Customer Reviews

Saving God's Green Earth: Rediscovering the Church's Responsibility to Environmental Stewardship

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have never read a book quite like this one. I expected a quasi-Christian tree hugging manifesto, but instead got a balanced biblical view of environmental stewardship. In a time in which environmentalism is connected with a liberal political agenda, the author does a terrific job of calling the church back to an appreciation of God's world. Two of his personal stories (finding Jesus in the eyes of a deer and the Holy Spirit in a canyon wind) could have been omitted, but the premise of the book is still challenging. The environment is not a political issue, and Christian conservatives can be environmentalists, too.

The author correctly asserts that Christians can reach people with the Gospel by being involved in environmental causes. One recent example is Ted Turner's softening toward the Christian faith after realizing how the Lutheran and Methodist churches are fighting malaria in Africa; the man who once called Christianity "a religion for losers" regrets the remarks he has made in the past because of this practical demonstration of God's love.

Tri Robinson delivers in this impassioned call to the church to return to its roots when it comes to caring for the environment. As the pastor of a large evangelical church, Robinson shares passionately how he rediscovered the biblical mandate to care for creation and how he put that into action within his church.

Filled with theological insights and practical applications, this book is a great primer for any Christian or church leader looking to provide a pathway for his or her church to engage other church members in this value. A must read!!!

Contrary to some of the other reviewers who felt this book was non-sensical drival, or too little, too late, etc., I thought this was a very good book. Instead of being so down on the content, I viewed it as good advice for starting out. This book offered practical advice for getting Christian churches involved in saving "God's green earth", and it gave practical advice for starting church programs that help save the environment. If every single living person in the world practiced what this book said, then our world and our environment would be a much better and safer place. You can't just dive off into radical environmentalism without having the funds and the knowledge. Besides, history has proven that anytime a person gets radical about any subject, it ends up doing more harm than good. The idea is to get Christians interested in being good stewards of God's precious creation rather than worrying about being politically correct or incorrect. For most people, you have to start small and grow. Most people don't have the "Big Bucks" that it takes to lobby, to run out and install solar energy in their homes, to go completely green over-night. It takes time and it takes money. I enjoyed this book and I believe it is a start and a change in the right direction. I wish more churches would take this attitude. Besides, if more people would get out and volunteer in established environmental programs, just think about all that could be accomplished. I really liked this book and I would rate in a strong 4.5.

This is a very simple, readable approach to environmental issues in the world today and necessary response of the body of Christ in the church to such issues. If it is read as a good introduction to the issues and a book to create awareness, it will be seen as insightful and helpful. If you are looking for an in-depth analysis of environmental concerns, you will be disappointed, but i think the book does a good job of encouraging the Christian church to wake up and recognize the responsibility we have to look deeper and be a part of restoring the incredible gift of creation God has given. The practical tips in the back are a good way to begin small lifestyle changes at an individual and corporate level and hopefully inspire the reader to dig deeper into the issues. There has been far too little teaching in the church about the state of the environment and too much conflict with those outside the church, and it is nice to see a leader taking a stand and trying to help others along in the process.

A well written missive. Growing up in Christian/Farmer home and while spending nearly 40 years in the environmental industry, I've ALWAYS believed that it has always been mankind's responsibility to "walk lightly" through the earth...managing the environment responsibly has been a root instinct--because I'm a Christian, of Farmer roots deep in the soil of the Midwest, and lastly because of my chosen career path.

Pastor Robinson presents the case for "visible" leadership in the environmental arena by Christians--which is seen by many as a dance among strange bedfellows. This missive presents the case that environmental leadership by the Church should be a natural response and opens channels of communication within the community that have been closed due to mistrust and misunderstanding.

Good book.

The Kindle version is a mess. It's obviously machine scanned with so many egregious errors that it's difficult to read. The Kindle version is not worth paying money for.

This book is a good for Christians who are unaware of the important Christian teaching about care for the environment and/or who think environmentalism is a leftist political agenda. Robinson teaches an important lesson about separating the political rhetoric from the message of Scripture regarding Christian environmental consciousness. So for some Christian readers this is an important contribution. But beyond that, it is weak in substance.

I am the committee executive for our church (Prysterian Church in DC). This book is an excellent source of ideas and methods to bring a strong enviromental approach to the church and is congregation. The book also assists in overcoming objevctions as to the logic of the church becoming involved in the eniromental movement.

I think this is an excellent book, I provided one to my pastor, but have not heard back from him, I hope he agrees. Very good message in this book for any Christian that would believe the church needs to do more in this area.

Once I was able to get past the numerous, glaring grammatical errors, I found myself looking for something of substance that would both challenge me to think more about the church's responsibility of environmental stewardship along with an applicable toolset for creating/operating such a ministry at my own church. I was disappointed in finding little of either.

Robinson's attempt to stay entirely apolitical renders the book ineffective and never provides a true context for redefining the ideals of conservation as Rod Dreher so aptly did in his book from last year, Crunchy Cons. Nor does Robinson attempt to give a new framework for a new approach to the American consumerist lifestyle and incorporating "cradle to cradle" thinking into our shopping habits. Yvon Chouinard's Let My People Go Surfing does this in a far more inspirational manner and addresses truly incorporating these philosophies back into the organization.

Additionally, Robinson never addresses the architectural toxicity of most church buildings today, failing to touch on both new builds and retrofitting existing structures. Considering this is perhaps the greatest environmental impact many churches will collectively make on the environment, I was disappointed to find such a gapping void instead of a few chapters on this topic.

Lastly, Robinson ignores the fiscal costs and savings of both incorporating a greener approach to church and Christian ministry. Considering that having financials to back up ideas can help saw many conservative people in the church, this would have been a useful addition as would have benchmarks for gauging participation over time in new environmental ministries.

I'd recommend skipping this unenlightened drivel and getting Crunchy Cons and Let My People Go Surfing. They might actually encourage you to do some real thinking.

The book might make some people feel good about being a green curious Christian, but the problem is, in order to be pro environment, you have to actually contribute to positive environmental change. Recycling more and turning off the lights may be, for some, practical advice, but it's about as watered down as you can get as an advocate of "God's Green Earth." Without addressing the hand that corporations and governments have had in environmental disaster, the Pastor plays it safe in the most destructive way possible. With such a hopeful title, he is positioned to make money off of people's fears and passions, without making any bold statements that could potentially alienate the members of his church and wider Evangelical community. The message one gets from this book is a sadly cynical one.