You Don’t Have To Believe In Global Warming To Be an Environmentalist
I am here neither to prove nor disprove global warming. I can only point out that my Christianity and belief in biblical creation seem to stand at odds with evolution, and therefore, global warming. But I absolutely consider myself an environmentalist. Then how, you may ask, can my Christianity and environmentalism coexist?
As a Christian I believe in a young earth (i.e. <7000 years old according to biblical genealogies), a literal 7-day creation, and that humans were created in the image of God, not evolved from monkeys, fish, or any other created beings. The whole basis of global warming, as I understand it, presupposes a belief in evolution, and I can't get behind that. If you take evolutionary theory away from global warming, what have you got? Incomplete data that can possibly be explained by other natural phenomena. We as humans have not been recording temperature data for all of earth's history, so any pre-human or pre-thermometer temperature data we have is based on something theoretical. History and science also show that it is normal for the earth to go through natural warming and cooling periods. Thus I'm left with lots of questions about the idea of global warming.
The real impetus behind my environmentalism is biblical stewardship and human health. God's first command to humans was to “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28). He “took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). This Creation Mandate is a directive to steward the earth, plain and simple. We ought to cause the planet and all its inhabitants to grow, flourish, and thrive.
But rather than steward, human industrialization and waste pollute and destroy the place that we live. I think this is a serious problem that we need to remedy, Christians in particular. We often focus on a person's spiritual well-being at the expense of their physical well-being. While I absolutely believe that a person's spiritual health is paramount, I think believers harm our chances of ministering to others by ignoring their physical well-being. Spiritual and physical health are not mutually exclusive.
What does ignoring others' physical health look like in terms of environmentalism? We must understand the interrelatedness of all things–what affects “the environment” affects us in the food we eat, water we drink, air we breathe, etc. So if the whales die, we die. While it's noble and kind to be concerned with saving the whales and the polar bears, I think the real issue is making sure humans have a future on earth too. Christians believe that ultimately Jesus will destroy the earth, making way for the new heaven and new earth referenced in the book of Revelation. But we don't know WHEN that's going to happen. In the mean time, let's take care of the planet like He told us to in the beginning.
Our planet needs to be hospitable to live on so that we can make disciples as Jesus commanded. Christians are so concerned with saving people’s souls (and rightly so), but we appear hell-bent on killing their bodies. How can we serve others by feeding and clothing them when we’ve done everything possible to destroy our means of making food and clothing? Currently, poor farming practices and use of chemicals deplete soil nutrients, making a very inhospitable environment for growing crops. Contaminated storm water runoff poisons every fresh water source, making clean drinking water an ever-increasingly precious commodity. Coal-fired power plants and burning petroleum pump all manner of air pollutants into the atmosphere, making it difficult to breathe.
Don’t think genetically engineered crops will mitigate the food problem. They’ve been connected to “infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, [impaired] insulin regulation, changes in major organs, gastrointestinal changes and problems”, and Colony Collapse Disorder in the bee population (killing the little guys who pollinate crops, thus allowing them to grow). Synthetic fertilizers ruin the soil, because, as my Master Gardening teacher put it, over the years “it’s the equivalent of putting salt on your land.” The cumulative effects of genetically modified foods and other chemicals we regularly put on and in our bodies with cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and the fertilizers that grow our crops have yet to be understood by scientists. Moreover, there is a clear parallel with the increased use of chemicals in our day to day lives and the rise of food related and other illnesses (cancer, notably).
We were created to live sustainably. God has put the earth’s systems in place, and if we follow them, we will thrive spiritually, physically, and environmentally. In His ecology death brings life. Take composting as an example. If you pile biodegradable things such as food waste, yard waste, and junk mail, they decompose into a wonderfully nutrient rich fertilizer that you can put in the garden. Your plants have everything they need to grow, and you are building the quality and richness of the land you inhabit. It’s the same way spiritually. Through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we are made new; we are brought from death to life and become co-heirs with Christ to all that God has.
The Creation Mandate is included in Jesus’ Great Commission to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19, 20). John says that Jesus, the Son of God, is the Word, and so he has been speaking since the creation of the world. The whole Bible is His word.
