Gospel Prism

Would God be a part of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) or the Sierra club or Greenpeace? Is God deeply concerned about global warming? There are a few issues involved here, and these need to be thought out in a biblical way. Recently, a group of ‘Evangelical leaders’ signed a document called the Evangelical Climate Initiative stating that it is most certainly our responsibility as Evangelicals to stand in the gap for the climate. They contend at the very least these statements:

1. Climate change is real

2. The poor are affected by climate change the most

3. Christians must respond therefore on a moral basis to help the poor and care for God’s World

4. We must act now

Just a few thoughts I have concerning this statement…

1. Many of these ‘Evangelical leaders’ do not seem to be so Evangelical in their theology, at least not the Evangelicalism that holds to a biblical, orthodox faith. D. A. Carson writes in this New York Times article: “There are many people today who call themselves evangelical whom no person would call an evangelical 40 years ago.� Sadly, if you look at this list of leaders, you’ll find people who are leaders simply because the numbers of their churches are large. It seems that what signifies biblical authority and leadership is not what they believe on the basis of Scripture but rather, the popularity of the leader. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that a large church pastor cannot be a leader. Of course that is not what I am saying. But it is critical that leadership is NEVER based solely on the size of the organization in which that leader leads, at least not Evangelical leadership. The list of signatories captures a wide-swath of either the liberal movement of churches or the Emerging Church or the seeker-sensitive movement. Most of those leaders who have an inerrant view of scripture are missing from this list. I wonder why?

2. I am not a scientist. I am not sure if climate change and global warming is true or not. So I will assume for arguments sake that global warming is true.

3. I do believe that Christians are to be stewards over God’s creation. There seems to be enough of a creation mandate to say that this is a human responsibility (Genesis 1:28). And usually it is out of sheer laziness (it wasn’t that long ago that people didn’t feel like keeping a gum wrapper in their pocket to throw in a garbage can) or indifference that people neglected keeping the earth clean. We are called to fill the earth and subdue it, not destroy it.

4. I also do think that the first world does neglect the third world in its concern over issues like poverty and at the very least that is a failure to love our neighbor as ourselves. Biblical Christians cannot ignore the poor, it just isn’t what the Lord calls us to do or be.

5. BUT we cannot neglect the truth of God’s Word, nor supplant human dignity, over our concern for the environment. In the SF Bay Area, in particular San Francisco, dogs virtually have the same rights and privileges as humans. We can’t even call dog owners, ‘owners,’ but now they are guardians (I guess we should convert the phrase ‘guard dog’ to ‘guard human’). Soon animals and plants will be equal to human beings and to destroy a plant will be no different than to destroy an unborn baby (oops, that already is the case).

6. I am afraid when we sign documents such as the ECI, fidelity gets so watered-down relative to a common cause, that we forget that God’s Word is utterly essential in interpreting all things. Soon the bible becomes secondary to human experience and the slope becomes suddenly quite slippery.

I am not against Christians speaking arguing for Godly stewardship of His creation. In fact, I know that the Biblical Christian cares about how he stewards God’s earth. But instead of responding to current popular trends (e.g. anti-SUV ads saying that Jesus wouldn’t drive an SUV), why not respond from a purely biblical theological perspective with a love for God and his glory as a primary motive for cherishing the gift of his creation?