Nouslife: When ethics meets mission in the long term...

03 January 2006

When ethics meets mission in the long term...

Our way of life is about to change, perhaps not at the pace and in every detail as set out in this article, but one way or another the fact that we are living off cheap oil will tell when it ceases to be so cheap. Here's one way it will strike at the roots of western life-patterns.

The suburban housing bubble and its related activities were predicated on the idea that we could continue building out a living arrangement dependent on cheap oil and methane gas, and that all the subdivisions and strip malls would retain value for decades to come. Of course, this was the central delusion of the suburban sprawl economy, because it was obvious to anyone who gave the situation more than a cursory glance that cheap oil and gas were the things we were least likely to have in the decades to come.

For me the question really is more about when than if.
We are currently on a course that will bequeathe the dark ages to our children and grandchildren and there will be no leg up from cheap hydrocarbons to get them out of it. The least we can do is to use those hydrocarbons now to build a replacement infrastructure.
That means we need to start living the future as far as we can: use less oil; mainly this means cutting out journeys by car etc and if we have to travel, using more efficient means [flying is a bad idea on this view]. It means cutting down on domestic fuel use: insulate, turn down or off, energy efficiency, invest in renewable generation either directly or by changing supplier. Use your savings to support ethical and renewable energy ... you know the drill.
This is a matter of Christian discipleship, not only because it is about honouring God given ways of nature and resources, and loving our neighbour but also because it is missional in the long term. It would be great to bequeathe to our children and grandchildren in faith a church and Christian practice which will have been part of the solution rather than part of the problem: a campaign against the slave trade history rather than a Spanish inquisition history. Which kind of history do you want to make? Which kind of apologetics do you want the western churches of the west to make in 2106? -shamefaced apology or beacon of excellence?
"I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live"
Oh and you might like to check out the answer in the comments to the assertion that a reader isn't worried because s/he would be raptured:

"Thank Jesus, I'll be raptured out before the you-know-what hits the fan."
Sorry, man. I have some bad news from TheOilDrum on this:
From an unnamed source, I have sad news to report: When Yahweh and son originally designed the Rapture, they based their pulley system on the average person weighing 150 or less which was probably the case in Biblical times. Now when all the megasized Christians--and Lord knows they're everywhere--try to ride that golden string upward, we can expect massive failures and a rain of blubber such as the planet has never seen.