3 Reasons Christians Should Care About the Earth

Should Christians care about the earth? Is caring for the environment contrary to the Bible? If earth is God’s creation, what does that mean about how it should be cared for?

Today (April 22) is Earth Day. According to the inerrant Wikipedia, “Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection” and has been celebrated since 1970. It’s not intended to be a religious holiday in any way, shape, or form, but as Earth Day has approached this year, I’ve been thinking about the Church’s role in caring for the environment.

Allow me to share why I think the Church should care about the earth.

The word “environment” has become overly politicized. And while I think there’s nothing inherently political about the term “environment,” to lower hackles, for the rest of this post, I’ll choose to use the word “earth.” Earth is, for the purposes of this article, everything in the natural or created world: sea, sky, land, animals, humans, etc.

I’ll circle back to this at the end of the article, but so often, when we hear about caring for earth or the environment, it’s followed by a call to action: So you should vote for this person. You should pass this law. You should ban this substance.

I’m not advocating for any policy or political change here. You may come to your own conclusions for that, but I want to separate the value of caring for earth and political stances. We can care for earth and choose to support different people and policies politically. In fact, my hope is that caring for the earth will no longer be a divisive issue; I hope all people, political parties, and political policies will value caring for the earth because, frankly, I think it’s a value of God’s.

I will suggest some personal choices that you might want to make based on what I hope will be a convincing argument that the Church (and by “the Church,” I mean all Christians and local churches throughout the world) has a role in caring for earth. Our beliefs require response and I hope you’ll respond in some way to this article.

God made earth. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The Nicene Creed, one of the core and foundational articulations of Christian beliefs says that God is the “maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.” From the tallest mountains to the tiniest microbes and everything in between, God created it.

Genesis 1 tells the story of creation. The main point of the chapter is that God is the One who created. And the pinnacle of the beings God created—the beings He takes most pleasure in—is humanity. After creating all that He created, God said that it was “good.” But when He created humanity, God said that it was “very good” (Gen. 1:31).

God’s first words to humanity, as recorded in Genesis 1, tell us the first reason we should care for the earth. He said:

“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28)

God goes on to put the management of earth in the job description of humanity:

“I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” (Genesis 1:29)

We care for earth because…

1. God gave us the responsibility to care for earth.

And I know you might go back to Genesis 1:28 and say, “But God tells us to subdue and rule over it. That doesn’t sound like caring for earth!”

Fair point. But let’s think about the context in which this is written. This was before sin entered God’s perfect world. This was before people became corrupt. So when we think of “subduing” and “ruling” as someone asserting their power over another to that person’s detriment, we’re thinking of a perversion of God’s truly good gifts of subduing and ruling.

Let’s take subduing, for instance. Right now, my family is fixing up a house that has been abandoned for a few months. Behind the house are some woods with beautiful pine trees. Unfortunately, you can only see the tops of the trees because vines are engulfing the trees and everything under the trees. We are slowly but surely clipping vines and freeing the trees from their entanglement. We are, you could say, subduing the earth around the house.

And let’s take ruling. God is the ultimate Ruler. As those who are made in the image of God, Adam and Eve were given the command to do what God does: to rule. Does God rule in a way that exploits or leads to the detriment of the people being rules? No! Instead, what God does is give structure and boundaries in a way that the thing being ruled is able to flourish. It’s like bumpers in bowling: giving a ruler (etymologically speaking, a “straight line” or “guide”) that prevent the ball from going in the gutter.

Our God-given role as humans is to care for the earth.

How’s that going for us?

We also care for the earth because…

2. It’s God’s.

In 1 Corinthians 10:25-26, Paul is telling the Corinthians that anything God has made is good. He quotes Psalm 24:1:

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it…

If the earth is the Lord’s, how should we treat it? Degrade it? Spoil it? Use and abuse it? Leave it worse than we found it? Of course not.

Instead, we should treat it better than we would treat the most prized possession of the person we revere the most. After all, isn’t that what we’re dealing with: the most prized possession (earth and everything in it) of the person we ought to revere the most (God)?

Imagine borrowing your grandmother’s fine china. Or your boss’s sportscar. Or your late mother’s Bible. How would you use it? Would you take care of it? Would you treat it well? Would you enjoy it but also protect it?

Then why treat what is God’s any differently?

And finally, we care for the earth because…

3. The beauty of earth points us to God.

Psalm 19 begins like this:

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.”

(Psalm 19:1-4)

Have you ever seen something in nature—a waterfall, rainbow, sunset, or mountain range—and just gotten a glimpse of the glory of God. Apparently, that’s been true of people for thousands of years. The heavens declare the glory of God. Psalm 104 picks up this theme too, pointing to how the creatures in the sea make the psalmist marvel at God’s wisdom. Most notably, in Romans 1:20, Paul says:

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made…”

The beauty of earth points us to God. When we don’t care for the earth, we mask its beauty. Who hasn’t seen a magnificent piece of nature, only to lament the trash littered about, the commercialization of the beauty, or the smoke from a factory clouding the view?

Has our unwillingness to care for nature prevented others from encountering God? I know that’s a pointed statement, but I genuinely wonder how often that’s been true.

3 Reasons Christians Should Care about the Earth

Like I said at the outset, I have no interest in advocating for a political party, candidate, or policy. Systemic and political change might be necessary, but I’m much more interested in advocating for Christians to care for God’s earth the way God has entrusted us to.

So how can you care for the earth? What small changes can you make over time that will ultimately culminate with large changes for our communities and the earth?

Here are some ideas to get you going:

Don’t dispose of trash outside. Put trash where it should go.
Similarly, pick up trash when you see it. Go to a well-traveled section of road and pick up trash along it. When people ask you why you’re doing it, tell them because you’re trying to steward God’s creation well.
As often as you can, reuse. Use dishwasher safe cups instead of Styrofoam cups. Use reusable diapers instead of disposable. Keep deli meat containers as a reusable food container.
Buy or donate/sell second-hand clothes at a local thrift store or online on sites like Poshmark or Mercari.
Choose to forgo putting items you buy in a bag or bring a reusable bag or choose paper bags.
Choose to keep files digitally instead of physically.
Go to a national or state park and support earth care while admiring God’s creation.
Plant a tree or beautify the land you have

These may seem like small things but if I know anything about God, it’s that He uses small things to do big things.

Friends, we’ve been given a mission from God to care for the earth that He has entrusted to us. How’s it been going for us?

We can change. We should change. By God’s grace, we will change.

May the heavens declare the glory of God. May the earth declare His goodness. May our care of both declare our love for Him.

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