The Demise Of The Green Club

In the middle of the last century environmentalism and conservation were the in things.  Few would openly oppose anything that was thought to save the planet from the damage man’s industrial expansion was doing to the earth.  It was commonly feared that we were destroying the ozone layer of the atmosphere and thereby allowing the planet to cool off to the degree life as we know it would cease to exist. 

In response to this urgent need to save the planet, environmental organizations began to spring up.  I myself became an active member of one.  We planted trees, did erosion control projects and patrolled the local waterways looking out for polluters whom we could report to the authorities.  While we picked up trash from public places and waterways, we displayed signs urging stewardship of the earth.  

Realizing we were not making the progress we desired, we began to seek out more effective ways to save the planet.  We campaigned to bring pressure to bear on polluters and lobbied others to do likewise.  We spoke to other conservation groups urging them to adopt our more effective methods.  We launched a campaign to educate the public about the dangers of failing to stop the degradation of the planet and the global cooling which was about to destroy it.  

One day while setting in one of our regular planet-saving meetings, I had an epiphany.  It had been months since any of us had planted a tree, filled an erosion ditch, cleaned away even a small bag of trash or even reported a polluter.  We had become so busy with meetings and plans that we had no time for the actions we were encouraging other to do.  We still held our noble ideals and still desired to see the planet saved from global cooling, but we had ceased to accomplish the function for which we were founded.  As increasing numbers of us observed that same thing fewer people attended the meetings, the general excitement level in the club dropped and the zeal for our cause grew colder than did the planet.  One by one the members stopped attending.  When the homemade cookies were replaced by bland store-boughts and the punch was replaced by Kool-Aid, even I dropped out. For a while I tried to keep in touch, but soon even that faded away.  

Sadly! Yes, oh so sadly, the church in many places appears to be following the same depressing path as the environmental movement of the sixties.  Increasingly “church” has become something we go to rather than the essence of our existence.  We allow ourselves to be defined by systems of doctrine rather than by our relationship with and zeal for God.  To our grave detriment we’ve begun to allow our faithfulness to be determined more by the number of assemblies we attend than by our life of devotion to the one true God, our faith in His Only Begotten Son and our zeal for His mission.   

One’s relationship with God can’t be just about meetings and ideals. Doctrine is important, as is the attending of religious assemblies, but is not true Christianity more than just these?  Did Jesus die to establish a new system of doctrine complete with updated rituals?  Of course not!  He died to make it possible for man to be adopted into the family of God.  He died that we might turn from serving sin and become the servants of righteousness. Having become His servants, Jesus commissioned all of His followers to share in His zeal to save lost people.  Knowing this, how is it that we have reduced His noble crusade to save the masses of lost souls to the holding of meetings to talk about lost people and to thank God that we are no longer among them?  We are attentive hearers and often brilliant students of the doctrine. We have also learned a variety of ways to reach the lost, but alas, our studies remain academic and are seldom converted into actions.  ( James 1:22- prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.  )  Could this be why interest wanes and our numbers dwindle year by year?