Our Rabbi Jesus | Would Jesus Go Green?

Would Jesus Go Green?

Posted by Lois Tverberg | January 16 at 12:19 PM

Right now, a hot topic in the news is the effort of many to be “green.” Because of the rising price of oil and the discussion about global warming, many people are trying to “reduce their carbon footprint.” Others may just be rolling their eyes at another over-hyped trend, and skeptical about the whole thing.

What would Jesus say about the issue? You might be surprised to learn that the rabbis were commenting on environmental conservation over 1600 years ago in their discussion of Deuteronomy 20:19:

When you lay siege and battle against a city for a long time in order to capture it, you must not destroy (lo tashchit) its trees, wielding an ax against them. You may eat of them, but you must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field people, that you should besiege them?

In this verse, God forbade the destruction of the fruit trees outside of cities that were under siege by the Israelites during war. It was common practice during wartime to destroy the land - to chop down the trees and poison the fields by sowing them with salt. God expressly forbade this kind of wanton destruction and declared that the trees were “innocent bystanders” who should not be victims of the war.

The rabbis concluded that if God forbade the destruction of the environment in the dire situation of war, he must certainly must oppose it during peacetime. They then reasoned that modifying the environment to build useful things to serve human needs is fine, but needless destruction is wrong.

They also concluded that the reason destroying fruit trees was forbidden was because God gave the trees to provide food, and when we destroy any useful thing, we insult God’s gracious care for us. To them, these words against needless destruction should teach us not to waste any useful thing.

The ethical command was called bal tashchit (bahl tahsh-KEET), meaning “do not destroy.” They said, “Whoever breaks vessels, or tears garments, or destroys a building, or clogs a well, or does away with food in a destructive manner violates the commandment against bal tashchit.” (Talmud, Kiddushin 32a, written about 500 AD)

Because of this interpretation of Deuteronomy 20:19, there has been an ethic of conservation and avoidance of waste in Judaism for thousands of years. They see it as an act of reverence for God. Listen to the thoughts of Rabbi Hirsch, who lived in the 19th century:

In truth, there is no one nearer to idolatry than one who can disregard the fact that things are the creatures and property of God, and who presumes also to have the right, having the might, to destroy them according to a presumptuous act of will. Yes, that one is already serving the most powerful idols — anger, pride, and above all ego, which in its passion regards itself as the master of things.

Wow. To him, wastefulness is a kind of idolatry that views the self as the ultimate god. What an excellent point.

I think the reason why Christians miss this is because in our Western mindset, we see God as completely uninvolved with his creation, and believe that the world as entirely ours for disposal as we see fit. This attitude actually arose among the ancient gnostics, who considered the material world to be worthless and evil, and God as utterly unconcerned with it. The Scriptures, in contrast, assert repeatedly that God created the world very good, and that creation itself groans for its redemption which will come in the end (Rom. 8:21).

Part of the reason that some conservative Christians (including friends who I respect a lot) resist the environmental trend is because it comes from folks who seem to worship the creation rather than the creator, who are hostile to the God who made all things. But for centuries, the rabbis have been saying that we should be careful with the natural world not to worship it, but the God who created it. We preserve it to show our love for the one who provided such abundant world for us to live in.

But what might Jesus have said?

The way Jesus summarized the Torah was in two great commands: (1) love God and (2) love your neighbor. Every one of its command fits into one of these two categories, loving God or loving neighbor. But remarkably, the idea of conserving the environment fits into both categories. It allows us to love God by showing reverence for God’s handiwork, and love our neighbor by considering the needs of others to live in God’s world. Avoiding waste is a spiritual discipline of thinking about others before yourself, even people you’ve never seen and never will meet.

And I think there is another reason Jesus would have been for being “green,” which is especially for my conservative friends who bristle when they read another op ed piece on global warming and refuse to recycle out of annoyance at the whole thing…

Consider the rabbinic discussion on Exodus 23:5: “When you see the donkey of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must nevertheless raise it with him.” The rabbis asked the question, “If at the exact same time as you saw your enemy’s donkey needing help, and also your friend’s donkey needing help, which should you help first?” Their answer was that you should help the donkey of your enemy first, to teach yourself to be kind to your enemies. This was their way of emphasizing that this command isn’t so much about the donkey, but about forcing yourself to help those whom you dislike.

The reason why this story comes to mind is because it is one of the places in the Torah where an early hint of Jesus’ command to “love your enemy” is found. This was his most radical teaching, which was unparalleled among rabbinic teachers after him. But yet the rabbis saw in Exodus 23:5 that God told us not to act out of dislike for others even in little ways. And, they said that if you have an opportunity to teach yourself kindness to your enemies, you should do it, in order to correct your attitude toward them.

My friends who question the global warming data may feel they have strong arguments supporting their cause. They may not feel like we are using up our world’s oil supplies at an alarming rate. But even if it isn’t happening, wouldn’t the thing to do be to conserve now, rather than wait until it does?

And, if you admit that just a little bit of your resistance is coming from your dislike for the “liberals” who advocate it, isn’t that all the more reason to do it? Then you’d be able to fulfill all three of Jesus’ greatest commands at once — to love God, your neighbor and your enemy, every time you did something green.

(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)|February 17, 2009

I agree with your position here. If God made Adam the steward in the garden to care for all its creatures, animal and plant, and we are sons of Adam and daughters of Eve how can we not continue in our own way to care for this earth?
Secondly, Yeshua is coming back to set up his Kingdom here, so HaShem can live among us, why would we not make this place the most welcoming possible? Taking care of our environment would bring him pleasure and prepare the place for our King.

Kurt Willems|March 12, 2009

Lois,

You are spot on with this one! I love hearing more about the Jewish ethic towards the creation. I too have many friends who are conservative that are frustrated by the green issue and feel like i have been brainwashed by liberalism I just tell them that God loves what he made from the beginning, so much that he died for all of it! Thanks for giving me more to think about as i build my own theology of ecology…

Manuel Rodriguez|August 11, 2009

I fully agree with your statements. We as Christians are to be good stewards of all that our Lord gives. But i would like to say that this Green business—- and i mean business in every sense of the word. We have too many politicians who see this as a great golden calf that can be exploited by them. Of course all they want to do is to help us and the environment. We all know what that means. Second I would just say what about Revelation 21:1 “And i saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” I see this as a way for huge corporations to make more money at our expense.We all know what drives or represenitives. Let’s not be hood winked here.

(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)|December 02, 2009

Thank you Lois (great name, same as my Mum! And supermans girlfriend of course).
Thanks for showing me some of the Rabbinic views on conservation. I have always known/felt that we should at the most basic sense care for the earth because God created it in love, and only take our ‘daily bread’ because that’s all we need.
Western Christians also tend to live in the gospel of evacuation, stemming from Gen 3 or the fall of man. But in Gen 1&2 heaven and earth were one place and in Rev 21&22; heaven and earth are again one place. Jesus died to draw ‘all things’ to himself, his desire for the restoration of the earth and all in it (not just humans) is obvious. We Christians should not live as though we are in the wrong place (earth) longing to go to the right place (heaven), but should go about the business of bringing heaven to earth through living the kingdom of God.
Don’t know if I’m making sense but I have to rush off and make dinner.
Ka kite.

(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)|February 15, 2010

concerning the green issue the bible teacher derek prince answered the problem of the enviorment in isaiah 24:3-6, look at verse 5 and there are 3 areas that are stated as the cause and all are found in society today