Save the Earth

Originally posted April 7, 2010

Green is the new Black. Maybe I'm only saying that because it seems only in Seattle you can wear lime green and look fashionable. That is one of the primary colors of the Sounders FC Soccer team and the Seattle Seahawks.

But more seriously, we as a society have become obsessed with being green. We enforce taxes on our corporations if they aren't green - but then pay China to make the same product for less because they don't have the same environmental restrictions we do.

While I'm all about the development of China's middle class (something that has only taken off since they acquired that non-communist region of Hong Kong), I'm not at all in support of their labor regulations. It seems that child labor and unsafe work conditions are OK because people are their greatest commodity. You can throw a million people at a project and don't have to worry about losing a few here and there.

But the Bible teaches something different. Luke 12:6-7:

“What is the price of five sparrows? A couple of pennies? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows.”

I don't see when we should be putting the creation over the people created in God's image. If I throw a few million dollars into a "green" building, people might by my product because I'm a green company. But if I throw a few million to Haiti, will people even notice?

My green building will last for a long time, but does throwing money at a corrupt government ever make it to the people that need it? I am so skeptical. It's like giving to the bum on the street. Is that money going to be used for food or drugs?

My responsibility is to be responsible with what God has given me. I am a vessel that has been designed to be filled up and poured out. Therefore, I must give. I need to give my finances. I need to give my time. I need to give without expecting anything in return. Then in faith, I need to let God take care of the rest.