How Should Christians View Environmentalism?

Photo by Tom Fisk

In 2017, during my junior year of high school, a video went viral on YouTube of a turtle that was found with a plastic straw stuck deep into its nose. (I could never stomach watching the video, but it is what most of my classmates talked about for a month). The pain of the injured turtle caused by something as common in our day-to-day life as a plastic straw created a huge outrage, followed by spreading the awareness that all plastic products, including plastic straws, eventually end up in the ocean, harming marine life and the environment. Whenever a boost of environmental awareness emerges on the radar of western civilization, it raises questions: what is or isn’t harmful to the environment, and what is and isn’t simply political trends of environmentalist thought? Should I use plastic straws? Should I recycle? The range of environmental topics of concern is far and wide in the 21st century.

While, much of the environmental debate appears to be simply the front lines of politics, does that mean all of the concern for environmental care is political? More importantly, how should Christians view the environment and how to take care of it? With all of the media controversies, perhaps even the debates in our Christian community circles, it is easy to forget that the idea of taking care of the earth that has been given to us existed long before any politicians, scientists, or “tree-huggers.” Through several passages in scripture and in the history of Christianity, there is indeed evidence of the Christian calling towards stewarding the earth and taking care of it as a precious gift from God rather than misusing it.

God Commanded Us to Steward the Earth, and Christians Especially Should Be Conscious of This.

In Genesis, when God first made Adam, He said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Genesis 1:26). So God created humanity in His image and allowed them to rule over all the creatures on earth. Some may see this as God allowing us to do whatever we want to the earth and its creatures, but God gave us specific commands for how we are to manage creation. First, before the fall, God “took the man [Adam] and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Adam not only had to labor in God’s created garden but he had to “keep” it - to maintain and take care of it. God encouraged Adam and Eve to benefit from the garden - eating the choicest fruits (other than from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) (Genesis 2:16) and even naming the animals (v. 19-20). So there is a balance of the creation being a gift to us to enjoy God’s glory from the plants, animals, and beautiful landscapes, with the weight of being responsible for working and maintaining His creation. Scripture indicates that it is righteous to take care of God’s creation and unrighteous not to: “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel” (Proverbs 12:10). God Himself shows care not only for humanity but for all creatures, such as when Jesus assures us that God will provide us with what we need, saying, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26). Just as God cares for His creation, so should we.

Should Christians desire to take care of the earth? Undoubtedly. Perhaps there is disagreement on how to care for the earth, but the Bible is clear that creation is not just for our benefit but also a part of our responsibility.

We Do Not Worship Creation but See God’s Glory in it.

Just as the call of earth stewardship starts in the book of Genesis, the appreciation for nature and desire to protect it is not new to the 20th and 21st century. Rather, it has been historically defended and practiced by orthodox Christians. In a review of Professor Mark R. Stoll’s book Inherit the Holy Mountain: Religion and the Rise of American Environmentalism, it explained that “Calvinism [from the 16th century theologian John Calvin] provides the theological foundation for environmentalism. Nature is valuable because God created it and it points toward his goodness. This led the Puritans to practice an ethic of conservation as an act of worship toward God.”¹ Nature is used by God to reveal His glory to humanity. As God’s word says, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4). So we are to treat God’s creation with thankfulness because it is (1) a gift from Him, and (2) it points to the glory of God. We are able to see this when we interact with nature, taking walks through the trees or listening to the birds, but we are also able to see this when we take care of nature and thus showing an appreciation for it.

How does nature glorify God? It points to many aspects of Him through the transparent evidence of His design. The beauty and complexity of creation reveals that God is more creative than we can imagine, as the Psalmist says, “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Here is the sea, great and wide, which teems with creatures innumerable, living things both small and great” (Psalm 104:24-25). Creation also reveals an eternal and all-powerful God over all the earth, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20). Creation is often called the “second Bible,” not because it is to be treated as inherent scripture but because it points to the wisdom of God: “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:7-10). So observing nature helps us to learn more about the unending wisdom of God, as C.S. Lewis says, “Nature is only the image, the symbol; but it is the symbol Scripture invites me to use. We are summoned to pass in through Nature, beyond her, into that splendor which she fitfully reflects.”²

It is vital to understand the purpose behind nature, that is, to glorify God, because it tells us how we should care for creation - with thankfulness and an eagerness to learn about creation to understand the Creator. However, we must be careful not to “[serve] the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). Instead, taking the time to examine His creation in all of its splendor should lead us to worship God, ““Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Romans 4:11).

