Questions

So I posted some time ago about the book Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright.  In it, Wright talks about reshaping our understanding of heaven and hell and the end of days.  It is a truly revolutionary book, and I keep coming back to it and thinking more and more about the implications - especially as I am also reading Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman, which talks about the climate/energy crisis facing our world.

Here are some of the questions I've been asking myself lately (I'd love to hear some readers' thoughts):

1. If the end of days results in a renewed heaven and a new earth, what level of responsibility do Christians have to be advocates for earth-healthy lifestyles and policies?
2. Friedman shares the following alarming statistic: Every 20 minutes, somewhere on earth, a unique species goes extinct...as in gone forever, never to be seen again.  Will we be judged for the role that we have played in such destruction of God's creation?
3. To what extent will a renewed earth and a renewed "me" resemble the current earth and the current "me?"
4. Does an understanding of heaven as a completely renewed and fulfilled earth/physical body mean that I have a responsibility to take care of my body (i.e. exercise and eat well, stop doing unhealthy things)?
5. What if the reason the Bible offers all these "rules" against unhealthy behaviors is so that we can be better prepared for the renewed creation?  What if I'm not supposed to get drunk not because it is immediately risky, but because of the damage to my body?
6. The Bible teaches that the Risen Christ - our only example of what "renewed body" means - still carried the wounds of the cross.  Does that mean that we will still carry with us the marks and wounds of this life in the new creation, but in a "redeemed" way?

I'd better stop...I'm about to drive myself crazy. : )