Conservative Evangelicals and Global Warming

One of the common observable problems with debates on social media is the failure to understand other people’s points of view, or “#worldviews” as we have come to call them. Classically the atheist doesn’t really stand a chance of understanding the evangelical Christian since their operating systems are as alien as Mac and Microsoft.

Nowhere is this clearer to me as in the Environmentalist misunderstanding of and frustration with American Conservative Evangelicals!

To put it bluntly, ACE’s see us as being “in the last days”. To understand that takes a read of the Book of Revelation, and various other scriptures, e.g. Daniel. The world is in turmoil. This will only get worse. Earthquakes, famines, drought, death and destruction including a “scorched earth” lie ahead of us.

Matthew 24, “the disciples came to him (Jesus) privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ’, and they will lead many astray. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.“

To an ACE, it is prophesied, therefore it will happen. If that is global warming then there is nothing that can be done to stop it. The future is already written.

And then of course there is the good news which underlines the bad news. Jesus promised to create a new heavens and a new earth.

 2 Peter 3: ⁴ They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, ⁶ and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. ⁷ But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgement and destruction of the ungodly.

⁸ But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

¹¹ Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹² waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

It is easy therefore to view the earth as a disposable resource that we don’t need to protect or preserve since it will be replaced.

HOWEVER!

To take that stance is to completely overlook God’s perspective. Firstly the instruction to Adam.

And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. 

Then there is the New Testament call to good stewardship.

Nowhere does the Bible endorse exploitation of the earth’s resources. Rather we are called to protect and nurture, to use but not abuse. To work with nature, not against it. Sadly to many Evangelicals that can sound rather “mother earth” and pagan, which of course it isn’t.

We will be held to account for the way we have lived and to me that includes how we have treated the world God created.