I’ll tell you no lie, there is nothing quite like embracing the nearest Quercus robur (Oak), but besides this guilty pleasure what does sustainable living mean for followers of Jesus and why should we bother?

“In the beginning, when God created the universe”, are the first words uttered in Genesis. As we read on we discover what God had made (the earth) “was good” and he placed humans on it to have “Dominion” over it. This word Dominion, I think, has been misunderstood, leading to a human centred view of the earth. The essence of this anthropocentric approach is often related to a domination theory found in religion (fundamentalist Judeo-Christian). Such views are entwined with the secular: the scientific-rationalist concept, grounded in the ideas of Bacon, Newton and Descartes, that planet Earth exists for the benefit of, and exploitation by, the human race. The human race is seen as something separate from the rest of life- and superior to it (Richardson 1997).

This has, in part, lead to a situation where we are destroying the natural systems on which our lives depend. Many believe the attempt,through materialism, to eliminate personal insecurity has failed; while a higher standard of living is worth striving for, frustration has resulted because the pursuit of material wealth has been pursued for its own sake, often not for the good of others. Further, because everything else has been relegated to a position of secondary importance, severe environmental problems have arisen which may threaten to force us back to a lower standard of living. The issue of Global Climate Change for example has shown us that we can and do effect others by how we live, and it is the poorest who suffer most.

However, this does not have to mean things have to stay this way. If we believe we are living on Gods earth, something in all his divine wisdom he seen as “good”, then it is our responsibility to treat it in a manner that is fitting with this remark. When it comes to analysing the concrete problems of society, contrary to western know how, Biblical faith suggests that ways of justice, solidarity, love of one’s neighbour, reconciliation, peace and care for the earth are not human ideas. Rather, their origin lies in a loving Creator and the Creators own design for life in all its fullness. Therefore the function of the physical world is not just to provide the environment in which men can live; it is also to declare Gods glory (Psalm 8:1, 19:1; Jeremiah 5:22; Romans 1:19-20). Any time a species goes extinct, a habitat is destroyed or a person dies from malnutrition, are we losing the opportunity to learn of the glory of God through his creation?

It is too easy to get over whelmed and do nothing as the problems seem insurmountable. However, we all must start where we are. A good place is the Tearfund Carbon Fast which gives neat handy tips on how to reduce your impact. We can all do things individually, however collective action will have the greatest impact. A good example of this is the UK Climate Change Bill (first of its kind in the world) that was advocated by Stop Climate Chaos through the work of concerned citizens like you! Find out the environmental pressures that are effecting your local area and ask your local politician what he/she is doing about it… Better still, go outside and find out for yourself.

Think of the marketing that you may have seen over Fairtrade fortnight for supermarkets, it wasn’t about the ethics or provenance of our food, it was about the number of products that you could buy for £1, or feeding your family for a fiver. I think it’s safe to say that the supermarkets are not losing out and many are announcing expansion and the opening of new stores. At this time consumers need to be encouraged to shop with their hearts, acting out their ethics.

This all made me think of a trip my husband and I made a few years ago. We were travelling through Mozambique on a local bus that was (literally) tied together. Every-so-often we would stop at a village and people would rush up to the bus with basins laden with fruit, juice, biscuits and the occasional chicken. The sellers would lift their goods above their heads to the tiny windows, we would grab what we wanted and throw some change into the basin. At one stop I noticed a little boy with a basin of scruffy-looking bananas, when the bus stopped he ran forward, but as he was so little, he had no chance of getting his fruit to us, he was never able to trade. His bananas, blackened by the heat were ruined, he had missed his chance to make some cash. At that moment the quote by Dr Robert Aboagye-Mensah (General Secretary, Christian Council of Ghana) was made tangible:

‘International trade between my country and the West is like an antelope and a giraffe competing for food which is at the top of a tree. You can make the ground beneath their feet level but the contest will still not be fair.’

We need serious change in our world economic systems, and perhaps we have a massive opportunity at this time to truly speak up for the poor. We can try to change the system, and as this takes a long time, Fairtrade can offer a stop-gap, until this age-old issue is addressed:

Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. (Isaiah 10: 1-3)

But, more than offering producers a fair price for their hard work; Fair Trade expresses our respect for the human behind the products we buy. Yahya Msangi (a Tanzanian Union official) spoke in Belfast last year about the international flower trade. He spoke of how, approaching specific time of the year, such as Valentines and Mother’s day, women in Tanzania are forced to work horrendous hours, are subjected to sexual harassment and suffer miscarriages in the fields due to the chemicals spread on the plants. He ended his talk with this: ‘And these flowers are your gifts of love?’.