The belief that all environmentalists are crazy-left-wing-liberal-baby-killers is ridiculous. My reasons for caring about the planet are not limited to a narrow set of political beliefs. I want my faith as a Christian to be holistic, affecting EVERY area of my life. That is worship to God. Do I agree with the worldview of most other environmentalists? No, probably not. But that’s not the point. Obeying God is the point for me. Living a green life won’t save us, but it is a proper response to being saved by Jesus Christ. We shouldn’t place undue emphasis on being green at the expense of preaching the Gospel, but fulfilling the Creation Mandate is part of our call to observe all that Jesus has commanded us.
11 Responses to “You Don’t Have To Believe In Global Warming To Be an Environmentalist”
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Mandy
One thing I will say pro-global warming–I do not doubt that greenhouse gases do what scientists say they do. But it’s more complicated than we are led to believe. For instance, water vapor is a bigger culprit that carbon dioxide. And then there’s methane, and a bunch of other GH gases no one ever talks about.
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Crystal Keilers
Very powerful and beautifully written. I think the parallels that you drew are solid and timely. Even though I’m not a full-fledged environmentalist (not yet at least), I feel both convicted and inspired to stewart my body & our earth more intentionally, if not just my daily “living”. The small things count people (like asking for a ceramic cup at Starbucks, instead of paper…using my own grocery bags…buying organic…).
Great post my friend :). Excellent.
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Mama Dalton
Preach my child, preach on! I would not add a thing, nor I suspect would your Heavenly Father.
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Crystal Keilers
You (& this great post) are now featured on my blog. Just thought you should know ;).
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Matt
Just a thought here from a fellow believer: If you were to label yourself as “not an environmentalist, but a good steward” you might find that people ask what you mean, opening an opportunity to share the gospel. Your post here clearly describes what YOU mean by environmentalism, but the negative connotations that go with that term tend to rub some people the wrong way. I’m not even sure that “conservationist” even describes what you mean, but it has less of the bad connotations than environmentalist. Good stewardship is certainly important, but rarely practiced, and should apply to all aspects of our lives as all we have really belongs to God.
Here’s where our trains of thought might diverge a bit: While there are certainly some downsides to products of the industrial revolution (coal power, engineered food, factory farming, etc.) I would argue that the good far outweighs the bad. I would even argue that there is a large degree to good stewardship in those things. People took the resources and knowledge available to them and put them to use to improve the quality and length of life of their fellow humans. Considering food/farming in particular, the advent of factory farming has actually improved the quality and yield of crops so much that it has made staple foods so cheap that the our government pays farmers not to grow certain things just to keep the prices up high enough so that those that do grow them can make a living. (I’ll leave my thoughts on the politics of that out of this discussion). Furthermore, genetic engineering, while it sounds scary, is basically just result of carefully directed natural processes resulting in a superior product. Corn as we know it is essentially a grass that was genetically engineered many centuries ago to produce the big ears of corn instead of smaller heads of grain. That the carrots we eat are orange instead of purple is a product of farmers handiwork. The examples go on…
The creative mind of man is a faint shadow of God’s creativity, as we are created “in his image”. Certainly not every (as we are sinful), but many of the creations of man result in bringing glory to God.
My point here is not to shoot you down. I agree that living out our faith in Christ involves being good stewards of God’s creation and I think we should avoid gross pollution and that we shouldn’t be wasteful. But, do I spend an extra couple hundred bucks a year so I can eat high end organic produce, or do I eat the normal grocery store offering and take the difference I would have spent and put it to use supporting a missionary? Which is the better good steward option? Food for thought. -
christy
I have to agree. Have you seen the documentary FoodInc.? It talks about the way we trat our food and the affects it has on our health and the environment. Sounds like something you might like. :)
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Mandy
“the advent of factory farming has actually improved the quality and yield of crops so much…”
“genetic engineering, while it sounds scary, is basically just a result of carefully directed natural processes resulting in a superior product.”
