Over the years, I’ve talked to a lot of other hikers on the trail. It’s fun to get to know them people a little bit, and I seem to meet people with the most interesting stories, backgrounds, and viewpoints on life.
Interestingly, I’d say at least half of the people I meet are Christians. Of course, there’s the bond that draws two people who love Jesus to each other – it’s like the Holy Spirit in one of us is communing with the Holy Spirit in the other. We nod or smile or just make eye contact – and the connection is there. But I believe it’s more than that since, as I said, approximately half of the people I meet in the middle of nowhere love Jesus.
The reason this is interesting is that you’d never know from walking into most churches that there was anyone in attendance who enjoyed hiking or backpacking in the wilderness. Even if I were to talk with people, I’d have to intentionally bring up the topic (not too hard because it’s my job) to hear about anyone who enjoyed hiking.
I believe we’ve been sold a lie. The lie goes something like this: “The only people who love the wilderness are tree-huggers and similar types who hate God. If I identify myself with the wilderness, everyone will think that I’m one of those types, too.”
It’s true that many if not most of the squeaky wheels (so to speak) in recent years who have become famous in the way of conservation or environmentalism have been fairly anti-God or at least fairly pro-tree-huggers. As the generations pass, and the knowledge of God is not passed down from parents to children – or it is passed down, but they choose agnosticism or even atheism or lethargy – there is less knowledge in this group of conservationists about the God Who loves them.
The church as an organization didn’t help this shift away from God in the world of science. During the age when so many scientific discoveries were being made (think Galileo Galilei or Isaac Newton), the Powers that Be in the church denominations decided that all of this – or at least much of it – was demonic. Or they held onto partial or wrong interpretations of science from years gone by instead of what was being discovered. And so what did the devil do? He took the opportunity afforded him by the church’s skepticism of science. Scientists weren’t really appreciated in the church, so they went elsewhere. I’ve read that the gentry of British society (generally considered the smart class) was so enamored with science that they basically left the church altogether for seances, Eastern religions, etc. Those who were highly educated in the sciences, those who loved and devoted their lives to the natural world, even, were shunned by the church.
And so those who were called by God into science, environmentalism, and similar had two choices: They could leave their faith or they could be silent about their science.
This silence continues today in many churches. (I expect it doesn’t help that a backpacking trip requires an overnight into Sunday morning… thereby making the backpackers miss church that week.) People don’t want to admit that they love the wilderness for fear of being misunderstood, blacklisted, or assumed unholy or unfaithful.
But as we know: It’s not evil to love the wilderness. God made it. His fingerprints are all over it. I know so many people who go to the wilderness to meet with God – there’s no shame in that. I wish everyone in the church was free to do what God had called them to do without judgment. Until then, we can begin to speak – to admit to loving both God and the wilderness – to appreciate God in the natural world around us – to encourage all of the others who feel alone in their love of the outdoors and their love for Jesus.
And if this experience is foreign to you? I’m very happy for you – you’ve found a truly amazing group of Believers!
