kenotic theory
“The people who come after us are not going to care about how hard we tried. They’re not going to care if we were nice people. They’re not going to care if we signed petitions. They’re not going to care if we voted Democrat, Republican, or Green… They’re not going to care if we wrote really good books… They’re not going to care if we did a whole bunch of preaching, no matter how wonderful the sermons are…
“What they’re going to care about is whether they can breathe the air and drink the water. They’re going to care about whether the land can give them food that they can eat.”
That’s from an interview with Derrick Jensen, author and ecological activist, conducted by Rev. Michael Dowd, who calls himself a “pro-future evangelist.” [“Christ as the Future Incarnate,” first published in Oneing, “The Universal Christ,” 8:1 (Spring 2019), 2.]
The quote speaks to the efforts we engage in, which can be good and admirable endeavors. (I suppose the one which especially strikes me is the bit on preaching!) We can excel in our labors; we can accomplish great things. Clearly, there’s nothing wrong with that! Still, at the end of the day — a phrase I find with a disconcerting layer of meanings — the question is what we leave for the sake of our future sisters and brothers and for the sake of the earth.
The human race is conducting a chemistry experiment with our planet’s atmosphere. How insane is that? We are altering the composition of our air. We’re bumping up the percentages of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases (which do not appear naturally — they are of human design). That is leading, and will lead, to an array of environmental changes, and they aren’t changes for the better.
I won’t go on forever, but here’s another pleasant tidbit: our oceans are drowning in plastic. Approximately one garbage truck load of plastic is dumped in the ocean every minute. It has a horrific effect on wildlife. Plastic never really biodegrades; it just gets broken into smaller and smaller pieces. A couple of faces in this rogues’ gallery are plastic bottles and plastic bags. (Over the years, my wife and I have rationalized our use of plastic bags, saying we re-use them as poop bags for our dogs.)
There is a passage from scripture which has prompted the way I’ve begun. In Philippians 2:5–11, there is a passage of poetic language which the apostle Paul might have borrowed from an early Christian hymn. Verse 5 sets the stage: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”
It sings of the willing humility — the setting aside of divine privilege — of Christ being born as Jesus, a human being. Verse 7 speaks of the self-emptying necessary to do that. Christ “emptied himself,” “made himself nothing.” Nothing. Nobody. The Greek word for “the act of emptying” is κένωσις (kenōsis). Christ underwent kenosis. We are also called to undergo kenosis, not just for ourselves, but as suggested before, for the sake of all who come after us.
Sallie McFague, who for many years taught at Vanderbilt in Nashville, has gone into some detail on this. She speaks of kenosis, self-emptying, as it is modeled by the cosmic Christ who encompasses everything. (Some New Testament references can be seen in John 1:3, Ephesians 1:20–23, and Colossians 1:15–20.) McFague applies kenosis to our society. She wonders if we all are called to address the damage we’re doing to our planet “by living in a self-emptying way, conscious that radical sharing, limitation, and sacrifice are necessary in our time of limited space and energy?” [“The Universal Christ and Climate Change,” first published in Oneing, “The Universal Christ,” 8:1 (Spring 2019), 5.]
There are seven billion people in the world. (And counting.) What would happen if everyone had our lifestyle?
Mother earth couldn’t take the strain. Our rate of consumption is unsustainable. And dare I say, we are called to repent? A call to repentance doesn’t mean we’re bad people. The word “repentance” in Greek (μετανοια, metanoia) means “a change of mind” or “a turning around.” It’s a turning from death to life. How appropriate that is when we’re speaking of our descendants!
How does kenotic theory apply to us? What kind of self-emptying will benefit our souls? Can we “reduce, re-use, and recycle” in our lives?
A final question: what can we do with our dog’s poop?
