21 Reasons That Evangelicals Don’t “Get" Creation Care
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by Dean Ohlman
1. Evangelicals understand that people are special because we’re made in the image of God, but we typically fail to see that the non-human creation is also special because it was created “very good” by the God we say we serve (Genesis 1:31).
2. Evangelicals erroneously think that because man alone is created in God’s image, that the Creator has compassion only for people; hence we fail to grasp another biblical truth: that God loves all the things He has made (Psalm 145:9,13).
3. Evangelicals understand that after Adam’s sin, God cursed the ground; but we erroneously conclude, then, that the earth is “fallen” like man. The Bible, however, does not support the view that the non-human elements of earth are somehow “sinful” and can thus be scorned or neglected (Genesis 3:17-19).
4. Evangelicals fail to grasp that the curse was not creation’s fault, but mankind’s fault, and that God cursed the ground to discipline and humble us—and to keep us from too easily wresting His cherished creation to our own selfish ends (Genesis 3:17-19; Romans 8:18-22).
5. Evangelicals forget that, as celebrated in our Christmas hymn “Joy to the World,” God is going to remove the curse on the ground at the coming of the perfect Kingdom (Isaiah 11:1-9; Revelation 22:3).
6. Evangelicals often sing that “this earth is not our home” and that we’re “just a-passin’ through.” This simplistic and biblically questionable refrain keeps us from grasping the fact that while we are here, it’s not only our home, it’s also our responsibility; we’re expected to care for, guard, keep, cultivate, and wisely develop its potentialities until it is finally reconciled to God through Christ (Genesis 2:15; Colossians 1:20).
7. Evangelicals fail to understand that a redeemed creation along with its redeemed non-human creatures will also be blessed to share existence with us in the coming perfect Kingdom. If God cares enough to reconcile the creation along with us, how can we justify neglecting the creation? (Isaiah 11:1-9, Romans 8:18-22, Colossians 1:20).
8. Evangelicals fail to grasp the significance of the non-human creatures of the earth worshiping and praising “the Lamb who was slain” with us at the Consummation and the creation’s own anticipation of freedom from the curse at the time of our release from the bondage of sin and our completed adoption as children of God (Revelation 5:11-14; Romans 8:18-22).
9. Evangelicals are often confused about the coming Consummation and the continuation of the earth in the coming perfect Kingdom. Most have been taught that everything here “is gonna burn,” and those who have trusted Christ will be whisked away to an ethereal abode in a “new heaven” that has no meaningful connection with the “new earth” –in spite of what the Bible actually says.
10. Because Evangelicals have no commonly accepted and well-articulated theology of creation (nature), we have become not only ineffective in addressing mankind’s abuse of the creation, but we also become a part of the problem.
11. PIVOTAL POINT: Because of these failures and shortcomings, evangelicals typically simplify the entire purpose of the Christian life to one responsibility: saving souls (not seals or whales or eagles or tropical rainforests or . . .). We fail to understand that even though the lost condition of the human soul without Christ may be our most important and urgent concern, that should never keep us from carrying out all the responsibilities God has given us, like caring for our families and caring for the creation that gives life and health to our families and all the other creatures God has compassion for. In this failure we actually become negative witnesses: we drive people away from consideration of the Gospel.
12. Evangelicals are “gun-shy” about openly expressing care for the creation because we feel fellow believers will associate us with Hollywood libertines, secular humanists, neo-pagans, and others who do care for the creation but don’t regard the Bible, like we do, as the authoritative revelation of God and His moral attributes.
13. Most evangelicals are political and social conservatives, and we have been brainwashed by that community to conclude that environmental protection measures are almost always misguided “liberal” policies based on “junk science.”
14. As political and social conservatives, evangelicals tend to lump protection of the environment together with the lack of protection for children in the womb; we often have the irrational idea that abortion-rights advocacy and the efforts to rescue stranded animals or preserve endangered non-human species are parallel and equal hallmarks of “liberal” thought. Most fail to see how illogical it is to save the babies and then care less about the health and integrity of the environment upon which their survival depends. We typically fail to see that opposing abortion and supporting creation care are both “pro-life” positions.
15. As political and social conservatives, evangelicals often see support for an unfettered free-market and the global spread of capitalism and democracy to be almost as important as the spread of the Gospel. We’ve been trained to believe, illogically, that environmental “conservation” cannot be added to traditional “conservative” values.
16. As political and social conservatives, evangelicals often consider the opinions of conservative radio talkshow hosts as “gospel”—especially the almost daily derogatory characterization of many responsible creation-care measures as the work of “environmental whackos.”
17. Because we evangelicals typically have an Enlightenment (unbiblical) low view of the non-human creation, we spend little time educating ourselves about the condition of God’s creation and our Christian responsibility to be good stewards of the earth and its resources.
18. In an era of radical polarization like today, evangelicals seldom have the courage to speak out in support of truth and justice if it happens to be championed by some who reside at the opposite pole. We often fail to see that for the committed Christian, there must be only the poles of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and error. Political and social poles are rarely pure poles.
19. Many of America’s billionaire philanthropists are evangelicals—or at least political and social conservatives—who will not donate significant funds for environmental protection measures because they dislike having to reduce their own financial profits in order to pay for environmental controls. Instead, they donate millions of dollars to people and agencies that demean and belittle even evangelical creation-care advocates and thwart environmental protection legislation.
20. Extremely influential evangelical broadcasters are often funded by laissez-faire, libertarian philanthropists who want them to use the Bible and their clout with political and social conservatives to oppose creation-care legislation and regulations they deem “too expensive”—both a drag on the economy and personally costly.
21. Finally, and perhaps must significant, we evangelicals, in our affluence, are too comfortable as consumers of the creation to bother about caring for it (James 5:5; 1 Timothy 5:6).
