Earth Day – Keeping the Earth with an Eternal Perspective

This month marked the 40th annual Earth Day, first scheduled in April, 1970. On that first Earth Day, my wife and I had just celebrated the birth of our son, Bradley. The Earth Day emphasis that year challenged me as a young father to consider ways to keep the beautiful “blue jewel in space” from slipping into an inhospitable future; and instead, provide a planet on which our son and his generation could thrive. On the 40th Earth Day, I was privileged to participate in planting a tree in memory of a friend.

As the annual Earth Day has come and gone each year since 1970, efforts toward “Earthkeeping” or creation care have been increasingly bolstered by a better developed science of ecology and a better developed theology of Christian environmental stewardship. Evangelical Christians, for over a decade following the first Earth Day, were suspicious of those who called for the church to take the lead in caring for the Earth. Indeed, many such as Lynn White, Jr. went so far as to blame the Judeo-Christian teachings and practice for the environmental crisis.

Today, increasing numbers of evangelical Christians are learning to integrate their worship with their daily walk with acts of love, care, and benevolence toward their neighbor and on behalf of God’s creation in accordance with the dominion stewardship responsibility. To illustrate this concept, let’s return to my earlier mention of planting tree in memory of a friend on Earth Day.

For approximately 15 years until his death in 2009, it was my privilege to know Dr. Michael Horton, a beloved veterinarian and conservationist in Fairborn, OH. His passion was to restore and enrich landscapes for the benefit of soil, water, and creature conservation. To accomplish this goal, Dr. Horton motivated many volunteers over the years, including student groups from Cedarville University, other local universities, and various citizen organizations. to plant trees suited for landscapes needing restoration – wetlands, hillsides, disturbed areas, an such like. This Spring, Fairborn and surrounding communities enjoy the budding and blooming of thousands of trees due to his efforts.

And so, on this Earth Day, we gathered on the Cedarville campus with his wife, Marcia, her brother, several dear friends, and students of the Pro Terra Forma creation care organization to plant a lovely, 20-foot red oak in honor of Dr. Horton. After a brief dedication, and the shared act of shoveling soil around the tree, we gathered in a circle around the tree to offer a prayer of dedication. At that moment, I realized that we had expressed our faith at once in multiple dimensions.

First, we had connected the tree roots to a specific “place” in the soil of Earth from which water, nutrients, and anchorage would be provided so that this tree could grow mightily with its limbs lifted like arms and hands in praise toward heaven. Second, our planting effort was an act of faith in the Providence of God Who alone can cause growth of the tree through His provision of the essential components from soil and atmosphere.

The human action of planting and nurturing the tree, combined with God’s Providential supply of sunlight and water from above, makes possible a divine-human cooperative that may enable this red oak to grow into a massive specimen over the next century or more. Meanwhile, it brings joy and gladness to those who will gather beneath its branches.

Finally, as this tree grows and shades the plaque placed in memory of Michael Horton, we will be reminded not only of a dear friend, but we will recognize our smallness and finiteness. Trees remind us to “number our days” because they may live for centuries after our lives on Earth have ended. Thus, tree planting can be an unselfish act when completed with the intention of serving future generations. Furthermore, trees serve the rest of creation through absorption of carbon dioxide, pollutants, dust, damaging winds, and unwanted sounds.

Acts of creation care take on eternal significance and become acts of worship and faith when combined with a servant spirit toward our friends, neighbors, and the Earth. And with the psalmist, we can exclaim:

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
Before the LORD, for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness. – Psalm 96:11-13

Tending to Eden: This Reader's Review

Tending to Eden: Environmental Stewardship for God’s People
by Scott C. Sabin (Judson Press, 2010)

While our attention is still drawn to the ravages caused by the January, 2010 earthquake in Haiti, it is very timely that a book has just been released by Judson Press, entitled Tending to Eden: Environmental Stewardship for God’s People, by Scott Sabin. Although the earthquake has caused untold suffering and death, it is only the latest episode in a longer and larger story of the injustice, poverty, and the spiritual and physical hunger that is a subject of this new release.

Haiti is simply the most obvious example of what Scott Sabin describes as the result of broken relationships that need healing. These relationships are the human relationship to God, to neighbor, to ourselves, and to God’s creation. Tending to Eden is a very personal account of Scott Sabin’s growth in grace and knowledge of God’s calling to invest his life on behalf of the hungry, supported by his understanding of the theology of environmental stewardship, and capped by practical suggestions for readers and their churches who want to add a living demonstration of the gospel to their proclamation of it.

Since acquiring Tending to Eden earlier this week, it has become more than just another addition to my small library of books on Christian environmental stewardship. Although I have not met Mr. Sabin in person, it’s as if I’ve already met “Scott” through his transparent communication– demonstrating not only a passion for God, for His creation, and for God’s people, but also a challenge to awaken to God’s call to love Him and their neighbor through participation with the Spirit in bringing forth “the justice, hope, and peace of Christ to the world.”

