Creation Care

Why Christians are Called to Care for Creation

I believe that all Christians are called to care for creation. In fact, this is a human responsibility. I must confess though that this hypothesis is new to me, and one that has taken a while to feel clear. It has been confusing and disillusioning to bump into a broad spectrum of Christian interaction with ecological issues. For some Christians, environmental care is completely tangled with politics and the nonsensical fuss of tending to a world that will surely be replaced. For others, caring for the environment is a hobby or a natural leaning of interests, and for many, life is too full to think deeply about how we relate to our planet.

But in the words of A Rocha, looking after what God has made “is not an optional extra for a few keen environmentalists, but a fundamental part of what it means to be human.” I’d like to offer clarity and provoke thought by displaying the various arguments for why Christians are motivated towards creation care, and why I believe that this broad expectation really does apply to all.

The Earth is the Lord’s

First and foremost, all of creation belongs to God, the Creator. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.” Proverbs 3:19 explains that it is by God’s wisdom that the earth was founded. Other portions of scripture describe God as the sustainer of creation, like Nehemiah praising that the Lord alone gives life (Nehemiah 9:6) and Jesus teaching that God tends and feeds the birds of the air (Matthew 6:26).

Since creation belongs to God, Christians can feel both humbled and relieved in the face of caring for creation. Ultimately, God is in control. At the same time, there should be an appropriate attitude of respect in relating to our natural surroundings. Pope Francis (in his Encyclical Letter) described God as the landlord of creation - and not simply the landlord but the only landlord. Christians can therefore feel a sense of responsibility to care for God’s creation, recognising that they occupy space given as a gift and made by Another.

Creation is Good

To God, creation is “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Creation proclaims God’s handiwork (Psalm 19:1) and is so loved by God that He gave His only Son (John 3:16). Our world is wonderful, complex, detailed and beautiful. Have you ever counted the seeds of a sunflower or the ants of a colony? Creation displays God’s abundance, generosity and sense of fun.

Whilst creation is good, it is not God. It is fundamental for Christians to separate worship of the Creator from worship of the created. The creation story (Genesis 1-2) describes that God was closely involved in creating, but also that God is different from creation. Our own respect and awe of creation mustn’t be blurred with worship of creation, or viewing nature as part of the divine.

For some Christians, the belief that creation is good provokes action to enjoy, preserve and defend creation. For others, caring for creation may be an act of worshipping God as a grateful response to God’s generosity in giving us a very good common home.

God’s Instructions in Genesis

Perhaps the most familiar framework for Christian relationship with creation is nestled in Genesis 1-2, where God explicitly gives instruction to humans regarding how to relate to the wider world. There are two important passages here. If you are like me, the former will be more familiar.

Genesis 1:28 says, “God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.””
Genesis 2:15 says, "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.”

Today, the instructions “subdue” and “dominate” sound powerful and fearful. To many readers, Genesis 1:28 has painted a hierarchical picture of humankind bearing absolute authority over the rest of creation. Nature can be seen as a resource exclusively reserved for human benefit. But in approaching scripture, we need to allow God to dictate Biblical definitions. Genesis 2:15 is seen as a clear statement of what God meant by subduing and dominating.

To God, human dominion is to “tend” and “keep” creation; to serve and to preserve. Let’s look to Jesus, God in flesh, and how He enacted His rightful dominion on earth. Jesus “emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant… becoming obedient to the point of death…” (Philippians 2:7-8). Christians can do well interpreting our God-instructed relationship with creation in light of Christ’s own example of authority. We should be humble in the face of the task.

Humans are given the privilege and responsibility of tending and keeping God’s creation - caring, protecting, nurturing and respecting. Christians can therefore be motivated by obedience to God’s expectations outlined in Genesis chapter 1 and 2.

God’s Redemptive Work

In the New Testament, Jesus is described as the One through whom all creation will one day “be liberated from its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:18-21). Christians are motivated by hope to care for the earth as part of God’s larger redemptive work.

A helpful framework for me has been understanding that Jesus will one day return and “make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Note that the promise here isn’t to make all new things, but to renew that which already is. In the Christian creation story, humans enjoyed a full, healthy relationship with God, as well as with others, with themselves and with the rest of creation. These fourfold relationships were corrupted (Genesis 3), but I believe that the good news of Jesus’ kingdom is that these relationships will be made new. The really good news is that Christians are invited to join this work now, right here, in the present, appreciating that Jesus will one day bring about renewal in full completion.

In the words of John Wesley, we have found that “faith in Jesus Christ [leads] us beyond an exclusive concern for the well-being of other human beings to the broader concern for the well-being of the birds in our backyard, the fish in our rivers and every living creature on the face of the earth.” Christians can feel compelled to care for creation as part of God’s larger redemptive work. After all, in the Great Commission Jesus said to His disciples, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15).

Creation Care is People Care

Jesus succinctly summarised the thrust of Old Testament obedience as loving God and loving others (Matthew 22:36-40). Christians today still find themselves guided by this call to love, which necessitates saying that creation care is an undeniable expression of loving one another.

Every single human depends on creation to survive, but this is especially true for the billions who depend on the earth for their immediate well-being: subsistence farmers, small-scale herders, ranchers, fishers. These are people for whom a healthy creation is most desperately important. Often, the poor and the vulnerable are the first to suffer when the environment is damaged, be that through deforestation, pollution, desertification or climate change.

Creation care is a deeply moral issue with immediate implications for billions of people around the world. In the words of A Rocha, “It is a false division to suggest we have to choose between helping people or helping the planet.” Christians, therefore, are motivated to care for creation as a means of loving their neighbour, near and far; current and future.

“Creation” versus “The Environment”

Language is important, especially today whilst there are several ongoing public conversations surrounding the health of our planet. In the words of Ruth Valerio, “The consumer culture we are in teaches us to see the planet as simply ‘the environment’ - something akin to a stage on which we, the important actors, play out and make our lives. We have been taught to see the world simply as a resource, for us to use however we like for our own benefit. However, Scripture gives us a different picture… We are ‘adam from the ‘adamah (Hebrew for earth - Genesis 2:19), intricately connected to the rest of creation.”

As Christians, it is important to appreciate that the earth is more than an object; more than a natural resource; more than “the environment.” Pope Francis calls the earth Our Common Home, seeking to express that humankind lives alongside all creatures within what God has provided for them. Psalm 148 celebrates that we humans are created beings, part of the whole community of creation, joining together to praise God.

Creation Care is Lacking

Finally, many (Christians and non-Christians alike) are alarmed at the state of our natural world today. As Christians, we needn’t feel afraid of the ultimate future, but there is wisdom in paying attention to the incessant reminders that humans can do a much better job at caring for creation. That means me and you.

Today, humans consume natural resources at an unprecedented (and unapologetic) rate. Around a third of the Earth’s forested area has been lost since the start of the industrial revolution, and the extinction of animals is accelerating. Natural habitats are destroyed to clear space, land is overgrazed, seas are over-fished and biodiversity is removed. Human activity is largely to blame.

It is encouraging to note, though, that conservation efforts do work. Extinction rates can be reversed; trees can be replanted. This work of tending and keeping creation is slow, deliberate and worthwhile. We humans share an ecosystem with the rest of creation and for us all, for a real variety of reasons, creation care is “very good”.