A week ago, I had the chance to get up to Mammoth Mountain for a last winter hurrah. My son, Brooks, two friends and I were able to enjoy the sunny beauty of the mountain that was empty of skiers but still packing nearly ten feet of snow. Twas bliss for us.
Now that summer is coming, my skis are being put on the rack, and the fly fishing gear and surfboards are coming out. While I won’t be getting away anytime soon, I do have some plans to surf the local breaks of San Clemente this summer and get up to Oregon for a brief trip in August to wet a line on the Deschutes River. I will also be leading the trip of High School Seniors to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite for the third straight year.
Now the reason for this summer travelogue preview is to establish my cred with those of you who are concerned that a 
pastor may not really understand the allure of the outdoors. The truth be told, the outdoors, nature, and the beauty of it is far more than alluring to me. At times it has been so potentially seductive that it could take me away from my calling.
In high school, I took up rock climbing and while I never did anything harder than one 5.10, a few of my friends are still regularly posting 5.10cs in their forties. I still enjoy hiking and at one time dreamed of trekking the John Muir Trail. In my life I have not only skied, fished, hiked and surfed (ok, badly…but I do it), I also have enjoyed backpacking, paragliding, snorkeling and scuba diving. More recently I have been competing in triathlons so cycling, running and open water swimming are now regular parts of my routine. I have always had both a taste for adventure and an insatiable hunger (almost addiction?) to the outdoors.
I love living at the beach and deeply understand why people would choose the sanctuary of the open air to a church cathedral on a Sunday morning. But I am also a pastor and really do believe that there is a difference between the inspiration of a sunset and true worship of the God who made it. 
So, I think that I really do get it and am probably more disturbed by a divide that I see than many. In this series I want to probe two questions:
- Why do so many people who love God’s good creation, struggle with worshipping and serving the Creator God amongst his people?
- Why do so many of God’s people—believing Christians—who wholeheartedly affirm God as Creator, seem to have so little interest in caring for or enjoying creation.
If there are two things we can say about God pretty confidently from the Bible, it is 1) that God is the Creator of all living, and 2) that God has chosen a people to glorify and reveal him within in creation. So, why the divide? Why don’t creation and community go better together?
Hope you’ll read along and chime in…
Recent Comments