My acquaintance with Scott began in Chapter 1 when he introduced himself as a “typical evangelical from the U.S. suburbs, [who] had grown up in the church and accepted Jesus at summer camp.” Then, during a short-term mission trip to Guatemala, Scott realized that his faith was “personal but not particularly relevant to the problems of the world.” Like many of us whose hearts have been stirred by a short-term missions trip, he came home with a passion to make a difference.

Scott recounts his first action, “volunteering for Plant With Purpose, simply because it was the Christian anti-poverty organization closest to my home. Mine was a humble beginning: stuffing response cards into envelopes and calling donors.”

Today, Mr. Sabin is executive director of Plant With Purpose, “a nonprofit Christian environmental organization with operations in seven countries.” In Scott’s words, the aim of Plant With Purpose is “to restore our world so that it looks a lot more like Eden and feels a lot less like hell.” Under his leadership, the organization’s projects focus on planting trees to address deforestation, a root cause of poverty.

By now, you may be asking, as I did, “What does tree planting on earth have to do with the Great Commission to which we are called to present the gospel to those who will otherwise miss heaven and be lost for eternity?” Scott’s faith and approach is based on Old Testament teachings such as that of Isaiah whose message was read centuries later by Jesus Christ when He came to set His people free through His incarnation, sacrificial death, and resurrection:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to
preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom
for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set
the oppressed free. (Luke 4:18)

“God’s Word is clear on what we must do for our light to shine in the darkness. The good news must be shared by demonstration as well as proclamation (italics added). Isaiah 58:10 sums it up (Sabin, page 7):

If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

But doesn’t this sound like “social gospel” or “social justice” repackaged into the “green movement?” Sabin explains how this concern has a long history (pp. 8-9):

“...the call to justice has always been problematic. The Israelites to whom Isaiah spoke missed it. At the time of Christ, the most religiously observant missed it. The early church missed it. We too are prone to miss it. There is a pitfall on the opposite extreme as well: forsaking the proclamation of the gospel even as we get the demonstration of it right. The “social gospel” movement of a century ago emphasized justice at the expense of evangelism. In reaction, many evangelicals shrank from mercy ministries and are only now beginning to recover from that rejection.

Demonstration and proclamation must be as one, or we rob Christ’s message of its vitality...Some have called these the two hands of the gospel, but...Gustavo Crocker, former director of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, compared them more accurately to two wings that must work together in order to be effective (p. 8-9).”

In outlining his application of the “two-wings metaphor”, Sabin insightfully states (p. 67):

“We want to give the poor bread and water. But as life-giving as agricultural produce and clean water are, this is not the best we have to give. It would be a shame if we gave only the manna that
is gone after a day, when it is in our power to offer the true bread of Jesus. By the same token, making disciples is not the principle reason behind the development work we do. Once our efforts become a means to an end, even an end as good as this, they become disingenuous. I do not feed, clothe, and educate my children so I can share the gospel with them. I feed them, clothe them, educate them, and share the gospel with them because I love them.”

Other readers may question why they should support “environmental restoration” projects when there are more pressing needs such as illegal border crossing, urban squalor, and human trafficking. Sabin addresses this question by emphasizing the need for what he calls “upstream thinking” (p. 96):

“Unless we practice upstream thinking—looking at root causes rather than merely symptoms—it can be easy to miss the connections between tropical deforestation and migration, illegal immigration, and human slavery. We have to work through several steps to see how one seemingly minor problem—deforestation—can contribute to an injustice as ugly as sex trafficking. Yet we must.”

Thank you, Scott, for sharing your personal testimony and the ministry of Plant With Purpose; then, giving your readers a theological basis for environmental stewardship, practical illustrations, resources for small-group Bible study, and practical applications that demonstrate how the gospel can be and is being proclaimed through proclamation and demonstration.

Creation Care Consistent with God’s Economy

The winter of 2010 will be remem- bered for its prolonged coldness and deep snow cover which has provided extra challenges for humans and other creatures. Thus, at our home in a small “forest island” surrounded by agricultural landscape in southwestern Ohio, we observe a large variety of nonmigratory songbirds and other winter-active creatures who find food and shelter in our forest edges– e.g. cardinals, black-capped chickadees, downy woodpeckers, and fox squirrels.

Because of the availability of natural sources of food, I have traditionally restricted bird feeding to periods of extended snow cover and cold. Instead of a regular “food handout” at a feeder, I have chosen to develop a landscape with numerous and varied sources of winter food for wildlife. At our forest-edge location, we have many perennial herbs, a prairie plot of grasses and forbs, unharvested crop plants, and trees and shrubs that have seed-bearing fruits as sources of food for seed-eating birds and other wildlife. Squirrels have access to acorns as well as hickory nuts, walnuts, and hazelnuts. The live tree trunks of shagbark hickory, ash and oak, as well as fallen logs afford bark crevasses and coverings from which woodpeckers and other insectivores can extract morsels of food.

