Heal our World (Pt. 1)
I love where I live.
I think my wife summed it up well when describing her experience studying abroad in Australia and New Zealand. She traveled to parts of the world that are widely considered the most stunning in existence. Yet at the end of the day, she still found herself more wowed by the wonders of the Pacific Northwest.
This incredible natural beauty—and my desire for my son’s generation to enjoy it as well—is why I get so damned mad at America’s looming changes to environmental policy. In case you haven’t heard, the EPA plans to rewind most recent legislative progress made to protect the environment in favor of three priorities: “Unleashing American Energy”, lowering costs for American families, and prioritizing state-level decision making. Much of this change comes from repealing the EPA’s “Endangerment Finding”, which holds that excessive greenhouse gas emissions are a threat to humanity.
The trouble, though, is that almost no part of this policy or its foundational thinking is true. It’s a widely established fact that man-made emissions are harming our planet, and directly contributing to loss of human life—not to mention the damage to the rest of creation. Even the supposed economic goals of this policy are widely suspect. While potentially resulting in short-term gains, industry experts argue these policies mean the United States will essentially forfeit the next big energy race—one focused on renewables. Further, supposed savings to American families are likely fictional: analysis suggests energy prices in some areas will nearly double by 2035 under these policies.
I can, however, be selfishly grateful for this Big Beautiful Bill’s deeply ungodly approach to the environment. It demonstrates stark enough differences between the values of America and the Kingdom of God that I believe merit a longer discussion, which means I’ve got fuel for multiple posts!
Over the next few weeks, I’ll inspect various facets of our nation and God’s respective approaches to this beautiful creation with which the Lord blessed us. We’ll consider:
How Scripture calls us to relate with creation, and how it radically differs from worldly approaches to natural resources.
The need for us to avoid the mistakes of Israel of old, and how we can avoid passing our environmental sins onto the next generation.
The necessity of considering the environment if we want to effectively spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In all this, I anticipate I will face a distinct challenge: trying to maintain hope. I believe one of the reasons so many Americans ignore increasingly grim environmental forecasts is we cannot comprehend how we could possibly make any real impact on these issues. This problem feels too far beyond us—too immense in scale—for us to have any hope of making a real difference.
Fortunately—though not easily—for followers of Jesus, giving up hope isn’t an option. I serve the God who can do immeasurably more than I can ask or imagine. Therefore I have to keep hoping that God can move even in something as grand and complex as humanity’s relationship with the environment.
As I work on these posts, I therefore have a request: please join me in praying big prayers for our planet. Pray God would convict the hearts of those who would selfishly abuse our world’s resources for their own gain, and lead them to repent. For those who won’t repent, pray that God would humble them—punish them if necessary—and remove them from power. Pray he would convict older generations of their selfishness, and remind them to care for those who will inherit this planet. Pray he would give supernatural wisdom to those working on projects that can help heal the damage we’ve done to our world.
God blessed us with creation; now he wants to bless us by working with him to restore it. I hope—through thought, prayer, and action—that you’ll join me in welcoming that blessing.