Why should Christians care about the environment?
A lot of Christians seem to believe that environmental woes aren’t our problem. God gave us this planet and if he wants to let it die, that’s up to him. The book of Revelation seems to indicate that the world as we know it will come to an end, anyway. So if we have a problem–and not everyone thinks we do–what does it really matter in the eternal scheme of things?
Rightly or wrongly, that might be one reason nonbelievers care more than believers. Short of science fiction’s ideal of finding homes on other planets, this one is all we’ve got. If it’s destroyed, the human race goes with it. Christians know that there’s more to life than our ‘threescore-and-ten.’ We’ll live on in the presence of God.
Personally, I think it’s still a poor excuse for trashing Earth, and whether you believe in global warming or not is a moot point. We can’t just say global warming doesn’t exist, THEREFORE our environmental habits don’t matter. If it’s true, we have a huge problem. If it isn’t true, we still have a huge problem. Same with peak oil, a belief that we’re about to run out of resources to fuel our lives the way we’ve come to expect. Are these radically held positions extremist or true? I honestly don’t know. I’m not a scientist.
But I don’t need to be one to be a concerned citizen. How many cities have run out of space to put their garbage? How many beaches and sea environments have been ruined by spilled oil? How much clean water is available for people to drink? How many chemicals are in our food? How much pollution hovers over our cities?
If a person thinks about all of it too much, it’s easy to sink into either depression or apathy. After all, what can one person do? Not much. Sure, there’s the power of one, but how far does that reach go? Farther than we sometimes think.
My choice is to change my own sphere of influence through habits I can control. I choose to make changes that benefit my circle right where I live. If millions (billions?) of other people choose to make the same changes, it will have a global impact. If they don’t choose this path, my decision isn’t wasted. It still benefits me and those around me, even if the planet never notices.
Still, God does notice. I’m trying to be a better steward of the awesome gifts he’s given me. I’ll do nearly anything that will make my precious granddaughters’ lives healthy, happy, and hopeful.
5 Ways I Change My World:
1. By choosing locally grown food wherever possible–for the health of my family and my planet. Barring local food, choosing produce grown in my region, province, and country when possible is a high priority.
2. By growing, preserving, cooking, and baking our own real food as much as possible.
3. By choosing to support local small businesses when it is possible to do so. My nearest town is very small, so this isn’t always possible, but I make an attempt to see if what I need can be purchased here.
4. By driving as economical a vehicle as I can afford, and choosing to use it as little as possible (which means grouping errands on work days rather than extra trips on weekends).
5. By taking the 3 Rs seriously: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
How are you making your world a better place?
