I want to offer the theological rationale for Christians to change the way we live in response to this reality. Let us reach into our toolbox and see what we find. The first thing we find in our theological toolbox is a familiar word that, to the church's great discredit, hardly ever sees the light of day this time of year. It has all the appeal of an official notice from the IRS and evokes about as much enthusiasm as a root canal. The earth is not ours to exploit.
Stewardship is the most fundamental concept in our theological tool box.
The second tool in our box is another old favorite. We tend to use it only for the journey down the sawdust trail to repent of our personal sins. But repentance has corporate dimensions, too. Indeed, the Old Testament prophets saw repentance almost exclusively in national terms. To repent is to turn right round and face in a new direction.