Genesis 2:15 urges believers to take an energetic role in caring for our planet. The text reads, “The Lord God took the person and put him within the Garden of Eden to work it and handle it.” The Hebrew words utilized in the text are abad (to serve) and Shamar (to maintain, preserve). These words guide us towards a stewardship role as inhabitants of God’s planet.
We cannot just shrug off the true challenges that humanity has ushered into our world, and the growing Christian movement that just says we should always throw up our hands and go on abusing our planet until Jesus returns shouldn’t be biblical.
We should let the world go to hell because we all know future tribulations will not be how we handle our day-to-day lives, and it’s not how we should always approach the very real responsibility we’ve to handle our world. As Christians, we see the sacred, God-glorifying beauty in Creation, and must be compelled to protect it from chaos and destruction.
As followers of Christ, we’re called to serve each other in love (Galatians 5:13), which suggests we must not leave a large number for our neighbor to wash up. That neighbor might be our actual neighbor who doesn’t want your waste on their lawn, and it also will be the generations that God has very real plans for.
Let’s not trash this place we’ve been given for them.
The Problem Is Real
The numbers don’t lie. Our world faces some real challenges currently, and can escalate within the years to come back without our intentionality and creativity because the Earth’s inhabitants.
2024 was the hottest yr ever recorded, as documented by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity, 1,000,000 animal and plant species are threatened. The loss of those God-inspired plants and animals should bring real grief to our hearts, because it’s the passing of God’s created beauty into nothingness.
Storms are intensifying in power and impact. Climate and weather-related disasters are five times more prevalent than they were 50 years ago. The cost of human lives and the value of rebuilding within the wake of those disasters is staggering.
Desertification, land degradation, and drought are consuming larger parts of usable land. About 40% of all land area worldwide is already considered degraded. This impacts many things, but most significantly, it matters for food production.
Alarmingly, the World Health Organization notes that about 250,000 surplus deaths per yr can be brought on by climate change within the years to come back. These deaths can be brought on by malnutrition, malaria, and warmth stress.
In addition to the numerous struggles facing our planet, persons are experiencing great levels of tension about its state. A 2021 Lancet study of 100,000 youth in 10 countries noted that 59% of those surveyed said they were very or extremely anxious about climate change.
People are concerned since the changing climate brings a way of impending doom, and so they don’t know where to show for hope!
Christians Can Make a Difference
The excellent news is that as believers we don’t should live with extreme anxiety because we all know the one who holds the celebs, and he has a plan for each living thing on Earth. He comforts us together with his promise to supply fresh mercies each morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).
We can share this love and peace with those apprehensive about where the world is headed with love and care. Believers also know that God has told us that the top times will come, after we least expect it, and we must be ready to satisfy Jesus when he appears.
Until that unknown day we’re to live peacefully (Romans 12:18), caring for our world with our greatest efforts (Matthew 6:26).
1. Engage with the Issue
We must push off the inclination to live apathetically about how our habits impact our world and do our greatest to turn out to be more informed and engaged.
Even if it’s just starting small, with more conversations in your property and community about tips on how to take care of the planet, avoid excessive waste, and buy more sustainable products, this alone makes a difference.
2. Get Involved with Local Efforts to Nurture God’s Creation
As believers, we are able to start connecting with local efforts to create a more Earth-friendly world. Start or join a community garden. Become a political activist for initiatives to chop down on waste and rampant consumerism in our country and beyond. Raise awareness in your locality concerning the specific environmental threats your community faces and ways to curb the tide of destruction.
3. Become a Conscious Consumer
Find ways to support products and practices which are higher for the planet. My personal favorite is thrift shopping! But there are 1,000,000 ways to stop wasting a lot and be more thoughtful about consuming products. Can we reuse more of the items in our home or repurpose them? Are there brands that avoid unnecessary plastic or have more sustainable products you possibly can support? Could you donate something reasonably than simply throwing it out? Can you compost your scrap food or get some useful backyard chickens to assist eat that waste? There are so some ways we are able to take small steps in our homes to keep off on the extremely wild culture of consumption we live in.
4. Make This an Issue the Church Engages
Make this a problem the church cares about. We want our children to care concerning the birds of the sky, those fish within the ocean which are currently being crowded out by our garbage, and the air we breathe. Let’s speak about God’s take care of this cause at church and children’ church, and end this concept that we’ve no responsibility to steward God’s Earth.
Honestly, I hope God returns to a pristine planet and feels really good about lending it to us for nonetheless many hundreds of years we get to live here before his judgment comes. We should fully embrace a posture of affection and take care of God’s handiwork. We don’t should live as alarmists, but we generally is a force towards restoration, preservation, and conservation as a faith community.
