Why we as Christians should care about the environment

In the Bible it makes it clear that Adam and the human race were created to be the caretakers of the earth.

Would God be happy with the mountains of trash on the planet? 

Obviously, some trash is always going to be created no matter how conscientious the human race is going to be about the environment. 

But when people do not make any effort to even consider the environment (either in the things they create or in the things they purchase), we wind up producing more trash or more emissions than we need to. I don't think that is being a very good caretaker.

I'm not intending this to be a politically-slanted topic at all. I dislike politics myself and can't bring myself to identify with any type of political party. I'm talking purely from a Biblical perspective, I feel like we as humans have not done a great job at being caretakers of the planet.

What is even more puzzling to me is that there are many individuals who are Christian but who readily admit they don't really care about the environment or about recycling. The reason I find it puzzling (aside from the issue of our God-mandated role as caretakers) is that many of these individuals that I know personally would never dream of throwing away trash in their backyard until they had a mountain of trash there. Many of those people are actually pro-cleanliness themselves. Yet paradoxically, they don't seem to think they have a role in taking care of the planet.

I suppose that many think that the problem is too big: anything they do couldn't possibly make a difference. If people really believed that, no-one would ever vote in an election. Yet ultimately we can all make a difference, in an election or in helping the environment. And even if no-one is joining you in your efforts to help the environment, at least you can have the pleasure of knowing that you are doing what God asked you to do, regardless of what everyone else is doing.

I myself am hardly a great example. I know I need to do more too. I do some little things, like making sure I put recyclable items in to be recycled and not into the trash. I only purchase toilet tissue made of recycled paper. And I use eco-friendly cleaning products in my housework. Of course, the downside is that these things cost extra money, so I can quite agree that it's not realistic to expect everyone to spend extra on that when their budget may be already stretched just providing the basics of life. 

But also, it's frustrating when items that damage the planet are more readily and cheaply available than their eco-friendly alternatives. It says a lot about our view of God when our own laws don't mandate any consideration to the environment, or very little. We should be looking to what God wants, even if the law of the land doesn't mandate it.

If we are to be caretakers of the planet, we need to show ourselves responsible. Like the parable of the talents, if we expect to be involved in God's plans, we need to show that we are trustworthy with what we have been given:

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

Matthew 25: 21

To be put in charge of many things, we need to follow God's ideas faithfully, not our own ideas.



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