We really have messed it up, haven't we? We thought our technological revolutions spelled progress. But in ten years' time, because of our 'progress', this fragile and CO2-laden planet will have reached an environmental 'tipping point' with global warming soaring to new heights, as rising sea levels produce millions of refugees and damaged habitats result in extinction of hundreds of animal species. Who now can challenge the Christian diagnosis of sin as that primal blight of pride and blindness, which results in self-harm for humanity, the end of Eden and the groaning of all creation?

So, as Christians, what are we to do? Well, we must act and act quickly. A carbon-neutral church would be a start, whose members live their lives without such destructors of our fragile environment as cheap recreational plane flights and luxurious homes that are turned into centrally heated hothouses in winter. It is also crucial that we campaign for a carbon-aware politics in our society, pressing leaders to focus on ecological issues rather than foolish preoccupations with tribal identity and ancient grudge. And our vote should therefore transcend combative cultural allegiance.

We must also recognise that in the developing world, climate change has already begun to 'hit home', as rains cease and crops fail. We must draw the attention of the churches to which we belong to the needs of the most vulnerable communities in our changing world. If need be, we must sacrifice time and money so that we tend to the needs of those who are already paying the price for our western-dominated pollution of the atmosphere.

Perhaps, as Christian believers, we need to not just rediscover a theology which places the welfare of the earth at the centre of God's purposes but to understand how environmental theology works itself out in terms of real, daily discipleship. What does it say about me as a disciple, if I drive a fuel-guzzling '4x4' to work rather than taking public transport, irrespective of wet weather and uncomfortable seating? What kind of ecological discipleship do I encourage in my child if I give him or her - as a coming-of age present - a personal car to travel in?

Perhaps some of the charitable things we do as churches, which we thought would help the developing world, might have to be reviewed. When sending a youth team out to Malawi for a fortnight in summer to help with a church-building task, is the project justifiable in terms of the carbon footprint left behind? Why send 15 young people by long-distance jet from Aldergrove to southern Africa, when raising and sending money to purchase the building materials might have been the more appropriate, if less glamorous option?

Christian discipleship is a hard task, full of dilemmas. The state of the current crisis means that the only other choice is to collude in the destruction of the world we were once placed within by God, in order to protect and care for it. The millennial kingdom of peace, justice and love is referred to in Scripture as a place where the wolf and the lamb lie down together. Sadly, with the rate at which we are going, neither wolf nor lamb nor any other of God's distinctive creatures will soon be around, except as exhibits in a few zoos in those western cities that survive behind their flood barriers, with their lifestyles - and their churches - still intact.

Philip Orr

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