Creation Care: The Problem

Sunday evening at Ridgecrest, we began with the question, "Why is it that we remain on earth once we are saved?" I think it's interesting and important for us to ask why does God desire for us to continue to live on this earth? The context of this question came to us through Matthew 5 and Jesus' teaching on salt and light. However, to take this question in a slightly different direction, I think its important to see how God's commandment to cultivate and keep the earth also answers this question.
That the earth is the Lord’s and that man has been given dominion over the earth would seem to entail a responsibility before God for the care of the earth and all that dwells within it. God created for His own glory and to see all that He made reflect His glory in worship. Just as it is plain sense that murder is wrong because it destroys the imago Dei and deprives God of His maximum worship, so, too, in a sense, does destroying creation deprive God of the glory due Him for the wonders and beauty of the earth.
Yet, evangelicalism contains sharp divisions within its ranks concerning the topic of Christian ecology, particularly when it comes to the topic of global warming. In the last decade, fundamentalists such as James Dobson and Jerry Falwell have denied the existence of global warming, arguing that to devote one’s energy and activism toward Creation Care is ”earthism” worship. Regardless of the scientific facts of whether or not man-made initiatives are causing harm to the earth’s climate, that man harms the environment through industry is without debate.
Opponents of Creation Care fear that focus on ecology takes focus away from “moral” issues such as abortion and homosexuality. Proponents argue that Creation Care does not compete for attention but rather should be one of the many platforms that Christians champion. Just as Christians oppose abortion because it destroys innocent life that God created, so, too, should they oppose environmental recklessness and poor stewardship because it destroys the earth that God created. Creation Care and prevention of global warming are essential to Christian stewardship and worship of God. Believers are responsible before God to maintain the earth and offer it in its fullest to God as a fragrant aroma of worship to Him.