Save the Earth?

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT BEING GREEN

If you want to be seen as a decent citizen of the world today, protecting our planet will have to be a priority. At the very least you have to act like you care. Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Only support brands who can prove that they’re making an effort to minimize their ecological footprint. Don’t forget to buy organic (other companies use pesticides!). God help you if you’re ever caught slurping from a plastic straw (have mercy on the sea turtles!). With our beloved Earth seeming more and more like a sinking ship, popular opinion says that we each can and should do our part to save it. 

If any of this is news to you, you’d better get to Googling. There’s a lot to keep track of. The ice caps are melting, entire animal species are going extinct, and our ozone layer is wearing away by the second. To be honest, you’ll look out of step with reality if you’re not making some kind of an effort. 

However if you’re a Christian, you have the freedom to think about this issue more objectively. That could be said about any of the ideals popular opinion upholds. Being environmentally friendly takes a lot of effort. It will require your time, money, and thought. So, it’s a wise thing to ask: Does God want this to be a priority for His people? 

On one hand, God’s made it clear that He wants Christians to be excellent caretakers of everything they’ve been given (1 Corinthians 4:2). That includes our planet. However, He’s also made it clear that Earth is surviving on borrowed time (Revelation 22:12). The Bible says that everything is going to get worse and worse until Jesus comes back and ultimately destroys it all (2 Timothy 3:1, 2 Peter 3:10). Then, He’s going to create an entirely new home for His people, no matter how polluted and run-down this current home becomes (Isaiah 65:17). 

So, if the planet really is just like a ship that’s doomed to sink no matter what, why would we spend our precious time, energy and money making engine repairs? However, before you start throwing your plastic bottles (and straws) to the wind in anticipation of the New Earth, consider how Jesus is described in the Bible. He doesn’t exactly come across as the kind of guy who litters with reckless abandon. Also the Earth may be destined for destruction, but we could very well be on it for the rest of our lives. And our kids’ lives. And their kids’ lives. After all, a day to the Lord is like a thousand years, and no one knows for sure how long He’ll wait until He comes back (Psalm 90:4, Matthew 24:36). 

So while it’s probably not the best idea to throw a tire-burning party just for fun, it also wouldn’t be wise to invest all your resources into a ship that’s ultimately going to sink. That’s doubly true when you take into consideration that there are people on board who still very much need rescuing. Right now this old planet is the only hope most people have. But God would love for them to have an opportunity to hope in the next one that He promises to create. If you let yourself get too caught up in being green, who will invite them?