1 http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/

2 http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/09/business/econ.php

To do:

Buy mum some Fairtrade roses for mother’s day (from Tesco/Co-Op) OR if you can’t find any ask a manager why

I’m happy I did for a number of reasons, not least that my money is invested using a strict ethical policy that means the money I save with the bank is not loaned out to companies or organisations that are environmentally damaging or have questionable activity in human rights and international development. According to Smile’s website they have withheld £1 billion of our money from businesses who want the money but who conflict with the ethical policy. That means the money goes to businesses with more favourable ethics.

It is as simple as that. But I also like smile because it is a great bank, good rates of interest, their website is really easy to use (and I have seen some AWFUL banking websites) and they have had firm internet security right from the outset.

Being part of the Co-operative Bank means Smile shares the values of the Co-operative movement, dedicated to a fairer means of distributing profit. That means they are not driven by the decisions of shareholders. The Co-operative Bank with Smile is still the only UK clearing bank with an ethical policy.

A good bank, owned by their members with a good policy. What more could you ask for?

Caution: They do have a credit card which is coloured pink – in several recent purchases I have made the till operators have looked at it and laughed at me. Some people just need to grow up!

By the way, I don’t work for Smile nor get any kind of backhander, back rub or honorary directorship for promoting them.

Rick Johnston,

Independent Financial Adviser

But maybe the time when it seems like we have least is the very best time to be thinking about giving. As someone who has just found themselves in the thirties bracket I’m discovering some truth in the old adage that the habits you form early on set the tone for the rest of your life. And I’m doing some quick reversals! As I also thought about the global financial downturn I began to realise that everyone has less and so those who are already struggling are now in a worse position than before, and so much more in need of our generosity.

In the Old Testament God designed an economic system in which there should be no poverty. His people were to demonstrate his likeness to others (Deut 15.4). As God blessed his people with a physical place to make their home he asked them to be open-handed, to not be stingy, to live generously, and to mirror his generosity to them. Obviously the prophets show us how they screwed up big time and instead oppressed the poor. Then in Jesus, God himself steps into time demonstrating the ultimate generosity of God in setting aside his riches and becoming poor so that we could be rich. Generosity lies at the very heart of who God is. As people who are trying to follow, Jesus is an indicator of how closely we are walking with him. I guess we struggle to live generously as giving (whether cash or possessions) means we have to start relying on God. Yet it is when we begin to live generously – when we begin to live this life of trusting God that we begin to discover a freedom [and lightness (?)]

So if we are committed to helping live out God’s kingdom and seeking justice for those who are denied the opportunities we have, how much should we give? The obvious answer is that we tithe 10% of our income. But does doing so mean we can then relax? Is that really living generously? In 2 Corinthians 8.13 Paul talks about giving so there would be equality, not just some people a little less badly off. It’s not really something we hear too much in church is it? Sounds a bit Marxist? Do you think it’s possible to live generously like that?

I guess 10% is a good starting point for all of us, but not something we should be rigid about. I dream of being part of a community who live freely with their money – giving generously to those in need, giving as God’s Spirit leads, not clutching on to what we feel we deserve. Therefore, living with our trust not in ourselves but in God as the generous provider.

What about direct debits? Some argue that we should be engaged in our giving, that the joy of writing each cheque lost in direct debits means we forget about what we’re giving which simply becomes something that comes out of our bank accounts. Everyone works differently, however as someone who works for a charity it really helps us when people commit to regular direct debits as it allows us to plan for the future and know what we can spend. A wise friend of mine shared with me that he only gives to a few organisations – maybe 3 and endeavours to support them well. He can pray for them, has time to read their magazines and stay in touch with what they are doing.

What sort of difference could we make if we did commit to living more generously? How can we help each other do that? What have you found helpful? How can you begin to practice living more generously this week?

