The Christian worldview is one of hope and renewal. We have given our allegiance to a king that
has defeated death and will return one day to remake the world into a place without injustice,
pain, and suffering.
that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ
appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things
about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Acts 3:20-21 ESV
When it comes to the natural world, other worldviews would say that we need to take care of
this planet because it’s all we have. This implication isn’t merely that this is the only habitable
planet for humans, but that our time on this planet is all there is. It’s this planet, here and now, so
we should save the environment. Try as the secular world might to avoid religion, their words
are filled soteriological and eschatological meaning.
It makes sense that if this world is all there is, then we should care for it like you would a boat in
the middle of the ocean. Without it all hope is lost.
What makes no sense is for Christians to have little investment in the natural world. After all,
God made it and remains invested in his creation.
The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. Psalm 195:9
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on
the seas and established it on the waters. Psalm 24:1For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the
mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. Psalm 50:10-11
I’d like to make two quick points. First, Christians have an obligation to care for the natural
world. This mandate was given to our first parents and was never rescinded.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and
subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that
moves on the ground.” Gen. 1:28Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it.
Gen. 2:15You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all
flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that
swim the paths of the seas. Psalm 8:6-8
God placed Adam and Eve in the garden to “cultivate and tend it.” This includes plants and
animals. God put humanity on earth as his representatives to steward and care for his creation
alongside of him. This is how it began and for many reasons I believe this is what the new
heavens and new earth will look like.
So what would happen if Adam and Even never sinned? After years of being fruitful, that plot of
land would start to get a little cramped. The plan was for the garden to expand and eventually
occupy all of planet earth. Human beings along with their creator, in perfect fellowship, with
God’s glory covering the entire world.
Some Christians take the view that this world is destined for destruction, and to care for it would
be equivalent to “rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic.” Much of that sentiment
comes from a misunderstanding of 2 Peter 3:7-10. I will address that passage in another post.
Though I do want to mention that prior to the Industrial Revolution you won’t find a single
commentary on that passage that holds to the literal destruction of the earth. ALL church fathers
and everyone before the Industrial Revolution believed in the renewal of this present world upon
Christ’s return, not its re-creation.
My second point is regarding how we care for creation. We need to be invested. Christians
should have an incarnational approach to creation care. By that I mean, just as Jesus came from
heaven into our world and lived among us (eating, laughing, teaching, building, healing, etc.) we
need to be in creation and active with it. We need to get our hands dirty.
Think about the Parable of Talents (Matt. 25:14-30). Two of the slaves invested their master’s money, got
involved in handling the finances, and they were rewarded. The slave that buried his talent in the ground
was punished. I realize this parable is not about creation care, but the broader concept serves my
point: we need to be actively involved with creation. It means nothing to say we care and do
nothing.
Getting involved can feel ominous. There are a lot of messages thrown at us about what’s
“wrong” with the planet and what we can do about it. So what should we do?
Step 1. Get educated. Read about creation care or talk to people who are involved in regenerative
farming. I recommend books like Creation Care: A Biblical Theology of the Natural World by
Douglas and Jonathan Moo and Stewards of Eden: What Scripture Says About the Environment
and Why It Matters by Sandra Richter. I also recommend everything ever written by Wendell
Berry.
Step 2. Cultivate and tend to the world. Plant trees, reduce your dependency on plastics, grow plants, eat food from your own garden. Raise a few chickens. These are very simple ways to “get your hands dirty.”
Step 3. Grow. Like everything we do for our creator, get better at it. Slowly but surely, you will
improve at whatever it is you are doing. Over the course of your life you will be able to take the
things that God has given you and then give it back to him as an act of worship and praise.
Present God with a beautiful garden, faithful stewardship of his creatures, make your efforts a
sweet-smelling aroma to him, in gratitude for this world he has made.
If you need some advice on resources or ways to be more involved post a comment or send us an
email. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see what our family is doing. I leave you with a quote
from the late, great Billy Graham:
Why should we be concerned about the environment? It isn’t just because of the dangers
we face from pollution, climate change, or other environmental problems—although these
are serious. For Christians, the issue is much deeper: We know that God created the
world, and it belongs to Him, not us. Because of this, we are only stewards or trustees of
God’s creation, and we aren’t to abuse or neglect it. The Bible says, “The earth is the
Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). When we fail
to see the world as God’s creation, we will end up abusing it. Selfishness and greed take
over, and we end up not caring about the environment or the problems we’re creating for
future generations. 1
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