1. Evangelicals understand that people are special because we’re made in the image of God, but we typically fail to see that the non-human creation is also special because it was created “very good” by the God we say we serve (Genesis 1:31).
2. Evangelicals erroneously think that because man alone is created in God’s image, that the Creator has compassion only for people; hence we fail to grasp another biblical truth: that God loves all the things He has made (Psalm 145:9,13).
3. Evangelicals understand that after Adam’s sin, God cursed the ground; but we erroneously conclude, then, that the earth is “fallen” like man. The Bible, however, does not support the view that the non-human elements of earth are somehow “sinful” and can thus be scorned or neglected (Genesis 3:17-19).
4. Evangelicals fail to grasp that the curse was not creation’s fault, but mankind’s fault, and that God cursed the ground to discipline and humble us—and to keep us from too easily wresting His cherished creation to our own selfish ends (Genesis 3:17-19; Romans 8:18-22).
5. Evangelicals forget that, as celebrated in our Christmas hymn “Joy to the World,” God is going to remove the curse on the ground at the coming of the perfect Kingdom (Isaiah 11:1-9; Revelation 22:3).
6. Evangelicals often sing that “this earth is not our home” and that we’re “just a-passin’ through.” This simplistic and biblically questionable refrain keeps us from grasping the fact that while we are here, it’s not only our home, it’s also our responsibility; we’re expected to care for, guard, keep, cultivate, and wisely develop its potentialities until it is finally reconciled to God through Christ (Genesis 2:15; Colossians 1:20).
7. Evangelicals fail to understand that a redeemed creation along with its redeemed non-human creatures will also be blessed to share existence with us in the coming perfect Kingdom. If God cares enough to reconcile the creation along with us, how can we justify neglecting the creation? (Isaiah 11:1-9, Romans 8:18-22, Colossians 1:20).
8. Evangelicals fail to grasp the significance of the non-human creatures of the earth worshiping and praising “the Lamb who was slain” with us at the Consummation and the creation’s own anticipation of freedom from the curse at the time of our release from the bondage of sin and our completed adoption as children of God (Revelation 5:11-14; Romans 8:18-22).
9. Evangelicals are often confused about the coming Consummation and the continuation of the earth in the coming perfect Kingdom. Most have been taught that everything here “is gonna burn,” and those who have trusted Christ will be whisked away to an ethereal abode in a “new heaven” that has no meaningful connection with the “new earth” –in spite of what the Bible actually says.
10. Because Evangelicals have no commonly accepted and well-articulated theology of creation (nature), we have become not only ineffective in addressing mankind’s abuse of the creation, but we also become a part of the problem.
11. PIVOTAL POINT: Because of these failures and shortcomings, evangelicals typically simplify the entire purpose of the Christian life to one responsibility: saving souls (not seals or whales or eagles or tropical rainforests or . . .). We fail to understand that even though the lost condition of the human soul without Christ may be our most important and urgent concern, that should never keep us from carrying out all the responsibilities God has given us, like caring for our families and caring for the creation that gives life and health to our families and all the other creatures God has compassion for. In this failure we actually become negative witnesses: we drive people away from consideration of the Gospel.
12. Evangelicals are “gun-shy” about openly expressing care for the creation because we feel fellow believers will associate us with Hollywood libertines, secular humanists, neo-pagans, and others who do care for the creation but don’t regard the Bible, like we do, as the authoritative revelation of God and His moral attributes.
13. Most evangelicals are political and social conservatives, and we have been brainwashed by that community to conclude that environmental protection measures are almost always misguided “liberal” policies based on “junk science.”
14. As political and social conservatives, evangelicals tend to lump protection of the environment together with the lack of protection for children in the womb; we often have the irrational idea that abortion-rights advocacy and the efforts to rescue stranded animals or preserve endangered non-human species are parallel and equal hallmarks of “liberal” thought. Most fail to see how illogical it is to save the babies and then care less about the health and integrity of the environment upon which their survival depends. We typically fail to see that opposing abortion and supporting creation care are both “pro-life” positions.
15. As political and social conservatives, evangelicals often see support for an unfettered free-market and the global spread of capitalism and democracy to be almost as important as the spread of the Gospel. We’ve been trained to believe, illogically, that environmental “conservation” cannot be added to traditional “conservative” values.
16. As political and social conservatives, evangelicals often consider the opinions of conservative radio talkshow hosts as “gospel”—especially the almost daily derogatory characterization of many responsible creation-care measures as the work of “environmental whackos.”
17. Because we evangelicals typically have an Enlightenment (unbiblical) low view of the non-human creation, we spend little time educating ourselves about the condition of God’s creation and our Christian responsibility to be good stewards of the earth and its resources.
18. In an era of radical polarization like today, evangelicals seldom have the courage to speak out in support of truth and justice if it happens to be championed by some who reside at the opposite pole. We often fail to see that for the committed Christian, there must be only the poles of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and error. Political and social poles are rarely pure poles.
19. Many of America’s billionaire philanthropists are evangelicals—or at least political and social conservatives—who will not donate significant funds for environmental protection measures because they dislike having to reduce their own financial profits in order to pay for environmental controls. Instead, they donate millions of dollars to people and agencies that demean and belittle even evangelical creation-care advocates and thwart environmental protection legislation.
20. Extremely influential evangelical broadcasters are often funded by laissez-faire, libertarian philanthropists who want them to use the Bible and their clout with political and social conservatives to oppose creation-care legislation and regulations they deem “too expensive”—both a drag on the economy and personally costly.
21. Finally, and perhaps must significant, we evangelicals, in our affluence, are too comfortable as consumers of the creation to bother about caring for it (James 5:5; 1 Timothy 5:6).
Shoutin' for the Mountains Tour: November 6-9