T. Wilson Dickinson's The Green Good News: Christ's Path to Sustainable and Joyful Life tells the story of the Gospel that is focused on firmly on Jesus, and told in a way that includes the entire world.
Reading this book in the middle of a global pandemic has been a balm, precisely because the world is in so much pain and groans for its own redemption in ways Dickinson has learned to hear. He admits, quite early on, that he hasn't always had an ear for this "green" Gospel. The damage we have already done to the earth -- at least from the perspective of scientists -- is already irreparable in so many ways. With rising temperatures, water levels, weather extremes, carbon
emissions and resource consumption, there has been very little good about the world's news. But Wilkinson invites us to hear Jesus again, learning to listen to the Gospel -- the good news -- that is told in such a way that the world will hear its own redemption.
Dickinson divides the book into two parts. Part I, "New Covenant", is
about partnering in relationship with God for the world, focusing on how
proclaiming the good news puts Jesus at the crossroads of earth and
empire, involves cultivating gardens with Jesus the gardener and
transforming food systems. Part II, "Practices of the Kingdom", focuses on
the good green news Jesus shared in his parables, the healing Jesus
provided for bodies and social systems and the way that Jesus practiced
the kingdom of God in transformative ways with food shared around
dinner tables.
The book, in short, is a story of the world's healing, and written in such a way that readers still honor the historical context in which Jesus lived and worked. Dickinson helps us understand the dangers of the Roman world and the difference Jesus' words sounded to his hearers' ears. Jesus' protest is the protest of the cross: Whom do we follow -- Caesar or Jesus -- and where does that path really and ultimately lead? Dickinson challenges readers to see the connections between the wealthy and
elite of the Roman Empire (and any other imperial power that would follow in its footsteps) and the suffering of the most vulnerable in our
world. The healing brought by the way of Jesus is the healing of systems of violence and oppression on so many different levels.
That's why I heartily recommend The Green Good News. It's a word fitly and timely spoken, to a world so in pain. Christians who desire a biblical vision of peace and justice need look no further than this book.
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I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review here.