David Comeau- a continuous harmony

On page five of a continuous harmony Berry asks the question “how should a man live in this world? He claims that Christianity’s answer to this question has always been that they should live for the next world, but that by having that attitude can also lead them to neglect the world they live in now. I agree that I see that attitude lived out in much of Christianity that I observe today. This is not only displayed in the way Christians treat the environment but in the way we treat sin in general. Christians often become so secure in their hope for the world to come that they forget about living for Christ in the present world. People essentially take advantage of the cross by saying that since they are saved from their sins they no longer have to live righteously. As Snyder puts it, this “completely ignores the fact that the here is antecedent to the hereafter, and that, indeed, the Gospels would seem to make one’s fate in the hereafter dependent on ones behavior here.” I agree with this statement to a certain extent but only in the context of the understanding that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works. Works on earth do not guarantee us salvation, faith does, but genuine faith is displayed by good deeds. In terms of how this implies to the way we treat the earth, although I admit to not taking much action myself in living in harmony with the environment I do believe that we have a responsibility. If we believe that the God who saved us from our sins is the God of creation, then out of our love for him we should desire to respect the environment as an act of worshipping him!