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Commentary on "The Environment"

STEVE PITCHER

 

Day 7: Friday, April 30, 2010

 

Today’s lesson is for “further study.”

The Ellen G. White quote provided is from The Ministry of Health and Healing, p. 234. This is not a bad quote and it contains a couple of good points. The questions that are provided tend to lead back to the various lessons for each day of the week.

Rather than re-hash each of the topics, I would suggest a quick reading of the commentary summaries for each day this week. These will provide a good starting point for discussion about each of the issues raised in the questions for today’s lesson.

The summary statements below follow the list of questions for today’s lesson.

 

Summary

  1. The response of the church to environmental issues “should” be to note them, but get on with the primary task of fulfilling the great commission given to us by our Lord Jesus.
  2. The issue of the environment is important, but it is not a spiritual issue.
  3. Keeping the Sabbath does not necessarily make one a better environmentalist. If it is suggested in your Sabbath School class that by not impacting the world for one day out of seven, why would one not go further and stop impacting the world for seven days out of seven? The idea that keeping the Sabbath helps the environment is not a sound argument.
  4. The soon coming of Jesus and our concern for the environment do not have to be related. Although all Christians for all time have eagerly expected his return, we are told to be about his work until he comes. His work is to preach the gospel and baptize. Adding to the great commission reduces the great commission. It becomes a pretty good commission – which isn’t great at all.
  5. How the church “could and should” use activism in areas of environmentalism is diverting the church from its primary mission. This is not to say that Christians should not be involved in caring for the environment. We should. But to say this should be an activity of the church is an entirely different thing.
  6. The last question for the day should be a personal one, not one that a Christian organization should be involved in promoting for the believer.

 

 

 

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