use in half by purchasing different types of lamps. You probably know about compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) already, but you may be interested in seeing how they have improved. Whole Energy and Hardware (1-800-544-2986) sells a whole range of CFLs at very low prices. One Panasonic model, for example, has 100-watt incandescent-equivalent light output for only 25 watts of power. Whole Energy's price is $15. The Energy Federation (1-800-876-0660) has CFL torchiere lamps for $60 to $100 with varying levels of light. I bought one of those, and now I can see into next week. And they are much safer than the halogen torchieres. Philips has introduced a dimmable CFL lamp available from Home Depot for about $20. And some CFLs to be released later this year will have lumen equivalency near 200 watts of incandescent light. These powerful CFLs may be useful in pendant fixtures in your worship space.

Life Second, many of the efficient lamps last longer. CFLs last eight to 10 times longer than their incandescent counterparts. Even though it may not make economic sense to replace lights in the worship space, CFLs can save money because you don't have to hire in scaffolding as often, or risk life and limb on rickety ladders. One very significant new lamp consists of rows of light-emitting diodes and replaces the lamps inside exit signs. A pair of LED inserts plus a new, thinner light diffuser costs between $25 and $35. LEDs may last 50 years, and are usually guaranteed for 25. Think about never having to change a lamp in an exit sign for the rest of your life! And LEDs decrease the wattage per sign by over 90 percent. What will your congregation do with all the money saved? And LEDs come in red or green...order in time for Christmas!

Beauty Third, the new lamps improve quality of light at the same time. A most significant improvement involves T8 electronic fluorescent tubes and ballasts. I once asked teachers in a parochial school to compare the lighting in two identical, side-by-side classrooms in their school. They all preferred the lighting in the same room-the one with the new T8 electronic lamps. The other room had twice the number of standard tubes, but the quality of the light was better with just half the number of T8 lamps. And the wattage was 70 percent less. When ordering T8 lamps, specify 85+ percent color-rendering index and a color temperature of 4,100K for the best overall deal.

While you are replacing tubes in your building, I recommend that you install some high efficiency fluorescent light fixtures in the boiler room. Once you can see with better lighting, the dirt and clutter might just disappear.

The old 150-watt floodlights (the ones with frosted bowl lenses) can be replaced by 100-watt Halogen IR floods from General Electric. This specific flood has a wide beam spread. If you want a narrower spotlight beam, they have that too. Osram Sylvania provides a lower cost spotlight, however, called a Capsylite. Halogen floods make things sparkle. Altars can look mushy with the dull, yellowish-orange light from standard floods. With halogen floods, the colors are much more pronounced, distinct and exciting.

With all these choices, the old standard incandescent lamps aren't just lights... they are parasites eating money right out of your collection plates!

Patience One final lighting concept: Try one or two before you buy a hundred. Bad lighting can have lasting consequences, like the wedding videotaped under mercury vapor light, which makes the beautiful bride look like a zombie. Experiment patiently to avoid lighting disasters.

Andrew Rudin works for Philadelphia's Interfaith Coalition on Energy. To request a free list of publications and information on other services from ICE, 7217 Oak Avenue, Melrose Park, PA 19027. Or telephone (215) 635-1122, fax (215) 635-1903 or email 754-0723@mcimail.com.

Family Time

Stan LeQuire

Kids, money and gratitude to God: Don't put off these vital lessons

When I was a pastor, one of our Sunday School teachers approached me after the service and told a funny story: The teacher passed the offering plate around her classroom and each child had the opportunity to relinquish a few quarters or dimes to the work of the Lord. As the teacher left the room with the offering plate to give it to the Sunday School secretary, one of the children began to scream and cry out, "No! No! Don't take it away! I want it back!"

Perhaps Erik was only expressing a feeling that we all have from time to time. It can be hard to let go of possessions, even if they do belong to God. For many of us, it is more blessed to receive than to give. Nonetheless, these are stages of growth that we must deal with if we are to mature into servants and stewards of our God.

You can enjoy the following activities with the children God has entrusted to your stewardship. They might be your own children, those in your Sunday School class or those who come to children's ministry of your church. These three activities are designed to teach principles that lay a groundwork for relating to money, possessions and needs in the light of God's economic principles.

Eating Like Birds

Talk with your children about different ways to feed wild birds. You might show different types of bird food or bird feeders and discuss what specific birds like to eat. Chickadees are particularly fond of sunflower seeds, sparrows love millet seeds, robins enjoy raisins, woodpeckers like to eat suet, and an orange sliced in half will attract orioles.

Ask the children if they feed the birds at home. Then read Matthew 6:26 and ask, "Who feeds the birds according to the Bible?" and "If God is feeding the birds, am I working against God when I feed the birds?"

Explain to the children that we are partners with God. We are his helpers (1 Corinthians 3:9). Whether we are feeding the birds or helping people we are being God's helpers. Encourage the children to work with God in helping people and all God's creation. Encourage the children not to worry about their own needs all the time, for as God cares for the birds, he will care for us. Show the children how we can join with and work with God. You can conclude your time with the children by giving them stickers with bird pictures. As you know, kids love stickers.

Buried Treasure

Try to strike up a conversation with your children about losing and finding things. How does this make them feel? What is the most valuable or special thing they have ever found? A coin? A fossil? Buried treasure?