“I began to find my own conspicuous consumption slightly nauseating…there was, it slowly dawned on me, something really rather gross about wanting something and buying it, just like that – ” (The Thrift Book – India Knight)

After a brief excusion down to Wyse Byse and Connswater one Saturday in January I came back horribly deflated and depressed.  I had spent an hour wandering around looking at pretty things, cute things and quirky things – all of them I didn’t need.   I became aware of many other people doing the same around me, pointing out something lovely to each other and standing at till points clutching armfuls of totally non- essential tat.  Nothing expensive really (one of the great fun things about Wyse Byse) but still giving off the same whiff of unnecessary, pointless purchasing and spending that you can identify in any socio economic group or community around Belfast.  This is not a contemporary phenomenon. We as people are motivated by greed, possessions, appearance and status the same now as we always were and Jesus had quite a lot to say about it.

In many ways what Jesus taught about money has commonly been split into two applications: one is give some money in an envelope to charity every month and the other is to give some money in an envelope to the church every month.  Leading us to think “well I am buying a goat and I have contributed to the church carpets” we happily continue in our consumerism safe in the knowledge that we give regularly. Jesus said “No-one can be a slave to two masters.  Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot be a slave to both God and money” Matt 6:24.  I think traditionally we have read this verse and comforted ourselves with the thought “well its not like I love money, I don’t sit in a room counting it every night and sleeping with gold ingots under my pillow”  But how many of us do if we are honest actually sit at night counting our money?  Working out the bills, working out how to get some money to buy what we want and then go to sleep with it being one of the foremost issues in our minds – I certainly do.  I am constantly hoping for this or that and I think by buying into this culture of consumerism I am serving money a little too much! It’s a troubling thought.

This isn’t a venture to make us feel guilty and put off, but I think it is worth putting a challenge out there or even a question.  How can we as Christians be remarkable in our treatment of and attitudes about money?  If we want to follow Jesus’ instruction about money, what does that really look like?  What are the practical ways that we can serve God first and not squirm or evade some of the full implications of Jesus’ teaching.  Lets get some conversation going and learn from each other.

Welcome to JustLife, a space dedicated to exploring the connections between faith, money, justice and lifestyle.

On Saturday 28 February at 10am, a Tearfund breakfast workshop called Invest for Life is happening in Kirkpatrick Memorial Presbyterian Church in East Belfast. It’s on money – the theology and practice of giving, budgeting, investing and using our money for the good of ourselves and the world around us. We hope you can be there.

JustLife is designed to help us go deeper on some of the issues that are raised at the event. Every Wednesday until the 25 March, a group of us involved in Invest for Life will be posting short pieces discussing topics like fair-trade, ethical banking, giving and sustainable living. Whether you can join us on the 28th or not, we hope you’ll feel free to join in the conversation.

Money matters. It matters because what we wear, the food we eat, how we travel and lots of other everyday financial decisions have a massive impact on the lives of people all over the world.

And money matters for Christians because God tells us to love our neighbour, to pursue justice, to fight poverty and inequality. But too often we’ve used our cash in ways that make us just another piece of an economic system that keeps the global poor down.  

They may not be on our doorstep but they are our neighbours. We are connected to them. From textile factories in Bangladesh to banana plantations in Ecuador to farmland threatened by climate change in Malawi, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers are counting on us if they are ever to get a chance at a dignified life. 

Christianity in Northern Ireland has often been seen as private and pietistic, little interested in the world around it. Many of us are just at the beginning of understanding that following Jesus is not only about our own spiritual lives but also about getting on board with God’s transforming mission of love, hope and justice on the earth.

The Invest for Life event and the JustLife blog are about discovering together how a concern for justice at home and abroad can become a natural part of our daily lives. We want to know what Micah’s call to ‘act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God’ means for us in Ireland in 2009. We want Jesus’ desire that people have ‘life in all its fullness’ made ever more real in our own lives and in others’.

Unfortunately, it’s much easier not to change the world than to change it. It’s easy to say it’s too hard. It’s easy to leave it to people we think are wiser or better than us. And, if we’re honest, it can be difficult enough to keep our heads above the water of work and family commitments, never mind thinking about other people. But we’re not left to do this on our own, and when we meet and reflect with others on the same journey, it all becomes a whole lot easier.

We hope you’ll stay with us over the next five weeks and share your thoughts and experience on the issues. Leading a just life occurs as much in the supermarket aisles as the protest march, as much in the tiny act of kindness as the million pound donation. With small steps, an everyday radicalism can take root in our lives that brings real change and real hope to our small, fragile and precious world. Let’s do it together and let’s do it now.