Environmentalism means being concerned about the natural world and taking action aimed at protecting it. Human actions have always had some level of impact on the nonhuman world. However, in the modern period, human population and human industry have increased exponentially, causing an exponential increase in human beings’ impact on the natural world. Driven by concern about this exponential increase in the harm that human actions have on the natural world, the movement of environmentalism has arisen, aiming to minimize and counteract the harmful effects that human actions are having on the environment.
Some Christians see little value in environmentalism, for two main reasons. First, some Christians believe that environmental concerns distract us from the only thing that really matters: saving people’s souls so they can go to heaven when they die. Second, some Christians that caring for plants and animals distracts us from caring for our fellow human beings who are in need. Are these good reasons for being unconcerned about environmentalism?
Theology and Environmentalism
Human beings are created in the image of God. This means that human beings are God’s representatives in His creation. Uniquely among the animals of God’s creation, human beings have a special role. They are to rule over all other living things (Gen 1:26-28).
This cannot possibly mean that God has given human beings license to harm and destroy the rest of His creation whenever they feel like it. Rather, as God’s representatives, human beings must reflect the wise, just, and loving rule of God over His creation as they rule over their fellow creatures. Being in the image of God is not just a position of privilege; it is a position of responsibility. God intended human beings to be good stewards of the world He gave them to rule. Humanity has a key role to play in God’s plan of bringing order, life, and flourishing to His creation.
Unfortunately, humanity turned aside from its God-given role as divine image-bearers when it sinned and rebelled against God at the Fall. It is because God created human beings to have such an important and central role in His creation that the Fall of humanity has brought negative consequences on all of creation. Humanity’s rebellion has derailed God’s original intentions to bring order, life, and flourishing to His creation through His human agents; as a result, chaos, death, and decay continue to hold sway in the world. Humanity is now under the dominion of sin, and one of the manifestations of sin is unwise human actions that unnecessarily destroy their fellow creatures.
It is this problem which Jesus came to fix through His death and resurrection, bringing the possibility of salvation to all of humanity. Many Christians are under the impression that salvation means having our souls go to heaven when we die; therefore, they think, there is no value in working to improve this world, since we are just going to leave it behind and spend eternity in heaven. However, this understanding of salvation is quite erroneous. The biblical Christian hope is not having our souls go to heaven when we die; it is a future bodily resurrection and subsequent eternal embodied existence on earth as part of God’s new creation. Salvation means that through Jesus God is reconciling all things in heaven and earth to Himself (Col 1:19-20), that God is bringing about a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1-4), that God is at last bringing His good creation to the perfection He originally intended for it.
God has already launched the renewal of His creation through the death and resurrection of Jesus. However, until Jesus returns to complete this work, the effects of the Fall still linger. Meanwhile, all of creation “waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed” so that it “will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Rom 8: 19, 21). Through Christ, Christians will be empowered to be the agents through whom God will bring about the renewal of His creation. Having been reconciled to God, redeemed humanity will finally be able to faithfully carry out its role as divine image-bearers in God’s creation.
So, what does all this have to do with environmentalism? As the firstfruits of God’s new creation, Christians are called to live out their identity by bearing witness to God’s saving work in the midst of a Fallen world. Christians are called to be agents of truth, beauty, order, justice, and love in the midst of this evil world. One of the ways Christians can do this is by nurturing, protecting, and caring for their fellow nonhuman creatures. Christians should oppose actions that unnecessarily harm and destroy plants and animals, and they should seek to preserve the beauty and goodness of the natural world. In short, Christians should be environmentalists.
I once heard a fellow Christians say that Christians should not be concerned about Climate Change because we can trust that God is in control and that God will not allow Global Warming to destroy the world. It is, of course, true that we can trust that God is in control and will take care of things. However, this does not at all mean that we do not have a responsibility to take action to deal with problems in the world. Mordecai trusted that God would find a way to save the Jews from destruction no matter what, but he still insisted that Esther had a responsibility to take the opportunity to act to save them (Esther 4:14). Christians are God’s hands and feet, and He works through us. God is in control, but we are still responsible for evangelizing. God is in control, but we are still responsible for caring for the poor. God is in control, but we are still responsible for taking action to avert environmental disasters.
Environmentalism a Distraction?
Some Christians acknowledge that it is good in theory to take care of the environment. However, they argue that human beings are infinitely more important than plants and animals. Therefore, they argue, as long as there are human beings in need, it is wrong to let environmental concerns distract us from the more important task of helping our fellow human beings.
The first problem with this argument is that environmentalism is about helping our fellow human beings. Pollution, climate change, and other environmental problems have a major negative impact on human beings all around the world, both directly and indirectly. When we harm the environment, we can destroy sources of food, shelter, and other goods that human beings depend on. “The environment” is not something out there that is separate from humanity; it is our environment, and we are inextricably interconnected with it. Even if one accepts the assumption that our only moral responsibility is to our fellow human beings, it is still the case that we have a moral responsibility to care for the environment.
The second problem with this argument is that it is not actually clear that human beings are “infinitely” more important than plants and animals. Certainly, because human beings are created in the image of God, human life is sacred, and all human beings have an inherent dignity and worth that is greater than any other living things. Because of this, Christians can and should critique environmentalist proposals that go too far in placing the needs of plants and animals over the needs of human beings. However, it seems problematic to say that a single human being is “infinitely” more important than all the plants and animals in the world, as if, for example, destroying multiple entire species in order to extend one human being’s life for a few more years would be worth it.
Certainly, our primary moral responsibility is to show love to our fellow human beings. However, we do have a responsibility to care for plants and animals as well. Christian ethics is holistic. We cannot say that because evangelism has to do with a person’s eternal destiny, it is “infinitely” more important than establishing justice. In the same way, we cannot say that caring for people is “infinitely” more important than caring for plants and animals. These are all aspects of a holistic Christian ethic of living out our identity as children of God.
So, there is no good reason for Christians to be opposed to environmentalism. The biblical Christian narrative of creation, fall, redemption, and new creation provides a solid foundation for Christians’ responsibility to care for the environment. By caring for the environment, Christians are carrying out their moral responsibility to care for other human beings, as well as for plants and animals. How environmental concerns should be balanced with other concerns in our moral decision-making is a complex issue. But caring for the environment certainly should be a significant concern to Christians as they go about their moral decision-making in the modern world.