‘Why would God trust us with a new earth if we have failed to look after the old one?’

This morning as I had my shower I was listening to Radio 4 (it’s something that hit me about the age of 30) and specifically a programme about how the universe began, according to the current scientific understanding (apologies to those who think Genesis 1-2 explains everything). I didn’t catch or understand everything, but at one point a cosmologist was talking about a graph which portrayed something to do with the Big Bang and everything that exists coming out of nothing at all. He said that he can never speak publicly on this graph because every time he sees it his eyes fill with tears, he finds it so moving.

As far as I know this man isn’t a Christian, but Christians could do well to learn from his sense of awe and wonder invoked, not just by the extraordinary reality of there being a universe at all, but even by a mere graph charting its beginnings. Astronaut Bill Anders, who took the famous ‘Earthrise’ photo as he orbited the moon in 1968, said he could never look at our little blue planet the same again – and many others have felt something similar as they encountered that image. There are no national boundaries on that blue and white marble, no visible language differences or political conflicts: just a tiny rotating ball that, in our current knowledge, may be the only place in our universe that is inhabited by life – not only life, but life that is capable of responding to its Creator.

This being so, and the earth being threatened as it is now by out-of-control human-made global climate change, why would we not want to protect it? 

Looking after what we have been given

Some Christians, perhaps so heavenly minded that they are no earthly use (as the saying goes) think we don’t need to bother, because according to 2 Peter 3:10 (KJV): “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up”. But this is by no means the only possible translation of that verse, and other versions say the earth will be “laid bare” (NIV), “exposed” (ESV) or “disclosed” (CSB) – which suggests something much more like a revealing of everything that has been done either to bless the earth or to damage it. In any case, Revelation promises us “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1), and why would God trust us with a new earth if we have failed to look after the old one? “The earth is the Lord’s”, Psalm 24 tells us – if the Lord of lords and King of kings has lent us their most prized possession, would we not strive to keep it safe and explore all its possibilities without destroying it in the process?

Throughout the Bible, we are exhorted to care for those more needy than ourselves and to pursue justice and economic equality 

There’s another reason for Christians to be concerned about preserving the environment. I think it was the theologian and activist Jim Wallis (though it may have been the late great Tony Campolo) who once took a Bible and cut out of it every single reference to the poor and caring for the poor. What he was left with was just dangling rags between the covers. Throughout the Bible, we are exhorted to care for those more needy than ourselves and to pursue justice and economic equality. Now the thing about climate change is that those most affected by it, in terms of drought, flooding, failed harvests etc, are the poorest, who have actually done the least to cause it. Those of us who by our production and consumption are the greatest contributors to climate chaos, are actually managing pretty well, apart from the odd hosepipe ban, and perhaps enjoying our hotter summers without a care. Shouldn’t we, out of care for the most vulnerable, be doing the most to prevent further damage – and, if possible, reverse the damage that has already been done?

I’m not just talking here about recycling plastic, using environmentally friendly cleaning materials or cosmetics (which are invariably more expensive!) or having only one child (the latter seems to be happening anyway since women are having children later and later). We need to be campaigning, if only by signing petitions (but more if we can manage it), for multinational corporations to consider the environmental impact of their decisions and processes, for governments to prioritise the planet’s health, and in our churches for people to be aware of the results of their actions. Jesus in his teaching referred to birds, plants, sowing and harvesting; he was, in Thomas Hardy’s words from poem ‘Afterwards’, “a man who used to notice such things”. Would he not, if he walked this earth today, urge us to care for this awesome creation? We who walk it in his name need to do likewise.