For The Beauty Of The Earth

Where does reconciliation intersect with creation care? It’s not common to link the two, but I think evangelical Christians need to do so with a sense of intentionality, not just as a trend among the millennials.

I find that particularly now it is imperative that we demonstrate a greater consciousness towards these matters as a part of our witness to the gospel and the already/not yet nature of God’s kingdom. I know there are conversations as to whether or not the shrinking ozone layer and the melting ice caps are a reality or simply a plot of tree hugging liberals, but I think Christians need to quit playing politics as opposed to engaging in reconciliation. Here’s why: as a Christian in the new global village, you are going to have to stand before Buddhists and Hindus who care for creation in ways Christians have no clue or compulsion. And then what does that say about our Creator and our respect/esteem for his handiwork? When we display a lack of compassion for wildlife, the environment and our trash, the purity of water, a moral stand against overconsumption, and the uncurated beauty of the earth around us – it is going to be very difficult to witness to them that somehow our God reigns and doesn’t concern himself anymore about those things. There is something sociopathic about persons who don’t respect beauty and I’m sure people would attribute the same to a category of people that exhibited that same apathy.

I don’t care if you feel that “the inconvenient truth” is a left-wing conspiracy. It’s spelled out in our Bibles that God called creation “good”; commanded Noah to make sure to get two of all the animals before the flood and then exhibited grief that he had wreaked such havoc to get rid of humanity; it’s clear that Jesus was master of all creation, whose only act of destruction was on that fig tree that didn’t bear fruit when it was supposed to. I don’t see Christians taking this mandate very far, but I’m concerned that at some point our witness will be hampered because of it.  We purchase artwork and protect it when we know and respect the artist. How much more we need to do so when it comes to the artwork we live in.