These are all "good things": keeping our earth clean, reducing waste and consumption, treating animals with respect and dignity, treating people of different backgrounds and races equally...I don't think that anyone debates the worth of these principles.
The problem is the ardent followers of these movements have erased an "o" from these "good things"...the "good" has become their "god".
It is a knee-jerk reaction to be critical of those that seem to deify the earth, animals or even human beings. "They are breaking the first commandment! AND the second one! Blasphemy! Heresy!" Now, that is probably a little over the top, but my general point is that we look at those people as following false Gods in spite of our God. Now, these people are against God per the Bible, and they have put their trust in something else other than Him, but do they make an effort to hate our God? Are they lost forever?
What we should look at instead is the reason why these people have taken these "good things" and turned them in to "God things". They obviously have the capacity to venerate something "good" above themselves, and are willing to dedicate themselves to that purpose. Why the earth/animals/humans instead of our Lord?
For example, put yourself in a humanist's shoes: long ago, you showed up at a church at the request of a friend, but secretly wondering what's going on with this God thing? You aren't able to locate the friend, so you sit down in the back corner near the exit. During the greeting, you exchange hollow handshakes with your neighbors, who speak to each other like family but seemingly ignore you completely. During the worship service, you see some people singing, but others standing there with a countenance that looks like indifference and annoyance, not awe and wonder at the God about whom they are singing. This bothers you so much that you don't even listen to the sermon, and as you leave the church, you are ignored again while people chat away as they leave the chapel.
Did the church "love their neighbor" as itself? Did they do their part in letting this guest know that Jesus is "seeking and saving the lost?" Maybe this person knew a little about Jesus at the time...but he certainly didn't see Him in the people he just met.
Instead, the disenchanted visitor leaves in search of something to fill the void, and given the pervasive nature of these "good" movements in our culture, they are easily drawn in to these groups. They are taking on new disciples each week, they openly welcome new "converts", there is a wealth of information available for any questions or doubts, they hold events and meetings where people are inviting and understanding, with an undercurrent of whatever the cause may be uniting them, and they offer a greater cause than themselves in order to help seekers fill that void in their soul.
I'm as guilty as any of the people I just villified; we all are. We believe that the people who need to tell the guests about Jesus are the pastor, the elders, those who serve at the welcome reception, the Evangelism Explosion group, missionaries, deacons, Sunday school teachers...anyone but us.
We are not in competition with these movements. God created all of the things that are being worshiped: the earth, the animal kingdom, our beautiful natural resources, and the human race. Instead of treating these things as God has commanded us to (responsible dominion of nature in Genesis 1:28, conducting ourselves in love with others in 1 Corinthians 13), we have declared these movements as worship of idols or man, and in our condescension we seem to condone the abusive or apathetic behaviors that they seek to eradicate.
What would happen if a church started to plant trees on Saturdays? If it hosted a mobile pet vaccination center? If it hosted a forum on racism? (Please do not equate this with any sort of ecumenical meetings; that's not what I'm getting at)
Would it be guilty of giving in to environmentalist "nutjobs"? Would it be complacent with these "anti-God" humanisitc movements? Would it give undue veneration to animals?
No.
Each of these movements could very easily be Christ-centered. Call it "Caring for Creation" or "All God's Creatures" or something else catchy, and exemplify the Biblical teaching regarding these elements of our world. They would be awesome outreach opportunities, showing people that Christians aren't an exclusive club that gets together and talks about each other and maybe talks about God between the gossip.
As Christians, we could stand to do some "good" for the world around us. We are not supposed to only do good on Wednesday night and Sunday morning. We aren't supposed to be a bright light under the "basket" of the church; we are supposed to shine the bright light of Christ on the lampstand of the world! Jesus said in Matthew 5:16,
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
I pray that God will change my heart and yours, that we would not treat these people as willful enemies of God, but sheep that have lost their way and followed the wrong shepherd. Many will never come to know Him, but He rejoices for each one that is found. God bless!
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