Christianity and Environmentalism

blog by Chris Armstrong

I was never really very interested in the Environment. I grew up in suburbia and while I enjoyed times in wooded areas and forests, I never really experienced genuine untouched nature. Trash was everywhere. Behind my house is a nature reserve and even there I could find old tires and empty oil containers. While as I grew up I began to appreciate the environment, I also understood that jobs and resources were important too.
Sadly, it was not an experience with majestic, untouched nature that changed my mind about the environment. Last fall, I needed to do an internship. I applied to and was interviewed by the National Association of Evangelicals. I didn't know too much about the organization, but one thing that I learned was that they were heavily involved in protecting the environment. Despite my best efforts I felt a pang of worry. Though I was neutral to the environment, hearing that others were activists for it made me conjure the image of the radical left. As I learned more and more about Creation Care, a christian environmental initiative, I felt more and more strongly that protecting the environment was the right thing to do.
To say that there is not consensus on this issue within the Christian community would be an understatement. Many feel that while stewardship is an important call for humans, that the Earth was given to man to rule over. If man chooses to pollute the earth, that is within his ability as God has given man domain. Others in the christian community feel that though the environment is certainly important, that it is the responsibility to protect jobs and well-being of people, rather than trees.

1. What is the spiritual component to this issue, in your opinion? Is the issue of the environment a moral one?

2. Recently, many have begun to wonder whether Christians and Environmentalists would be able to bridge the massive gulf between them to work together on this issue. Do you think that such cooperation of vastly different groups is possible?

3. Many that question christians on this issue raise the point of those that believe that rapture is immanent. Do you feel that this issue has a place in the debate of spirituality and the environment? If the rapture were immanent, would your view of environmental responsibility change?

4. Given limited resources and attention spans, should christians devote significant time and energy to this issue? In the face of AIDS, widespread world hunger, and poverty, can money and resources spent working on the environment be better allocated to another issue?

5. With taxes for other government programs so high, what price should people be expected to pay for a clean environment?