It seems that I cannot turn on the TV, flip through a magazine or eavesdrop on a coffee house conversation without hearing about the threat of global warming. The frequency with which I am confronted by the issue has required that I take a stand on the matter. I would like to go on record as saying that I don’t know if global warming is a reality or not, but if it is- I am not concerned. I am all too happy to concede that it is a possibility, but whether it is a reality or not is a debate I am glad to excuse myself from. I will not waste one iota of time or mental energy trying to sift through the various arguments that surround the issue. I would be happy to learn that the theory of global warming was debunked, but I would receive undeniable evidence to the contrary with an equal amount of nonchalance. I have decided that the whole thing is irrelevant.
Consider the following verses:
Isaiah 51:6 6 Lift up your eyes to the sky, Then look to the earth beneath; For the sky will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants will die in like manner; but My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not wane. Matthew 24:35 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.Hebrews 1:10-12 10And, you Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands; 11they will perish, but you remain; and they all will become old like a garment, 12 and like a mantle you will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed, but you are the same and your years will not come to an end.2 Peter 3:10 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. (now that’s global warming for you.) I believe that the Earth is a temporary place with a temporary purpose. I believe that many who are obsessing over the possibility of global warming desire in their hearts to make the earth a forever place, and they find the prospect of the Earth “growing old like a garment’ troubling. I simply see it as inevitable, and I am not troubled because this earth is not intended to last forever and it is not my eternal home. I look forward to the creation of a new earth (Is. 65:17). In some cases I believe some have even made a deity of the earth…a religion where the earth is punishing us for our sins of excess, greed and pollution, and the only way to save ourselves is to repent, buy a hybrid and recycle.
I believe that God made the Earth for us to use and enjoy (Is. 45:18), and possessing concerns about the temporal nature of the earth can make one feel guilty for using it and enjoying it. We shouldn’t be made to feel bad because our existence results in the use of resources or contributes to the “growing old” of the earth. We should give God everything he wants to take and we should take from God everything He wants to give. I think that the earth is one of those things that God wants us to receive with gladness, and to make good use of. That is the true meaning of stewardship- making good use of something - not preservation as even some Christians insist. The preservation of the earth was never God’s goal. People are his passion, and that should be our passion as well.
Scripture says that God, not man, will destroy the earth.
Matthew 24:36-44 talks about the second coming of Christ at the end of time. It says that people will be “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” It talks about people engaged in farming and going about the business of earning a living. In other words life will still be going on at the end of time much as it is today. Global warming and like issues only serve to make us worry about irrelevant things and cause us to lose focus on those things that truly matter…our relationship with God and our neighbors. I will concede that in some circumstances making “full use of the earth” would adversely affect our witness with unbelievers, and I think we should conduct ourselves in a manner that is sensitive to that, but we should never adopt the same motives or the same attitude towards the earth. Likewise, “making full use” of the earth should not be done in a way that harms or exploits others. God has a passion for people and that should be the passion of those who follow Christ as well. Let us look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others.
…and that is where I stand on the issue of Global Warming.
