There is a tendency among certain Christians to question or reject the idea of climate change. However, ignoring this problem will not make it disappear. When we observe the beauty and the harm inflicted upon God’s creation, we can find new and unique perspectives within the Bible.
Being a Christian and an environmentalist has put me in some conflicting situations. Environmentalists often come from the field of science, where faith has little room. Christians often close their eyes to science, just so we don’t have to think about how scientific theories and even facts seem to contradict how some of us interpret our holly text. But recently, I have been really keen to explore the crossover and I’m happy to be called a Christian environmentalist.
God’s Word
There are in fact many parts of God’s word, which urge us all to protect our gift from God, our home, planet Earth. Here are just some examples:
- Genesis 2:15
- “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (NIV)
- Psalm 24:1
- “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (NIV)
- Leviticus 25:23-24
- “The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.” (NIV)
- Deuteronomy 20:19
- “When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?” (NIV)
- Psalm 104:24
- “How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” (NIV)
- Proverbs 12:10
- “The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.” (NIV)
- Romans 8:22
- “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (NIV)
- Revelation 11:18
- “The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small— and for destroying those who destroy the earth.” (NIV)
The story behind why God-loving people cling to their riches and simply ignore these instructions is quite complex and long and is one of the main reasons I wanted to create this resource hub. Hopefully it will be helpful to someone to understand were I’m coming from. And if my words are not enough, here are the words of the most respected and loved Christian leaders.
Our Church Leaders
“We all share and depend on the same world, with its finite and often non-renewable resources. Christians believe that this world belongs to God by creation, redemption and sustenance, and that he has entrusted it to humankind, made in his image and responsible to him; we are in the position of stewards, tenants, curators, trustees or guardians, whether or not we acknowledge this responsibility. Stewardship implies caring management, not selfish exploitation; it involves a concern for both present and future as well as self, and a recognition that the world we manage has an interest in its own survival and wellbeing independent of its value to us… Good stewardship requires justice, truthfulness, sensitivity, and compassion. ” – the General Synod of the Church of England (Source link)
“Today more than ever, it has becomes clear that respect for the environment cannot forget the recognition of the value of the human person and its inviolability at every stage and in every condition of life. Respect for the human being and respect for nature are one, but both can grow and find their right measure if we respect in the human being and in nature the Creator and his creation. On this, dear young people, I believe to find allies in you, true “guardians of life and creation.” – Pope Benedict XVI (Source link)
“For humans to cause species to become extinct and to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation… For humans to degrade the integrity of Earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the Earth of its natural forests, or destroying its wetlands… For humans to injure other humans with disease, for humans to contaminate the Earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life, with poisonous substances… These are sins.” – Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (Source link)