Pollution Is a Failure of Character
I’m writing this while in the Philippines, where it seems like the LA I grew up in during the 1970s. My family had to move to northern California because the doctor said I had smog-related asthma and would be in serious danger if we didn’t. The air in southern California has improved a bit, but the US (along with China, Russia, India, and other developed and developing nations) is at the top of the list of world polluters. We consume more than we should, waste more than is right, and spend more than we save. At its heart, this is a massive failure of character, and for Christians, a failure to live out a robust biblical-theological vision.
Someone who gets the distinction I’m making here (between environmental stewardship and environmentalism) is Wendell Berry, although I’m not sure where he stands vis-à-vis the Christian faith. I recommend reading that guy’s work. Instead of blaming Christianity (although he acknowledges distorted theologies), he thinks that reducing “creation” to “the environment” is part of the problem. Another writer I’ve found intriguing on this subject is Bill McKibbin (The End of Nature). We wouldn’t agree with all of his points (especially theological), but this moderate Methodist offers some insights into the connection between Christian conviction and the realities of modern life.
Green Is the New Black
It’s easy for creation-care to become a fad. Our culture turns everything into a movie, starring us. I guess it’s better than what we were (are) doing, namely, raping the world God made, redeemed, and will return to to make his everlasting home with us.
Evangelicals have rediscovered the doctrine of creation. That’s wonderful. It’s a big doctrine in Reformed theology, but we’ve been co-opted by the politicians. Francis Schaeffer wrote Pollution and the Death of Man in 1970! Calvin DeWitt helped to pioneer the cause of creation-care as a Reformed scientist. There are groups like the Evangelical Environmental Network. So there’s a lot of robust advocacy now within an orthodox Christian framework. This is vital if the conversation isn’t going to boil down to neo-paganism and knee-jerk conservatism.
Anticipate the New Creation: Actions Matter
Christian liberty means that churches and pastors can’t impose their views (usually less informed than many of their parishioners) on science, politics, the environment, etc. We’ve seen remarkable change in evangelical attitudes on creation-care even in the last few years, moving from denial of global warming to being at least more open to the phenomenon—and even to the possibility that human factors like greenhouse gases are involved.
Christians aren’t free to believe whatever they want about the Bible and its teachings. However, believers with the same commitments to Scripture and its teachings will differ on their interpretation of the data and the best agenda. Nevertheless, I still hear some conservative Christians say that God’s sovereignty means that the world can’t be destroyed; humans can’t ruin it. Therefore, never mind global warming.
That’s not just bad politics, in my view, but bad theology. God always works through means. He is sovereign, but I still think I should take a bath. He’s not going to take one for me. God has called us to be prophets, priests, and kings in his Son, the Prophet, Priest, and King. If you think it’s all going to burn anyway, who cares? But if you’re looking forward to “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting” in a renewed creation, we should anticipate that new age now by our daily actions.
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