Hypocritical Hippies

As I was looking for a topic for today’s post, I was plowing through the rich and vibrant Green fields on the Internet.  Awash in all the crazy commercialism and doomsday rhetoric of the movement, I realized something profound.  These Internet hippies are all a bunch of hypocrites.

They sit around blogging about conservation, meanwhile using tons of electricity to power their computers and Internet connections. In fact the Green machine is probably the most tech savvy group out there.  So not only are they using lots of energy to harp about too much waste, most of them are using the latest and greatest tech to do it. 

What happened to last year’s models they used to have?  If they are as conscience as they say, they probably took it to a recycling hub, which then promptly shipped it overseas.  “The Government Accountability Office, in a 2008 report, declared that U.S. electronic waste was often disposed of unsafely in such countries as China and India. There, workers reclaim gold, silver and copper from the waste, often in open-air acid baths that leave a toxic sludge.” (USAToday)

That’s right; recycling is killing people.  Don’t we all feel better about ourselves? 

• Note: If you’re going to recycle old electronics, make sure to find a hub certified by the Basel Action Network, which is working to make recycling safer.

Christians often bare the brunt of that word: hypocrite, which is funny because it was Christ who coined the term in its current usage.  It used to mean “actor” back in Jesus’ days, and he was basically telling the religious leaders that they were just pretending to be holy, but when the show was over, they were really terrible people.

There are a lot of folks out there claiming to be Christians, but they’re just pretending.  How do you know who is telling the truth about following Christ?  Matthew 7:16-20 tells us: "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

What is the fruit? “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:22-26)

Don’t be a hypocritical hippie; be a recycled follower; bear good fruit and reproduce other followers for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.