“’God was wrong; support mountaintop removal.’” So says Mickey McCoy, one of the many non-fictional characters in Eric Reece’s compelling book, Lost Mountain. Reece tracks the destruction of one mountain over the course of a year while simultaneously exploring the complex issues surrounding any thoughtful discussion on mountaintop removal. His book recounts the stories of countless people living in the Appalachia region of eastern Kentucky who have worked in coal mines or have participated in strip mining as well as those whose homes have been destroyed, lands devastated, or lives lost as one of the “necessary sacrifices” of strip-mining. Reece is a professor, a journalist, and an advocate for stewardship of the planet we live on. He is a self-professed pantheist—someone who sees all things as containing an element of divinity—and a firm proponent of evolution. Unfortunately, far too many people see ecological or environmental stewardship as only applicable to those who fall within those categories. However, upon reading the accounts of Lost Mountain, I was immediately struck with a sense of urgency to decipher how I, an evangelical Christian seeking to live my life under Christ’s kingship, should respond to this destructive reality. I have come to realize that if we are to grapple with the issues of ecological stewardship, we cannot afford to continue to allow those who do not know the Creator to define stewardship of his creation.
Several works have helped me as I began the process of thinking critically and Christianly through my response to mountaintop removal, our nation’s dependence on coal-based energy, and our culture’s willingness to sacrifice people and land for cheap resources.
In his book, A Journey Worth Taking, Knoxville, TN pastor Charles Drew writes a chapter on shalom—the all-encompassing peace Christ brought about through his death and resurrection. At its core, this peace makes people right with God, but intertwined with that is also the renewal of creation. Drew reminds his readers that God’s overarching plan is “not simply about my renewal. It is about the renewal of everything.” He says that as we begin to see the fruit of Jesus’ reign in the world around us, we will realize that “we have been let in on a cosmic secret: ‘For God was pleased…through [Christ] to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.’[i]”[ii]
Douglas Moo, in a commentary on Romans 8:18-22, argues that it is God’s intention “to liberate, or redeem, the created world along with his own children.” The earth is currently subjected to frustration and futility, but that does not release humans to redefine the divine command of Genesis 1:28 to “subdue the earth” as a license to do anything we want to it. Moo urges believers to not allow “catering to our pleasure and maintaining our often luxurious standard of living [to] become more important than tending the world God has made and ensuring that its wonderful resources will be available for generations yet to come.” He suggests that Christians do this by becoming “informed, from the best and most neutral sources we can find, about what the problems really are, and to be willing to make sacrifices to maintain the world he has entrusted to us.”[iii]
Erik Reece offered some realistic solutions to the devastation taking place in Appalachia. Let us humbly and discerningly learn from people like Reece who have offered insight and answers to a critical concern. Let us also introduce people to the hope of Christ’s complete and eternal redemption for us and for creation. As we eagerly await, with creation, the day when we will finally be ushered into his glorious presence, let us finally remember that “God was right!” and has given us an incredible gift in creation.
1 comments:
Ummm... did you have to turn that in for a class 'cause that's the only reason I would ever write a book review. You have a special gift Mrs. Hovey and I'm glad I know someone as smart as you! lol ;-)
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