I first heard about Green Like God from Carol (her review is here).  It sounded like a very interesting book.

And then I looked at the author and recognized the name; we had gone to seminary together.  Cool to know the author…or at least know of the author.  I promise that hasn’t influenced my review of this book…he blew me away in spite of the fact that we sat before the same teachers.

When I was about halfway through Green Like God, a friend asked me if this was a worthwhile book.  I said I thought so.  It wasn’t wowing me, but I enjoyed it and felt like there was some good stuff there.

And then I got to the second half of his book, “Our Assignment in God’s World.”  Merritt confronted me with facts that I’ve long since avoided…when most environmental horror facts are presented in a doom-and-gloom way, you become jaded and in my case, uncaring.

And then there was chapter 9, “The Enemy in Us All.”  It’s an absolutely must-read for every American pastor. Scratch that, for every American believer.

Our actions have consequences.  Our affluence is no excuse (if you are reading this right now, yes, you are affluent because you have regular access to a computer, among other blessings).  All the paint in the world won’t fix a broken building, but may mask it for a little while.

Merritt is right to point out that the blame for pollution and the destruction of creation (not to mention the exploitation of other peoples) rests largely on America.  We’ve allowed consumerism and materialism to be the American way.  If we don’t have to live in the filth (or at least we don’t feel like it), then what does it matter, right?

One particular passage struck me:

At the May 7, 2001, White House daily press briefing, Ari Fleischer, White House spokesperson for President George W. Bush, was asked a tough environmental question: “Does the president believe that, given the amount of energy Americans consume per capita–how much it exceeds any other citizens in any other country in the world–does the presdient believe we need to correct our lifestyles to address the energy problem?”

Without hesitiation, Fleischer snapped back, “That’s a big no.  The president believes that it’s an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policy makers to protect the American way of life.  The American way of life is a blessed one.” (p. 117, emphasis added)

YIKES.  Nine years later, this attitude is still way too common.  What’s worse, we aren’t content to keep this me-first-and-only attitude to ourselves, but spread it around the globe.

So, yeah, I think this is definitely a must-read.  It’s about time someone with a balanced view and a level head addressed this issue.  Our environmental irresponsibility is neither the extinction of the human race nor is it a myth.

And Merritt is right: Christians have every reason to be the best at creation care (after all, our Savior took on human flesh), not the worst.

I’m off to put in to practice what I’ve learned.