Global Warming and Gustav

"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
       the world, and all who live in it" - Psalm 24:1

It appears that the Arctic Ice Shelf is disintegrating rapidly. Huge sections of it are breaking off with no hope of reforming under the current climatological conditions. I know that many Evangelicals, including Baptists do not believe in Global Warming, and if they do accept that the earth is actually getting warmer, they do not believe that it is caused by humans. Whether it is accepted or not, there is hardly a consensus on what we can or should be attempting to do about it.  It seems to me that as believers in the Creator God with the Holy Spirit empowering us and the Bible as our guide, we should be able to give well thought out guidance on the great issues of our day. The environment is truly a concern for all of us, and if global warming is being caused by the emission of human produced greenhouse gases as many scientists say, then it seems that we might be able to formulate some solutions. What do you think?

I am thinking about starting a series on an evangelical approach to the major political/social issues of our day in the run-up to the election and this will likely be one of the issues that I tackle.

Speaking of the environment, I want to give a major shout out to the state and local governments of Louisiana, and the Federal Government for their preperation during Hurricane Gustav. Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana did an excellent job of providing leadership as did Ray Nagin of New Orleans. FEMA came through and President Bush was on the scene in ways that he was not during Katrina. It appears that all levels of government learned from the mistakes of Katrina and that the people of New Orleans and surrounding areas learned as well. I also praise God for the storm weakening instead of strengthening and for the levies holding in New Orleans. All in all, that area of which I am a native, has much to be thankful for.

Pathfinder Mission in Waveland, MS came out okay. There was no flooding and they found everything in tact when they returned. We praise God for that. You can check out some pictures here. 

Comments

[Steven Taylor]

My guess is that most Evangelicals take the view that since Earth's time is finite and that God controls that timeline that they will assume that they don't have to worry about such things. Of course, if there is man-caused global warming, then it would seem to me that the stewardship question comes into play.

And fantastic news about Waveland.

[Bob Cleveland]

We visited another Baptist church some years back and the preacher's topic was "The Christian and the Ecology" ... what ought to be our attitude toward all that. The only comment I heard from any of our staff, later, was that the preacher wasn't "preaching the gospel".

Ugh...

[John Stickley]

When Christians begin discussing and advocating the adoption of "solutions" for global warming, which must be global in nature and have wide ranging impacts most people don't even begin to understand, you end up embroiled in politics. With such a debate over the validity of the issue's origin (whether observed warming trends are anthropogenic or natural, or even whether observed trends are indeed legitimate), I think it's best the church stay out of the political debate.

So, do we avoid the issue? Absolutely not.

Preach stewardship. Teach the Biblical concepts that lead us to it. Show us God's expectations for stewards. Explain how that might play out in a believer's life.

Just don't tell us where to go politically on the matter.

[Alan Cross]

John,

Preaching stewardship can easily become a political message. Politics is just the way that we govern ourselves. If stewardship is not taking place in the way that we govern ourselves, then in a democracy, we should hold those in power responsible. Our activity on this matter should go beyond just preaching about it if it really is a biblical issue. I really don't see how you can separate the idea of stewardship from politics, especially when so much that is advocated in government either regulates proper ecological stewardship or rails against it.

I agree that it is a complicated issue with a lot of variables and an eye for stewardship is the key to an evangelical response. But, once we have a plan of action, that plan should be reflected in our politics, don't you think? Otherwise, we are saying that our faith is only private and that it has no real bearing on how we govern our land. I don't think that you believe that.

[John Stickley]

This issue isn't a black and white issue, as you well know, Alan. We're not talking whether abortion is murder or whether gay marriage is sin. There is a lot of debate as to the reality of climate change, its cause, and the appropriate Biblical response.

As such, how can we, as believers, advocate a specific political response corporately... especially given the magnitude of impacts of some of the proposed solutions (which may force us to decide between environmental stewardship and financial stewardship)?

What I'm saying is simply this... just teach the Biblical principles of stewardship, and allow individual believers to be lead by the Holy Spirit in their own response to the climate change issue.

[Beth]

Christian environmentalism? My little Oregonian heart is all aflutter! As much as I'm all about saving trees, I'm even more concerned about the impact our actions have on our health. Why are babies getting cancer? Why are infertility rates on the increase?

In the meantime, have you heard about the bats in Kansas? This responsible energy thing is hard stuff.

[Charley]

Alan;

It seems that the tension everyone is feeling is that between God's Law and Man's Law. Governments are ordained by God ... (Romans 13). God said we are to be good stewards of this planet .... unfortunately there are many eveidences that we have not been .... many of us don't have great confidence in the established government and political system's ability to resolve problems like environmental degradation (I am not sure about global warming as I don't think we have been tracking weather and climate long enough to do determine casue an effect) ... we know that government laws don't change hearts and really don't have a lot of influence on constraining behavior (if you don't believe that take a spin on Interstate 85) The question is do we seek to become an influence in that system or distance ourselves from it? I can recall a number of excellent examples of godly men and women making a difference by becoming engaged in government service and making a difference for the better ... So I guess the question that needs to be answered is WWAGSD? (What Would A Good Steward Do?) I think the answer is ... obey God's revealed will. You are doing a great job of keeping important issues up front ....

[Kevin]

Interesting thoughts. I'm one of those who is very skeptical about man's role in global warming.

Having said that, I have no problem with reducing pollution in a common-sense way.