Matt,
If spending extra money to eat organic produce means that I am not exposing my family’s bodies to synthetic fertilizers and other chemicals spliced into GM crops OR supporting the companies who do so, then I do think that is possibly better stewardship. The products of companies like Monsanto are not superior, they are dangerous (the link in my blog post tells why). Plus companies like Monsanto are wreaking havoc in many poor nations of our world. I don’t want to be a part of that. Farmers in India have committed suicide by the thousands because they can’t save GM seed from year to year, like people have throughout the ages. Rather “debt caused by the poor yields, increased need for pesticides, and higher cost of the BT cotton seed sold by Monsanto” has made some farmers “the equivalent of indentured serv[ants]“. A subsidiary of Monsanto, meanwhile, employs child-labor there.
Yes, let’s support missionaries all over the world. And yes, let’s “learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, [and] plead the widow’s cause.”
In terms of calling myself a “good steward” as opposed to an “environmentalist,” I think it’s just too confusing. I will use my environmentalism as a platform to preach the gospel, no matter what.
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Matt
Mandy,
To each his (or her) own with regards to food choices. But for me, knowing that this body and this earth are both dying and will eventually be replaced makes expending excessive effort on extending the existence of either at the expense of eternal investment seem erroneous. If you can manage both, great. But for those with limited resources (and a basic memory of Econ 101) there is always an opportunity cost to each activity. Not only did that organic tomato cost $2, it also costs you the opportunity to drop eight quarters in the red bucket by the bell ringing santa outside the grocery store around Christmas time.I’d contend that the havoc in India truly has more to do with a corrupt and evil people than it has to do with GM crops. If it was the evil water company charging too much and putting farmers into horrendous debt, you wouldn’t boycott water. Do you also avoid buying anything made in China, a country known for having very shaky human rights record? Should you?
My issue with the label “environmentalist” is that environmentalism is to many people a religion where the creation is that to be worshiped or held in the highest regard. This obviously stands in contrast God’s command to have no other gods before him. I am not saying this is the case for you, but this is one of many negative connotations of the word.
And finally, while we learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless and plead the widows cause, we ought certainly to “preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1Cor1:23-24)” “because [the gospel] is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom1:16). Far too prevalent in today’s post-modern Christian circles is a mindset that focuses on peoples material and physical well-being while completely neglecting their spiritual state.
Though we don’t agree on some things, I find this interesting to talk about and it makes me evaluate my own shortcomings in the area of stewardship. I trust that we can agree wholeheartedly about the debt we owe our faithful Savior.
Grace and Peace,
Matt -
BrandonG
Why don’t you just beg god to clean everything up? It seems a lot simpler.
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Mandy
Matt,
I totally agree with you about many environmentalists worshiping the creation rather than the Creator. This is, essentially, neopagan worship of Gaia (the Greek goddess Mother Earth). The Apostle Paul says “the wrath of God is revealed against [this] ungodliness” because creation worshipers “suppress the truth” of God’s divine nature made clearly visible in the physical universe (Romans 1:18-23).
Interestingly enough, the Gaia Hypothesis proposed by James Lovelock DOESN’T contradict the Bible’s teaching about the earth at all. Lovelock’s hypothesis holds that the earth is a complex, interacting system, in other words, one big organism in communication with itself (through the biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and soil). This is consistent with biblical presentation of creation as a living thing, capable of worship and even longing:
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Psalm 19: 1-4a).
“As [Jesus] was drawing near–already on the way down the Mount of Olives–the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. He answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:37-40).
“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:19-23).
Lovelock’s Gaia Hypothesis claims that the earth is a self-regulating living system seeking to sustain life. For instance, “sea creatures produce sulfur and iodine in approximately the quantities required by land creatures” (wikipedia), a pretty miraculous feat. Or take the methane gas in our atmosphere that shouldn’t exist, because “methane is combustible in an oxygen atmosphere. This composition should be unstable, and its stability can only have been maintained with removal or production by living organisms” (wikipedia). Christians, however, know that creation is ordered and operates according to Jesus’ divine Word:
“[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17).
“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:1-3a).
God is so clever and perfect. His infinite nature has ordered our world into the most beautiful and complex system[s]. And the same Jesus who made our universe and all the laws governing it is the one who died to save us from eternity in hell. All of this is cause to worship him.
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Jeremy Mansfield
I randomly stumbled upon this post, and am so glad other people who are Christians understand the Biblical mandate to be stewards of the land versus worshipping the creation (environmentalism) versus worshipping the creator and simply obeying His laws for us to take care of the earth, have dominion over it, be fruitful and multiply.