During the first lockdown I read “Wilding” by Isabella Tree, the inspiring story of how the writer and her husband made the decision to rewild their farm and allow the exhausted land become a rich ecosystem again. They faced a great deal of opposition, overcame many obstacles and their achievements have been phenomenal.
We hear a lot about the importance of “biodiversity” these days. A simple definition is: “Biodiversity refers to all the variety of life that can be found on Earth (plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms) as well as the communities that they form and the habitats in which they live”. We can see from the evidence when it’s working well and rejoice when we hear that areas of land are “biodiversity rich”. People talk about the abundance of species as “richness”.
We have learnt to our cost how the relentless abuse of our world’s resources and systems such as industrialised farming and agriculture, artificial fertilisers, pesticides and pollutants have brought nature to crisis point and the world to the brink of destruction. This has caused a staggering decline in numbers of insects over the past 20 years. But there is hope on the horizon. At last the world is waking up to what we can do and setting about repairing some of the damage, learning that every species God created has a unique purpose and contributes to and benefits the whole.
If biodiversity is the principle of life is it too much of a stretch to say it is also reflected in the church? We could say that just as biodiversity is God’s plan for the health of the planet it is the same spiritually. We become biodiversity rich when we live in such a way that every person is valued. Everyone has something to contribute and each one has a unique gift for building up the church community. And so the body of Christ can become biodiversity rich and increasingly healthy.
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God … From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians 4: 11-13, 16).
Mission and outreach needs everyone to be involved and working together: different ages, race and gender, the more biodiverse the better you might say. Paul was a rich mixture of Pharisee and Roman Citizen saying, “I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews … To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Cor 9). This big hearted and open minded faith is willing to go into different situations and places where unity in diversity is found and can begin to flourish.
Two questions to ask:
1. What are you passionate about?
2. What are your gifts and are you using them?
Peter tells us to love each other deeply and to do everything out of love for other people and for the benefit of others, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins ... Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4: 8-10).
Let’s build churches that are biodiversity rich, where everyone can contribute in unique ways and “administer God’s grace in its various forms”.
Ruth Leeming