Years ago when I first came across articles on the Green Peace Movement, I thought it was some sort of New Age activity! I couldn’t understand why we had to save the trees or be concerned about the environment around us. Being young and uninformed, I just thought that the earth was created for humankind to live and that there was nothing we could do to help it survive. We had nothing to be worried about because the God who created it, is more than capable to save it and replenish it!
I’m not an expert on green issues or a great environmentalist! I’m merely taking a step forward from my uninformed days into being a little more concerned for the environment and opening up to the thought that perhaps as a Christian, I have some responsibility towards caring for the earth — yet not being mistaken for an earth worshipper or a New Age follower while engaging this issue! Not!
As evangelical Christians, do we have any convictions on how the earth is to be cared for? Are we supposed to, you
might ask? Well, in Genesis 1:31 it states that, “Then God saw everything that He made, and indeed it was very good.”
It’s amazing to know that everything God created was very good and everything had its purpose and it functioned perfectly well. And in Genesis 2:15, we see that God put man in the garden to tend and keep it. In the very beginning of creation, man was put in charge to care for God’s beautiful earth. Simply put, we are stewards put in-charge of the earth. As we hear of much environmental changes that are happening and how it’s affecting our lives and the earth, perhaps we could take steps to help make the environment that we live in a little more better.
For God So Loved...
If that doesn’t provoke more thought, let’s dig a little deeper into the famous salvation verse of John 3:16. It says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The word “world” in the Greek is translated as cosmos. And the word cosmos means universe, which covers everything that is created — it doesn’t just mean man! Thus salvation is not just to redeem man from sin but also that Christ came to liberate the rest of creation that is “groaning” in order that they might be able to worship God too (Romans 8:22)! Food for thought, huh!
The Butterfly Effect
There’s a chain reaction when one part of creation is touched and the other is affected. One example of this butterfly effect can be found in the razing of the Amazon rain forest. Because of the increasing demand for meat from overseas consumers, more land had to be cleared for cattle grazing. With the shrinking size of the Amazon (supposedly the largest rain forest in the world), rain fall and precipitation across the Atlantic Ocean in Africa is also affected! Wow, what more is that this information is gathered from studies and research done 10 years ago! While the Amazonian jungle is being deforested, certain plant life that have medicinal properties to treat certain diseases may never be found and they can’t be reproduced chemically either! The list
goes on as I write.
As I said, I am no expert, just a beginner on the current green matters. My friend Kamini, a champion on greening the earth, gave me a quick lesson on how I can play my part. So here goes:
THE THREE R’s:Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Reduce whatever you don’t need, don’t use.
Plastic bags, unnecessary extra product packaging, styrofoam containers.
Reuse whatever that can be reused.
Glass bottles, detergent containers, envelopes, print on both sides of the paper, use rechargeable batteries.
Recycle whatever that cannot be used.
Divide the trash into Metal/Paper/Plastic/Aluminium.
The Earth’s Sabbath
I know that we can’t save the earth and only God can do it. However, he chooses to use man to make that happen. He is asking us to partner with Him and make His concerns ours. Not just for humanity only but for everything else that He has created. Psalm
24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.” People over the ages have just forgotten that the land we have is a gift God has bestowed upon us and today, property and land are charged at exorbitant prices.
An Old Testament text found in Leviticus 25:3-5 gives us an insight to God’s agricultural system that helps the earth to replenish, “Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your intended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.”
As we can see, God did give instructions on how to care for the earth, that it may not be destroyed. We are to exercise care for the land. Even the earth deserves a day of rest! Thus if we could just consider being God’s agent on earth to make an impact in the preservation of our environment, we can then exercise the fruits of the Spirit! Let us not only take from the earth and abuse its resources, let us give thanks and care for all we have been given.
The Power of One
Often it’s been said that there is power in numbers, but there is also power in one. The power of the ONE, is that you can make the difference. One is a majority when it comes to making changes one step at a time. Let’s love the earth a little bit more without worshipping it!
Reference: How to Rescue the Earth Without Worshiping Nature (2000) by Tony Campolo
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