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Living out our faith, belief and stewardship of the earth
Church in the Community - Media Release in the Herald: 4 December 2022
Source: TCN / Bp Eddie Daniels
Date Added: 2022-12-05
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Moral Regeneration,
Date Added: 2022-12-05
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Moral Regeneration,
Are the concepts of faith and belief synonymous?
According to Paul in Ephesians 2:8, "…by grace you have been saved through faith…"
This implies that “faith” is a gift from God.
“Belief” results from personal reasoning and reflection and embracing the invitation. Consequently, belief – of necessity – needs to move over into action that is consistent with what is espoused by the belief system.
And yes, it is likely for belief to evolve over time.
I remember someone making this poignant observation regarding the difference between the two: "Belief says, 'I believe this bridge will take my weight. Faith walks across the bridge.'"
Faith, therefore, is a wholehearted response of the whole person, heart, and mind as well as soul and body, to the God who calls people to belong to Him.
Now, spirituality is a word that has come into use over centuries that seeks to describe beliefs and practices which people consciously implement as they actively engage the spiritual realm.
Within the context of spirituality, faith needs to result in action.
In Christian spirituality there is a public aspect to faith manifested in the actions, words, and relationships of a believer.
In 1 John 4:20 it is made clear that, "Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen."
Essentially, at the heart of the matter of Christian spirituality, is relationships, between God and humanity and in turn, between people.
This, in effect, is best illustrated by the two dimensions of the cross on which Jesus died: vertically with God and horizontally towards other people. In fact, it stands to embrace the whole of the created order that includes our relationship with the environment.
The key word therefore is “reconciliation”.
Reconciliation implies being brought back into a restored relationship with God. This is a first step.
The verb “reconcile” is derived from the two Latin words, “re”, meaning "again" and “concilare”, which means "to make friendly."
It speaks about a broken relationship being restored. In terms of the Christian faith, the word 'atonement' is apt.
This is how the apostle Paul depicts it in the second letter to the Corinthians chapter five: God reconciled us to himself, which implies that we were alienated from him.
“Alienation” in this context refers to the absence of trust and respect between two persons. In essence this is what it entailed: God has reconciled humanity to himself as the process was God's initiative.
How did God do this? Through the cross of Jesus Christ.
What are its implications? Every believer – whoever embraces this invitation to be reconciled – becomes "a new creation".
The single act of atonement places a responsibility, spiritually, upon us.
We, in turn, are now entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation between God and those who are not in a relationship with him as creator, redeemer and sustainer of the universe. Spiritually, our task as the redeemed community of God is to continually talk to God about people and to people about God.
There is a further aspect to reconciliation because it begs an important question: "do Christians have a spiritual responsibility towards the environment?"
The definitive answer is a resounding "Yes!"
God entrusted creation to humanity and the Bible teaches that one day God will recreate it when he makes “the new heaven and the new earth”.
John Stott puts it rather aptly in his book “Issues Facing Christians Today”: "these two doctrines, regarding the beginning and end of history, the creation and the consummation, have a profound effect on our perspective. They give us a respect for the earth, indeed for the whole material creation, since God both made and will remake it."
The consequence of the aforementioned is that as we develop a conscious understanding of our ecological responsibility, spiritually we are moved to act.
It therefore ought to move us to repentance.
Repentance, in essence, means making a 180 degree turn, a U turn; spiritually back to God, others and the environment.
The spiritual call we need to echo is one of turning from extravagance, preventing pollution and a disregard of our stewardship of the earth's resources.
In the end, the apostle Paul encapsulates the spiritual warfare we are up against when he writes to the church in Ephesus, "for our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”. (Ephesians 6:12).
Reconciliation is integral to spirituality. We should be wary of wastefulness in all its forms and guises.
Such a standpoint is not merely adopted as an act of solidarity with the poor but also out of respect for the environment and ultimately towards the God of heaven and earth.