Describe for the children the treasure hunt which you (or an anonymous pirate) have prepared for them. There will be clues given which will lead to further clues and eventually, the buried treasure will be found! (Of course, you will need to have made preparations for this beforehand, such as writing out the clues and hiding them before inquisitive eyes arrive. You'll also want to decide what sort of treasure you want at the end of the trail. A treasure chest of candy? A box of shells and pretty rocks?). After the thrill of the search and the joy of finding the treasure has died down, talk to the kids about treasure from the Bible. Deuteronomy 28:12 says that "the Lord shall open up unto thee his good treasure" (KJV). Describe how wonderful it is that God blesses us with his own good treasure. (It could be enlightening to ask the kids what they understand his treasure to be).

However, you will want to stress that the Bible also gives warnings about treasure. "Give to the poor... for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Luke 12:31, 33-34). Stress how important it is, especially in God's eyes, to share. In fact, you may even want to have enough "treasures" in your treasure chest so that each child can have one treat and one to share! As with each of these activities, close in prayer, asking for God's help in living for him.

Jesus Banks

The idea behind this activity is to teach children about giving. The Bible says we are to set aside a tenth of God's blessings as a gift back to him. This principle, called the tithe, is valuable for a variety of reasons. It reminds us that God is the Giver, the Creator of the earth's good gifts, and we are called to live in grateful response to him. We will have accomplished a lot if we can train children that "the good life" consists of knowing and following God, and not in grabbing more "goodies" for our selfish desires. Hoarding means both creation and the poor will pay a very high price to ensure that we can indulge our whims on extravagant gadgets and disposable consumer goods.

This activity involves piggy banks, or rather "Jesus Banks." Decide beforehand if you will be making the banks with the children as a part of the activity or if you will have the banks ready. You will need at least two banks, one marked with your name or "ME" and one marked "JESUS BANK."

Ask them if they have a piggy bank at home. Do they receive an allowance from Mom and Dad? Have lots of pennies ready and start placing them in the "ME" bank. Put in nine pennies, but place the tenth in the "Jesus Bank." Repeat the process several times. Ask the kids if they know what you are doing. Eventually, explain how the Bible teaches that one out of every 10 pennies belongs to God. We still have nine, which is a lot, but the tenth goes to God. Ask them what they can do with the money in their "Jesus Bank." Then read 2 Corinthians 9:7 which says, "God loves a cheerful giver."

To finish, you may want to give each child a quarter as a "down payment" toward starting their new bank accounts. If you are a parent, you may also want to consider whether your children are old enough for their own personal sets of offering envelopes at your church. By the age of six, a child should probably be ready to be making regular contributions to supporting the mission of your church. Tithing is a good habit that should begin early in life.

God bless you as you steward his children into a place where they can love, know, and serve him!

Inspiration

Gary Fawver

St. Patrick introduced Celtic Christianity to Ireland. Born in Britannia in 390, Patrick was captured at 16 and sold as a slave to a ruler in Ireland. Incredibly, his faith in Christ during these years of hardship was strengthened. After six years he escaped, only to be called back by God as a missionary in 455.

Patrick was constantly opposed by the Druids. Many legends arose of his often miraculous defeats of these pagans. His preaching, baptizing and church-building brought thousands to Christ. His faith was deeply evangelical and was built on a deep knowledge of Scripture, which he quoted often. Many in the Celtic Church were fortunate to experience that if a person was in touch with creation, then they were much more likely to be in touch with the Creator.

When asked by the two daughters of Leoghain, King of Connaught, "Who is your God and where is He?" Patrick, filled with Holy Spirit, replied: "Our God is the God of all, God of Heaven and earth, sea and river. He has His dwelling in heaven and earth and sea and all that are therein. He inspires all things; He quickens all things. He kindles the light of the sun and of the moon. He has a Son, co-eternal with Himself and like unto Him. And the Holy Spirit breathes in them. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not divided. I desire to unite you to the Son of the Heavenly King, for you are daughters of a king of earth.

Excerpt from "St. Patrick's Breastplate"
I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name,
The strong name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of whom all nature hath creation;
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Application

When the Celtic saints were troubled by evil, they drew the Caim, an encircling, around them, sometimes literally with a stick, or invisibly in their minds. This was not magic, but an expression of their belief in the reality of the Presence of God. This was a way of acting out the truth stated by Paul in Romans 8:31 & 38-39. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Call upon the Father. Picture your Father as the Creator. What is this great God to you, what can He do for and through you, as He is compared with the light of the sun, the speed of lightning, or the firmness of rock?
Read once again St. Patrick's Breastplate. As you would put on a coat and pull it around you when the weather becomes severe, picture putting on Christ (Colossians 3:12-14): "...clothe yourselves with compassion..." Do you remember when Paul put on the whole armor of God? (Ephesians 6:14-17) Tomorrow morning as you are dressing, imagine fastening the Presence to yourself. Perhaps you could say: "I bind unto myself today, the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One and One in Three...Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me."
Should we not acknowledge the presence of Christ in all of life's activities? Nothing should be outside the presence of God and therefore all of life is sacred. What are some activities today in which you could acknowledge God's presence? Attempt to write them down in the form of a spoken prayer or in a poem.

Summary The Celtic Christian openness to creation was always seen in relationship with the Creator. There was a closeness to Christ. The power of creation was brought alongside the presence of Christ.

Christianity was not an abandonment of the world but something that gave it more purpose. "For the Celt there was not a part of the earth, or of the day, that should be free from adoration or consecration. It would begin on rising with prayers of dressing. Every event is sacred and affirms the Presence. There are prayers for churning the milk for butter, for weaving, cattle driving, journeying, sailing; there are prayers for every part of life. Nothing is seen to be outside the encompassing Presence of God. It is our own dullness and blindness that stops us seeing that all of life is consecrated. We need to learn to look deeper and discover again that 'in Him we live and move and have our being.'" Loren Wilkenson, Earthkeeping in the 90s, p. 141.