Should Christians care about the environment? Our newspapers are full of environmental issues, from global warming to oil spills to saving the whales. It is the hot topic of conversation at work.
The Bible tells us that the world was created by God, and it is good (Genesis 1-2
). God placed man to have authority over the world, an authority expanded upon in Genesis 9. There is an order to creation: God is the boss of everything, and he has placed people as the managers of the rest of the creation. So where does Jesus fit in? We see this in Colossians 1:15-20. Jesus was involved in creation, and everything was made for him. So Jesus is the purpose of creation.
What does all this mean for Christians? It means it is right to be concerned for the whales and global warming, and our responsibility for it. We need to be good managers. But we also need to see that the creation was made for Jesus. We shouldn’t worship the creation, but the Creator (Romans 1:18-25). People and their response to Jesus needs to come before environmental concern – we need to make sure we have our priorities right.
(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, 30 April 2010).