The Rt Revd Dr Eddie Daniels CStJ
Anglican Bishop of Port Elizabeth
According to Paul in Ephesians 2:8, "…by grace you have been saved through faith…"
This implies that “faith” is a gift from God.
“Belief” results from personal reasoning and reflection and embracing the invitation. Consequently, belief – of necessity – needs to move over into action that is consistent with what is espoused by the belief system.
And yes, it is likely for belief to evolve over time.
I remember someone making this poignant observation regarding the difference between the two: "Belief says, 'I believe this bridge will take my weight. Faith walks across the bridge.'"
Faith, therefore, is a wholehearted response of the whole person, heart, and mind as well as soul and body, to the God who calls people to belong to Him.
Now, spirituality is a word that has come into use over centuries that seeks to describe beliefs and practices which people consciously implement as they actively engage the spiritual realm.
Within the context of spirituality, faith needs to result in action.
In Christian spirituality there is a public aspect to faith manifested in the actions, words, and relationships of a believer.
In 1 John 4:20 it is made clear that, "Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen."
Essentially, at the heart of the matter of Christian spirituality, is relationships, between God and humanity and in turn, between people.
This, in effect, is best illustrated by the two dimensions of the cross on which Jesus died: vertically with God and horizontally towards other people. In fact, it stands to embrace the whole of the created order that includes our relationship with the environment.
The key word therefore is “reconciliation”.
Reconciliation implies being brought back into a restored relationship with God. This is a first step.
The verb “reconcile” is derived from the two Latin words, “re”, meaning "again" and “concilare”, which means "to make friendly."
It speaks about a broken relationship being restored. In terms of the Christian faith, the word 'atonement' is apt.
This is how the apostle Paul depicts it in the second letter to the Corinthians chapter five: God reconciled us to himself, which implies that we were alienated from him.
“Alienation” in this context refers to the absence of trust and respect between two persons. In essence this is what it entailed: God has reconciled humanity to himself as the process was God's initiative.
How did God do this? Through the cross of Jesus Christ.
What are its implications? Every believer – whoever embraces this invitation to be reconciled – becomes "a new creation".
The single act of atonement places a responsibility, spiritually, upon us.
We, in turn, are now entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation between God and those who are not in a relationship with him as creator, redeemer and sustainer of the universe. Spiritually, our task as the redeemed community of God is to continually talk to God about people and to people about God.
There is a further aspect to reconciliation because it begs an important question: "do Christians have a spiritual responsibility towards the environment?"
The definitive answer is a resounding "Yes!"
God entrusted creation to humanity and the Bible teaches that one day God will recreate it when he makes “the new heaven and the new earth”.
John Stott puts it rather aptly in his book “Issues Facing Christians Today”: "these two doctrines, regarding the beginning and end of history, the creation and the consummation, have a profound effect on our perspective. They give us a respect for the earth, indeed for the whole material creation, since God both made and will remake it."
The consequence of the aforementioned is that as we develop a conscious understanding of our ecological responsibility, spiritually we are moved to act.
It therefore ought to move us to repentance.
Repentance, in essence, means making a 180 degree turn, a U turn; spiritually back to God, others and the environment.
The spiritual call we need to echo is one of turning from extravagance, preventing pollution and a disregard of our stewardship of the earth's resources.
In the end, the apostle Paul encapsulates the spiritual warfare we are up against when he writes to the church in Ephesus, "for our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”. (Ephesians 6:12).
Reconciliation is integral to spirituality. We should be wary of wastefulness in all its forms and guises.
Such a standpoint is not merely adopted as an act of solidarity with the poor but also out of respect for the environment and ultimately towards the God of heaven and earth.
The Rt Revd Dr Eddie Daniels CStJ
Anglican Bishop of Port Elizabeth
Source: TCN / Bp Eddie Daniels
Date Added: 2022-12-05
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Moral Regeneration,
Back to News IndexDate Added: 2022-12-05
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Moral Regeneration,
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