Question of the Month-October 2007

What role should a Christian play in the global warming issue?

Our question this month comes from a person who asks, “I attended the showing of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ last week and wondered what role, if any, Christians should play in this “Global Warming Issue”?”

The “Global Warming Issue” is sure to be an issue for this next generation to face. I hope my brief answer is helpful in framing how to look at it from a Christian perspective.

Perhaps the first thing I would say is that we have a real responsibility to be good stewards of this earth. According to Genesis 1:28, our Lord gave the responsibility of caring and overseeing the earth to the human race. As a result, we have a calling and duty to care for the environment, the animal world, the oceans and all of the natural resources associated with this planet.

Sadly, we have not done a very good job of things. We have poisoned the air and water with toxic chemicals. We have indiscriminately killed wildlife and decimated rain forests that have resulted in the extinction of many species. The list is long and most of us are aware of it. In short, we have been poor stewards as a whole of this earth. It is certainly possible that “Global Warming” is yet another example of this poor stewardship of the earth. I realize there are many ideas out there regarding the science of this, but I will give the “benefit of the doubt” to those who claim we face an immanent crisis in the next few years. The real issue, however, is not the science or the information but what is going to be done about it either way.

The main problem with all of these current environmental issues is that it brings out two competing worldviews that we must discern. One worldview is connected to a philosophy called “Naturalism”. Naturalism is a belief system that postulates that nature is all there is in the world. In this worldview, the plant life, animals and human beings are all equal partners in this earth. Naturalism has little room for a Creator, Who commissioned the human race to rule over the earth on His behalf as stewards. It is clear to me that the worldview of “Naturalism” is behind much of the thinking in the current environmental movement. Naturalism’s goal is to restore the world to a harmony in which all things on the earth go on “naturally” without interfering with one another.

The other worldview competing with “Naturalism” is “Supernaturalism”. The Christian Faith is “Supernaturalism”. Our faith postulates that there is something above or “super” to nature, namely God. God is ultimately in charge of nature and not just human beings. As a result, God has the final word on the stewardship of the earth and not the environmental movement. Here then is the real problem with the current environmental debate. It is ultimately a battle between those who believe in God’s clear and specific claims on this planet and those who do not.

If you listen to the current debate about “Global Warming”, and all the other environmental issues, there is little room for God. The idea that human beings have failed at being good stewards of the earth and that it will take the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus to “fix things” is just not on the “radar” anywhere. As a matter of fact, such thinking is seen as pure and simple fanaticism. The only thinking that seems to have any popularity in this current debate is politicians and Hollywood personalities getting us to “Think Green” and become better stewards of the planet. For now, much of this debate is done through persuasion, but it seems clear that one day you will see more and more laws enacted to put “teeth” on these issues.

From a prophetic standpoint, the Bible gives us no clear indication that human beings will solve these problems on their own. As a matter of fact, just the opposite is the case. As “Global Warming” continues to become worldwide issues you are going to see more and more people coming together to solve these issues. Unfortunately, this coming together to solve the world’s pressing problems without God is going to lead to another “Tower of Babel” (Genesis 11). The sad truth is that world refuses to face the sin issue and be saved. When anyone refuses to believe the truth, they end with a lie. The current state of affairs points toward the rise of a growing global leadership to deal with all of these issues such as the environment. Ultimately, this global leadership without God will move toward some form of dictatorship (antichrist) to “save” the planet.

As Christians, we need to be good stewards of this earth. It is great to recycle, save resources, buy more fuel efficient cars and homes, and preserve nature for the next generation. However, when it comes to trying to “save the planet” without God, we need to see that we have reached our boundary and limit and returned to the lie of the Garden (Genesis 3) that we could “be as god”. How wonderful to know there is one God and that this planet has a great future whatever the issues surrounding “Global Warming” because He is Lord.

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