I have heard it said that in the Old Testament, the mindset of the Hebrew's would have been that all of life is spiritual life. I think there is much merit to this idea. After all, books like Esther are in the scriptures... There would be no dichotomy between the two as there is in modern times after the compartmentalization resulting from modernism.

If one grants this premise to be true, then the implications are much more numerous than one can imagine. For the purpose of this blog, it means that one's choices about ecology reflect their spiritual state. One might say that one's spiritual life will be evident in the way one makes ecological choices.

Case 1. The choices we make in purchasing goods reflect our spiritual state. If we purchase goods which have been manufactured by people who are payed less than a living wage then we are in a way contributing to the wrongdoing of the manufacturers. No, we may not be forcing people to work for next-to-nothing. But, we are enabling the process to continue by furthering the profits of these companies.

Case 2. The way the items we purchase were manufactured says something about how we value God's creation. If we purchase items which contribute vast amounts of waste to the environment (usually the environment of those who exploited for small wages), then we are causing that pollution. We are not the sole party responsible, but we are partly to blame for choosing to be a part of the cycle.

Does this mean that the past (bad) choices we have made in purchasing will haunt us for the rest of our lives? I hope not. That would mean we are missing the blessing which Christ gave us by sacrificing himself on the cross. Surely we are forgiven. But as such, we are called to live in a way which shows our new life in Christ. Certainly that new life extends into the area of what we purchase, and how we treat the blessings which God has given us.