If you are an Evangelical Christian in the United States, you may not believe climate change, aka “global warming,” is happening. According to a 2015 study from Yale University, about 1 in 4 self-identifying American Evangelicals do not think global warming is real. Unfortunately, global warming is real, it’s here, and it’s happening now.
The science shows the earth is warming and it is human-caused (see the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). These reports detail some terrifying conclusions – one of which being that we are trending towards a future that will see “numerous risks to natural and human systems.”
So why does this matter specifically to me, as someone who believes in a loving God who created the Earth and all who live on it, and who sent His Son Jesus as an illustration of His devotion and love?
There are two key reasons: 1) As stewards of the Earth, we are called to care for God’s Creation, and 2) the ministry of Jesus was love, especially for the poor, the vulnerable, the disadvantaged, and the outsider.
Genesis 1 details God creating the heavens and the earth, calling forth light, making creatures that crawl and fly and swim, and culminates in the creation of human beings, to whom God gave “stewardship” (some versions of the Bible say “dominion”). This calling was not a free-for-all pass to do whatever we want with the thing that God spent loving time crafting, but instead a responsibility to care for our Lord’s Creation until He comes again.
Additionally, verses like Matthew 22:37-40 tell us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and mind, and with that, to love our neighbors as ourselves. Matthew 25:40 tells us that whatever we do for “the least of these” we do for Him.
We know now that climate change is real, it’s hurting people, and it’s going to keep getting worse if we don’t do something about it. Matthew 10:29-30 says that no sparrow falls without God knowing, and that even the very hairs on our head are numbered by Him. People are losing their homes to a rising sea, their livelihoods to worsening drought, and their very lives to extreme weather, and while we all are feeling the effects of climate change, these effects are disproportionately felt by the very groups the Bible specifically calls our attention to: the disenfranchised, the oppressed, the vulnerable, the widow and the orphan and the sojourner. And don’t we know that God cares for each one of them, down to each and every hair on their heads?
As followers of Christ, the physical embodiment of Love Himself, we’re called to love as Christ loved us. If that’s true, shouldn’t we be at the forefront of action on climate change?
Fellow Christians, Easter is a time to remember the greatest display of Love mankind has ever witnessed, and to remember that God so loved the world that He sent his only Son to save us all.
Climate change threatens the same people Christ died for, and that is why we must act to prevent climate change from getting worse. There are so many ways we can do this: join an organization acting on climate change, talk to your church community, encourage your congregations to use renewable energy sources, start a recycling program, take up alms for communities being affected, plant a community garden, and more. There are many options, and all we have to do is take that first step.
Alex Holland is a member of the Climate Reality Project’s DFW Chapter and the Chair of its Faith-Based Working Group. She can be reached at Alex.Holland714@outlook.com.
Any participant views or opinions expressed in the Blog section of this website are solely those of the author and do not represent those of The Climate Reality Project. The Climate Reality Project and the DFW chapter welcome all points of view and opinions, but reserve the right to remove posts and comments that violate our community ground rules or contain non-evidence-based claims.