Heal Our World (Pt. 3)
Things are more fun when you do them with a kid.
On a recent camping trip—my son’s first—we were moving toward our tent as night took hold. This was my son’s favorite part of camping. He finally got to experience some version of “You don’t have to come in until it’s dark.”
As we walked, my son stopped and looked up. “Dad,” he said, “Look! The first star is coming out! I’ve never seen them this clearly before!” I followed his lead. Together we watched the sky, with him exclaiming every time another star popped into view. It was a moment of pure wonder, inspired by the utter beauty of God’s creation. I can’t think of much made by humans that can inspire that reaction.
Moments like this are why we must protect what God has made for future generations. My son deserves to experience the full wonder of creation, just like those who came before him.
Thankfully (for a change), much of America seems to share my concern. Most polling shows that the majority of Americans are concerned about the ongoing effects of climate change, and are motivated to explore opportunities to reduce our negative impact on creation. Challenging stereotypes, even a majority of elderly Americans seem to have a healthy concern about the environment, though they do not share younger generations’ fears that shifting climates will pose a significant threat within their lifetime.
Unfortunately, some American Christians lag behind this trend. Those who identify as evangelical in particular are more skeptical over the significance of climate change, particularly with the scientific consensus that humans actively contribute to this problem. Most regrettably, evangelical leadership seems quite off base on this issue, with just 22% of these pastors accepting the reality of humanity’s adverse impact on the environment—a belief starkly in contrast with other Christian ministers.
I find it particularly saddening that so many American Christians are less motivated than the rest of the country to work to heal what God has made. After all, we have the privilege of actually knowing who to thank and praise for this beautiful world in which we get to live. One would think we would be even more eager to honor our Lord by stewarding his creation well. Instead, we seem worryingly willing to go along with President Trump’s warped conviction that climate change is “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.”
In following these short-sighted American impulses, believers run the risk of passing the consequences of our sin—or at least our inaction—onto the next generation. Our sins against creation are perhaps the easiest for us to ignore, as the consequences of them are often impossible for us to see at the moment. Our children—and certainly their children—will not have this luxury.
Our choice to misuse creation now to the detriment of those to come is wrong for one simple reason: it’s selfish. As a nation—apparently especially as a nation of believers—we are denying the facts of our climate situation so that we can live how we want. We are robbing the next generation of the gift of creation—something we should not expect our Lord to take lightly.
As in just about everything I post here, we will find ourselves much better off taking Jesus’ perspective over that of the United States. While America invites us to simply consider what we want from this world and consume accordingly, Jesus invites us to consider those to come. Our savior modeled a willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of others, even those not yet born. Jesus’ disciples further carried on this legacy, giving their lives so that the gospel might spread not just around the world, but from generation to generation. By caring for God’s creation now—by choosing the way of God’s kingdom instead of our nation—we continue this tradition.
In the next post, we’ll look at practical ways to accomplish this goal, and explore why caring for creation is more than just a good thing to do: it’s essential to effectively spreading the gospel to those who have not heard it.