There are Consequences for Taking Care of God’s Creation

We must keep in mind that the most urgent need of the world is certainly saving the lost with the gospel - sharing the good news of Jesus Christ as we await His return. Yet, this does not mean that we ignore, or even reject, the other duties that God has given us as we walk on this earth, including our stewardship of His creation. When we do not take care of our bodies, we experience the consequences of this as the years go by. Perhaps it felt good and easy at the moment, but it eventually turns into a sickness that negatively touches much of our lives. In the same way, failing to care for the earth as we should has consequences. Convenience, cheapness, and sticking to what we have always done to make, fix, and sell things, is not always best. As a result of our abuse of the world’s resources and misuse of the earth, we are now seeing the fall out. Regardless of favored news sources, views on science or politics, there is an insurmountable amount of evidence that the health of our earth is declining drastically as a result of human actions. Here are just some of the many, many examples:

• 95.2% of the participants [in a study on Nigerian communities near oil drilling wells] reported experiencing environmental degradation of air, water, or land due to oil drilling operations, identifying oil spills and air pollution from flaring as important risk factors to environmental health.³

• Between 2005 and 2014 there were 6648 [oil] spills reported across the four states [Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania] …Spill rates increased in New Mexico between 2012 and 2013, corresponding with increased production. Over this period, storage was inadequate to contain the increased quantities of produced water and oil, and some truckers determined it was cheaper to illegally dump produced water than to find adequate storage.⁴

Oil spills are devastating for the environment whether in the ocean or on land. Oil spills destroy plants/foliage, kill animals, pollute public sources of water, are nearly impossible to clean up completely, and contaminate the area with toxins, for years and years to come.

• Since 1850, about 30% of all CO2 emissions have come from deforestation. Deforestation can also have more local climate impacts. Because trees release moisture that cools the air around them, scientists have found that deforestation has led to more intense heat waves in North America and Eurasia.⁵

• [Environmental scientists in 2021] estimate a global total of 10.2 (95% CI: −47.1 to 17.0) million premature deaths annually attributable to the fossil-fuel component of PM2.5 [PM2.5 are fossil-fuels emitted from human resources].⁶

• According to the United Nations, at least 800 species worldwide are affected by marine debris, and as much as 80 percent of that litter is plastic. It is estimated that up to 13 million metric tons of plastic ends up in the ocean each year—the equivalent of a rubbish or garbage truck load’s worth every minute. Fish, seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals can become entangled in or ingest plastic debris, causing suffocation, starvation, and drowning. Humans are not immune to this threat: While plastics are estimated to take up to hundreds of years to fully decompose, some of them break down much quicker into tiny particles, which in turn end up in the seafood we eat.⁷

Something must change in the way we see and take care of the earth. The evidence is unavoidable that the way we are currently caring for the earth is rather a misuse of it, resulting in exponential harm to God’s creation, crippling harm to ourselves and the generations ahead of us, and destroying the beauty of nature. The late theologian and professor J.I. Packer boldly declared the Western world to be a “technological monster, raping the planet for financial profit and generating horrendous ecological prospects for our grandchildren.”⁸ The craving for what is cheapest and most convenient in not only the producing world but modern human lifestyles has only fueled this. Why should we assume that the way we treat the earth has no room for change, being the sinful humans that we are?

