Dear Friends

Some weeks ago the Bishop of London was heavily criticized for daring to talk about ‘sin’. He did so in connection with the environmental and ecological challenges facing humanity today. That a Bishop should talk about sin was going a bit too far, never mind that Sir David Attenborough described waste as sinful. He could get away with it whereas the Bishop could not.

When Christian theologians talk about ‘sin’ they are really talking about the condition in which human beings are alienated from the planet on which they depend, about how they are alienated from each other, and from God. It, sin, arises because of human pride and arrogance. We want to be the centre of the universe, to become like God, and it is this failure to take our rightful place within creation that is the cause of all those acts which are referred to as sins and sinful. Sins occur because we live in a state of sin, of brokenness from what we are meant to be. Heal this brokenness, and humanity can set itself on the road to overcoming human sinfulness, i.e. redemption.

The Bishop of London was criticized because he made a clear link between environmental crises and human sinfulness. We are facing these issues because we have set ourselves apart from the planet which is our only home. Instead of being stewards of creation, and representatives of God ( the Bible talks about us as images of God) within creation we have become despoilers of what has been entrusted to us. What got the Bishop into trouble was that he went on to suggest that it is our life style choices that are sinful; manifestations of this disjointedness. We need to recognise and acknowledge this and respond accordingly.

Melting glaciers, water shortages, de-afforestation, desertification; all these things are happening in large part because of how we are choosing to live, which given the impact this is having makes our lifestyles nothing less than sinful. And we are all caught up in this sinfulness because we have created ways of living from which there is no escape, unless that is, you go and become a self sufficient hermit on a desert island. But that doesn’t mean we are unable to change our ways.

The Bishop was challenging every Christian to think about the footprint they make on the planet. He called on people to shrink this footprint, and to do so in every aspect of  daily living. We need to be aware that it is our patterns of behaviour, the things we buy and consume, the types of journeys we make, the things we throw away; that form part of what is now affecting so many of the poorest people in our world; and what is posing a threat to so many of the unique life forms on earth.

To be Christian is to try and live a redeeming, reconciling way of life. It is to accept the human vocation to make whole what has been broken. There can be no oneness with God

without also oneness with our environment, and with others. And justice and peace are not only about giving aid to the poor, but also about trying to live in a manner that doesn’t create situations in which poverty and injustice are inevitable for our brothers and sisters in faraway places. Atonement, ‘at-one-ment’, is nothing if it does not stretch to all creation.

The challenge to ‘shrink our footprint’ on God’s earth is a challenge to try and create simpler, less consumerist way of living. Repentance, turning around the way we live now will not come easily. We have become so used to being the consumer, throwaway age that the introduction of a greater frugality in lifestyle for the sake of the planet will take time to establish. But now is the time to realize that ignoring the challenge should really be seen for what it is, ‘sinful’.

Yours in Christ,

Christopher Smith