God on the Move to Divest
It is time for the church to wake up. There is nothing worse than sleeping through a revolution. — Diana Butler Bass
Four years ago, I visited the Sacred Valley of Peru known for the ancient civilization of Machu Picchu. Behind the spotlight of tourism and majestic photos, the indigenous communities of the Sacred Valley survive by growing hundreds of varieties of potatoes, corn, and quinoa. Over 500 years ago, Incan farmers built terraces on the mountains to create a fertile plots higher than the eye can see. Today, Quechua communities in the sacred mountains rely upon the fertility of the land to cultivate food and preserve their identity as a people.
“This land is our home,” our guide shared with us as we traversed through the mountains. Yet the farmers and their families today face imminent peril: the glaciers above their fields are melting at faster rates than ever before. The community reveres the mountaintops and glaciers as sources of life, each with a spirit known by its protectors down below.
What happens when the glaciers in the Sacred Valley melt? How will farmers receive water for their land? Where will the people direct their prayers and offerings? How will the people survive?
These questions have stayed with me as the news about climate change only becomes more grim. The projected images of our future are worse than we thought. But we don’t need to wait for 2030 to see the devastating impacts of rising global temperatures, glacial meltdowns, ocean acidification, species extinction, and more extreme drought, fires, and hurricanes from Peru to Inuit territories in Canada to Puerto Rico.
Who is fueling this top-speed disaster? The fossil fuel industry steals land, exploits indigenous treaties, and pollutes our water, air, and soil all for profit. The top 25 oil companies raked in $73 billion in 2017 alone. But the sun is setting on the fossil fuel industry as creation calls for a new economy.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 1 Timothy 6:10
The industry is unstable, unsustainable, responsible for well-documented catastrophes, and it is expensive to maintain. As a 2017 report exposed, the US government spends $20 billion a year to subsidize oil production. And the industry is only becoming more lucrative under Trump (Exxon Mobile’s profits quintupled last quarter after the tax cuts). Meanwhile, Black children in Flint still are fighting for access to clean water.
Fossil fuels are killing creation. How will we respond as Christians?
Image from Fossil Free PC(USA)
Beginning today, a group of 40 people will walk 175 miles between Louisville, Kentucky and St. Louis, Missouri to call the Presbyterian Church (USA) to divest from the fossil fuel industry. They walk with urgency for the communities fighting on the frontlines of climate change. They walk with faith in the good news of the gospel that we shall invest our money where our treasure is: with creation. They walk with hope for the church, for God’s people, and for the earth that sustains us. The PC(USA) Walk for a Fossil Free World shows me that God is on the move and we are called to follow.
I believe it is time for the Presbyterian Church (USA) to divest from the fossil fuel industry. While some advocate for us to continue engaging in dialogue with the industry, we know they are unwilling to change and time after time broken their promises. This General Assembly has the opportunity to tell the truth that fossil fuels do not belong in God’s house. This General Assembly can tell the truth that time is up for climate change, and we will not wait any longer to act faithfully.
Read more about theology of earth care
While the earth faces death by climate change, the church also faces its own kind of death. Mainline Protestant traditions continue to grow smaller, including the PC(USA). I believe that the church must adapt and act to survive. The church must show young adults that it cares for our generation and the generations after us. The church must divest from fossil fuels to uphold its ethical and theological conscience.
The church and the earth face imminent decline in health, vitality, and sustainability. What if divestment is the very life support to breathe hope into the church? And if not for us, then what about the migrant workers, indigenous communities, and all of Creation?
It is time for the denomination to put its money where its faith is. As I remember the farmers in Peru tending their fields below melting glaciers, I pray the church would no longer profit from their destruction, but lead us in Christ’s way to abundant life.
For the next 15 days, I will be virtually walking with the #Walk2Divest. I will be walking (in the Texas heat!) and praying with faith, hope, and urgency. God is on the move, and we’re following Her to a fossil free world.
