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What in the World Are We Doing? Spencer C. Lawrence, Church of the Cross, Hoffman Estates, IL, February 4, 2007 It seems more than a little incongruous to be talking about global warming on what may turn out to be one of the coldest days of 2007. But just because we have a very cold day today doesn’t mean that the average temperature worldwide isn’t increasing. The adult forum on climate was eye opening. I found the movie An Inconvenient Truth more than inconvenient; I found it deeply disturbing. I went into the forum believing that the evidence for global warming is indisputable, but I wasn’t certain that very much of it, if any, it could be attributed to human activity. Now it seems clear that a large portion of global warming does come from what we do, and that we may be nearing the point of no return. In the introduction to her equally disturbing book Field Notes from a Catastrophe Elizabeth Kolbert writes: Humans aren’t the first species to alter the atmosphere; that distinction belongs to early bacteria, which, some two billion years ago, invented photosynthesis. [Actually, we believe God invented photosynthesis and then taught bacteria how to do it.] But we are the first species to be in a position to understand what we are doing. Computer models of the earth’s climate suggest that a critical threshold is approaching. Crossing over it will be easy, crossing back quite likely impossible. A just-released paper of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – a UN organization of hundreds of scientists from 113 countries - states that it is virtually certain (90%) that the increase of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels is causing the rise in average temperatures worldwide. While the details of the report will trickle out over the next few months, it predicts that the temperature of the earth will increase from 3 to 7 degrees over the next 100 years. Even if pollution were to end today global warming is likely to continue for centuries. With that, of course, will come a decline in the size of glaciers, the rise of sea levels and significantly altered weather patterns. In other words, we can expect major changes in how we live over the next century. It may not affect some of us very much, but it will affect our children, our grandchildren and their children. We Christians believe that the universe didn’t come into being by itself. It did not self-generate. Genesis tells how God created all that is. After each day – whether it was a literal 24-hour day or a large expanse of time, God declared each part of creation good. God was happy with it. Jesus demonstrated the same sort of joy in creation when he told his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount to learn from the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. Look how God provides for the birds. They neither worry about nor work for food. The heavenly Father provides them what they need. Look, too, at the lilies of the field. Why even Solomon in all his finery wasn’t as beautifully dressed as one of these, yet they do nothing. If God gives them their beautiful clothing then why wouldn’t God do the same for us? God loves stuff. God made the stars and the sun and the moon and the good earth on which we live. I am not much of an artist but I enjoy taking photographs of scenery. I especially like sunsets. Now my pictures would hardly qualify as great art, but I like them, and I would hate it if one of them were damaged or lost. I would feel especially sad – maybe even angry if it were someone else’s fault – if the damaged photograph could not be replaced. In a similar way, God, the consummate artist, loves creation and must grieve when parts of it are damaged or lost. Now some may argue that if God were sovereign then nothing we do can in the end alter what God has made. And if it does then it must somehow be a part of God’s plan for the world. In other words, on the one hand, God will restrain our foolishness and not allow greenhouse gases to do long term damage to the environment. On the other hand, if greenhouse gases do permanent damage then it may be part of God’s plan. Doesn’t Scripture say that the whole of creation groans for the redemption of the children of God (Romans 8)? Doesn’t it predict a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21)? So what’s the big deal? Aren’t we likely making something out of nothing? What we do know is that after God made all that is, people were made in God’s image: “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” We are like God in significant ways. And God charged us with the responsibility of caring for creation. He told the first man and woman to be fruitful and multiply and exercise dominion over everything God had made. Genesis 2 tells how God planted a garden and told the man to tend the garden; he later gave each animal its name. The point here is that while we’ve been created in God’s image and while we have dominion over creation, we are in the end just stewards, managers of what God made. We are, then, accountable to God for what we do with creation. It is true that God can use human foolishness to further God’s purposes in the world, but foolishness is still foolishness. Damage is still damage. In our legal system knowingly doing damage to someone else’s property is a crime. Theologically speaking, it is a sin. On the other hand, imagine what God might do if we were the best stewards we could possibly be. Consider how God’s purposes might be furthered if we took better care of the world God has given us. Scripture does look forward to a new creation, but we can’t be sure that what we’re doing will lead to that. God can bring good out of bad, but it would be better if we hadn’t done bad things in the first place. Others might say, why should the church worry about this? Don’t we have another mission? Didn’t Jesus tell us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teach them everything Jesus taught us? Doesn’t our church’s mission statement say that our mission is to “Introduce people to God through Jesus Christ and together grow to maturity of faith”? What does care for the environment have to do with fulfilling Jesus’ great commission? As Christians we have a specific and clear mission in the world – i.e. to bring the Good News of God’s love to all people and invite them to place their trust in Jesus Christ, and then to teach them everything Jesus said to do. But, just because we Christians have this mandate doesn’t mean we can ignore the first command God gave to humankind – to take care of creation. That first command was given to all people. Everyone by virtue of being alive has that responsibility. Because we have an additional command from Jesus doesn’t mean we have the right to set aside that first one. Along with everyone else it is equally our job to help take care of the world God has given us. To do otherwise is to deny God’s love for the earth. Besides that, part of growing to maturity of faith includes doing what Jesus commanded us. Jesus didn’t come to begin an environmental movement, but it is clear that he had a deep appreciation for the world his Father had created. His use of the birds of the air and the flowers of field as examples of God’s care underscored Jesus’ love for the world. That he healed the sick and raised the dead and fed the hungry also showed his concern for the physical world. He loved it because God the Father loves it. And if we are going to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and do what he commanded by his actions, then we need to take care of God’s creation as well. But didn’t Jesus’ ministry focus on people? Didn’t he come proclaiming the reign of God and invite people to repent and believe? That’s true, but remember it was a pre-industrial age and greenhouse gases were at a low level. The environment was not a threat. Human need on the other hand was very great. Illness was greatly misunderstood. Hunger was widespread. Death came all too soon to most. And, of course, there was the core problem of human sin. It was this root cause that Jesus came to deal with. He dealt with it by dying on the cross for us and by rising from the grave. He came to put an end to the suffering caused by sin. Jesus cared about human life. He still does. Changes to the environment will alter the way we and our children and grandchildren live. It will likely place our lives at greater risk to violent weather, to new diseases, to hunger and dislocation. Jesus grieves when people suffer. It is unimaginable that he wouldn’t want us – his followers - to work to relieve suffering whatever its cause. Let me reiterate, saving the environment is not the main mission of the Christian church. Bearing bold and faithful witness to God’s saving power in Jesus Christ is. But taking care of what God has created is part of our calling: first, because we are humans made in God’s image and, second, because we’ve been redeemed by the God who made all that is. It is incumbent upon us as a church and as individual Christians to learn how we can refrain from further damaging creation. And once we learn what we can do to begin to do it. God will one day create a new heaven and a new earth, but until that day comes, it’s our job to take good care of the one God already has given us. | |||||
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