Finding the Balance

Generally (though certainly not always), there seems to be two extremes when it comes to the environmental perspective: worshiping the creation by treating the earth as our only hope and final home, or viewing most/all environmentalist movements as political propaganda as well as rejecting the evidence of environmental harm (both from science and individual observation). By treating the earth as our only home and only hope, we are giving glory to creation rather than God and failing to understand that neither our lives on earth nor the earth itself are permanent. This view can also create unjust judgment towards those who do not copy and paste the same beliefs. For the other extreme, by rejecting any kind of environmental consideration, we are rejecting our call to steward the earth, and like stewardship of anything else, this requires sacrifice and effort. In fact, this extreme view can also bring unjust judgment on those who are trying to care for the earth. I have both witnessed and directly experienced Christians scoffing at those who try to prevent environmental harm, which is not an encouraging response in our call to stewardship as fellow image-bearers of God.

So neither of these extremes are helpful. But pastor and theologian Kevin DeYoung, I believe, provides a helpful explanation of the middle ground for how Christians should view caring for the earth:

We must resist the temptation to think of humans as intruders from another world wrecking carnage in a pristine environment. Instead we must see ourselves as stewards, called to subdue, enjoy, protect, use, develop, and make more humane God’s fallen creation. I would argue that Christians should not be seeking a romantic ideal where the earth is untouched by human hands. Rather, we want to think carefully about how we can use our hands to make the earth more hospitable for more people, so that we might enjoy the beauty, grandeur, creativity, and productivity of our Father’s world.⁹

We should not treat the earth as if it is a goddess, and on the same note, we should not treat it as though it does not matter what we do to it.

Granted, the Bible teaches that the earth will not last forever. The created heavens and earth that we know will one day be destroyed upon the return of Christ: “But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire” (2 Peter 3:7). There are many Christians who use this reasoning to explain that it is vain to strive to care for and preserve the earth when it will not last. This common objection was also raised in the Ask Pastor John Podcast as the question, “How should a follower of Jesus care for a creation that will one day be destroyed by fire?” To which theologian John Piper replied, “I think the answer that I would give is this: the same way we should take care of our bodies even though they are going to rot in the grave.”¹⁰ So just as our bodies are a gift given to us by God that we should treat in a way that honors Him (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), so should we treat the earth and its fruits and creatures in a way that honors God.

Although both our bodies and the earth shall perish, God will one day make all things new. Our bodies will one day be renewed and glorified (Philippians 3:21), and for the earth, “according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). So let us learn to appreciate and care for the beautiful gifts of creation God has given us now as we prepare to appreciate and care for His new creation in eternity.

Resources

1. Spencer, Andrew J. “Inherit the Holy Mountain: Religion and the Rise of American Environmentalism.” Ethics and Pastoralia: Themelios, vol 40, no. 2, 2015, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/inherit-holy-mountain-religion-rise-american-environmentalism-mark-stoll/. Accessed August 18, 2022.

2. Lewis, C.S. The Weight of Glory: and Other Addresses. Macmillan, 1949, p. 44.

3. Johnston, Jill E et al. “Impact of upstream oil extraction and environmental public health: A review of the evidence.” The Science of the total environment vol. 657 (2019): 187-199. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.483

4. Patterson, Lauren A et al. “Unconventional Oil and Gas Spills: Risks, Mitigation Priorities, and State Reporting Requirements.” Environmental science & technology vol. 51,5 (2017): 2563-2573. doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b05749

5. https://climate.mit.edu/explainers/forests-and-climate-change

6. Vohra, Karn et al. “Global mortality from outdoor fine particle pollution generated by fossil fuel combustion: Results from GEOS-Chem.” Environmental research vol. 195 (2021): 110754. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2021.110754

7. Reddy, Simon. “Plastic Pollution Affects Sea Life Throughout the Ocean.” Pew, The Pew Charitable Trusts, 24 Sept. 2018, https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2018/09/24/plastic-pollution-affects-sea-life-throughout-the-ocean.

8. Packer, J.I. “Our Lifeline.” Christianity Today, vol. 40, no. 12, 28 Oct. 1996, p. 230. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1996/october28/6tc022.html. Accessed August 18, 2022.

9. DeYoung, Kevin. “Building a Better Earth Day.” The Gospel Coalition, 22 Apr. 2010, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevin-deyoung/building-a-better-earth-day/.

10. “How Should Christians Respond to Climate Change?” Ask Pastor John from Desiring God, 12 June 2020, https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-should-christians-respond-to-climate-change.