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For more than half of my adult life I identified as a Conservative, Evangelical, Born-Again, Republican Christian. After 20 years of going to Conservative Christian churches, I came out gay and began to piece together my life and the many ways being in the closet and in conversion therapy distracted me from dealing with personal issues that needed attention. As a result, my faith changed. I stopped going to Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, and eventually became a Quaker in New England. (The quiet type of Quaker not the sometimes Evangelical type with pastors.)
Still I have a fondness for the people I remember from my churches who were warm, sincere, and seeking to be the best people they can be–servants of God. Whenever possible, I enjoy conversations with these types of Christians who genuinely want to understand God’s will and are not caught up in politics or attacking others.
Recently I chatted with Conservative Christians who take their faith and climate change seriously. The language they use differs from mine, but we shared a lot of common ground when it came to values that compel our climate work and the urgency we feel. Up until these conversations I was not a fan of the term “Creation Care.” Hearing them speak about it though, I got a deeper sense of the phrase and learned more about how people who use it often are inspired directly from the Bible.
In the most recent episode of Citizens Climate Radio, I speak with Kesley Grant and Andrea Zink about their faith, their commitment to creation care, and why they see Citizens’ Climate Lobby as a place where they can pursue meaningful solutions. They talk about their values, the Bible, the spiritual charge to do the work of reconciliation, especially in a contentious and politically divided country.
In the Art House I feature Lindsay Linsky. A Bible-believing Christian in Georgia, she is the author of the book, “Keep It Good—Understanding Creation Care through Parables.” Through her book, she seeks to break through environmental apathy and partisan noise to show Christians God’s simple yet beautiful message of creation stewardship.
If you are a traditional Bible-believing Christian, I feel certain you will find kinship with these three women. If you are not Conservative but want to develop deeper understanding into Conservative values that overlap with your own, I urge you to listen. Even if the language they use is different, I imagine you will also find connections.
Ep 55 Climate Change & Creation Care–WWJD?
Featured Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
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