I’m going to start out by saying that what follows is a rant, and a sassy one at that. However, its a topic that is very important for each and every one of us. Consider yourself warned.

I am SO sick of Christians thinking that caring for the Earth doesn’t matter. Shouldn’t we all care about the things that God cares about?

Beginning in Genesis 1, it is clear that God cares about His creation:

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, ² the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God^[b] swept over the face of the waters. ³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. ⁸ God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

⁹ And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. ¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, ¹⁸ to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good.²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. (emphasis added)

The light is good. Earth and water are good. Plants are good. Animals are good. When we pour single-use plastics into the ocean, we are changing an environment that God created to be good. When we block out the stars and skies with smog, we are negating the fact that God created these good lights to be signs of seasons and days for us. When we fill the land and sea up with garbage that kills animals, we stop those creations from fulfilling their God-given duty: be fruitful and multiply. How can animals multiply if we kill them all?

This message continues throughout the entire bible. Noah is required to take two of each animal onto the arc so that animal diversity can continue. In Matthew, we learn that God cares about the death of a little bird. In the Psalms, animals frequently worship their creator.

But Erin, the oceans are huge! It’l be fine! Try again.

But Erin, all that stuff about pollution is just liberal propaganda! Scientists and general citizens all over the political spectrum would bed to differ. 

But Erin, we aren’t killing that many animals! Hmm. How about the white rhinos? How about blue whales? How about all of the farm animals who die for our food at a rate greater than any other generation in history?

Many people agree that climate abuse is happening, but still don’t want to do anything about it. The argument I most frequently hear is the “God will save us” argument. We don’t need to care about what happens to this planet because at just the right time, God will swoop in and fix everything. This is a lovely thought, but to me it seems inconsistent with the message of the bible. Yes, God saves us. But never without fair judgment or consequences. In fact, the entire point of Jesus’ death and resurrection is that God is just and cannot let the sins of the world go unpunished. To receive that mercy, we are all called to repent and change our actions. Harming the Earth without a second thought doesn’t much seem like repentance to me.

This is not an issue that we can ignore. Billy Graham defines sin as “any thought or action that falls short of God’s will. God is perfect, and anything we do that falls short of His perfection is sin.” 

I am 100% positive that destroying the planet is not in God’s perfect will. Therefore, each action that we take against the Earth, whether its using a plastic straw and then tossing it away or dumping gallons of oil into the ocean, is a sin. We don’t ignore other sins. Why would we ignore these?

At the end of the day, Psalm 24:1 says it all- The earth is the Lord’s.

What makes me so sad about this entire thing is that for many Christians it comes down to political party divides. When did affirming a political label become more important than affirming your faith by living the life God calls you to?

I challenge each and every one of you to make your faith more important than political affiliation, or even family affiliation. We are called to do what is right, not what is easy. Upcoming posts will detail things we can do on a daily basis to help God’s creation.

If this was confusing or upsetting to you, please let me know. I’d love to continue this discussion and hear what you have to say.

All of my love,
Erin