However, on this February day, two experiences persuaded me to provide extra feed for the birds. First, near sundown as I hiked across the crisp, deep snow of a nearby cornfield, I could feel the cold fingers of the winter air reaching inside my coat to pull heat from my body. This feeling of intense cold sensitized me to the challenge of the songbirds. So, as I hiked toward our warm house, I sensed (or imagined) a bit more urgency in the sounds of late-afternoon chirps and the fluttering of songbirds as if to make appeal to me for a “food handout.” The experience of penetrating coldness combined with the sight of delicate winter birds convinced me to provide some food for them on this day.

Just the thought of how feathered and furry, warm-blooded creatures survive the cold of winter is an invitation to wonderment. Indeed, how could I survive in isolation from the interlocking economic and industrial grids that provide heat, water, food, transportation, etc. But the Creator, being rich in wisdom and mercy has made provision for both man and the other creatures in His great “Economy.” (The capital “E” was aptly used by Wendell Berry in his Home Economics essay entitled “Two Economies”(North Point Press, 1987)). This Economy demonstrates true “creation care” as only our Creator can. The psalmist pours praise to God for His Economy when he writes:

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The LORD sustains all who fall
And raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to You,
And You give them their food in due time.
The LORD is righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth. – Psalm 145: 13-15; 17-18

Here we learn that God’s provision is everlasting, governed by the Righteous One Whose dominion sustains both mankind and other creatures. This Economy is much more complex than the “economy” that generates packaged bird seed and BTU’s of heat for our homes. The Creator’s provision extends to all creatures in a seamless manner:

You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing. – Psalm 145:16

In the sciences of ecology and physiology, we are learning the intricate mechanisms of how plants and animals are equipped with molecular “clocks” that interact with the rotation of the Earth to tell the time of day and thus control daily cycles of activity and rest. These clocks also interact with changing daylength to set in motion hormonal changes that orchestrate such processes as migration and hibernation. Thus, both the inspired revelation of Scripture and the “book of creation” speak of our Creator’s provision for all creatures.

What does God teach us through His Economy of provision to every living thing in such wondrous ways? First, the Scripture teaches us that God owns creation while we are the stewards (Genesis 1:28; 2:15). As stewards, we must learn the workings of God’s Economy and humbly work within its laws and processes. In Deuteronomy 7:13 we have God’s promise to Israel that if they will reverence and obey God’s law, He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground… Throughout Scripture, God promises that He will keep those who keep His laws, including the laws governing the Sabbath for man and for the land.

In Leviticus 25: 2-7, God emphasizes that the Sabbath is not only for the benefit of mankind but also for livestock and for the wild creatures. Here, we see God’s invitation to humankind to be obedient stewards of the land. By obeying the Sabbath laws, they can serve in harmony with God’s open hands to every living thing (Psalm 145:16). God’s command which stated that your harvest's aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather (v. 5) reveals a profound understanding of sustainable use of the land. This instruction was to conserve the soil, crops, and wildlife, a principle that we are just beginning to grasp.

In summary, any compassionate effort on my part to care for the creatures at our forest edge must respect the laws of God’s Economy as taught in Scripture and revealed in creation through proper study of the science of ecology. Our example of bird-feeding serves as a metaphor for our participation in the larger Economy of God. Simply filling a birdfeeder while ignoring the need to restore and protect wildlife habitats for shelter and nesting is not “creation care” either biblically or scientifically. On the other hand, planting patches of seed-bearing plants for wildlife in winter, or allowing some crop plants to stand unharvested will provide food, habitat, and shelter for many bird species as well as allow natural predation upon the songbirds without making the birds “sitting ducks” at a birdfeeder.

As Christian stewards we are called to be a caring people both toward God’s creation and toward our neighbor. In every case, “biblical care” must respect the larger Economy in which the subjects are involved. If we simply extend “handouts” to the poor and needy, or to songbirds without considering the larger context of their need, we could be doing more harm than good. Both birds and humans can become dependent and degraded when the focus of care is misplaced. Our attempts to restore both the brokenness of the creation and the brokenness of human families and communities must be guided by a humility and knowledge that recognizes the complexities of each within an Economy that runs by a larger hand than ours– the very Hand of God. May our hands offer real “care” both to our neighbor and to other creatures by approaches that are biblical and in harmony with His sustaining hands for His glory.

Websites on Care for Our Neighbors and Care of Creation:

Care of Creation – Pursuing a God-Centered Response to the Environmental Crisis
Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO)
Establishing a Wildlife Food Plot – from The Ohio State University
Floresta – Ministry of Healing of Land and People
Flourish – Reviving Lives and Landscapes
Urban Light Ministries – Serving God by Serving Children, Families, the Hurting and Hungry in Jesus' Name
Closed Door Ministries -- Assisting a Few, to Disciple Many, to Reach Millions

Creation Care– Doing It Our Way?

Ever get caught with your hand in the cookie jar? Can you remember that moment when you new that you were caught ‘red-handed?’ I’ll never forget an incident at my great aunt’s home. I had just sampled a chocolate drop from her candy jar without asking. Swallowing the sweet candy made me choke, and the cough brought my aunt into the room. There we were – the open candy jar, my great aunt, and me with my telltale cough.

How about you? Were you caught ‘red-handed?’ Tell-tale chocolate or crumbs on your face? And what was your first reaction to being caught? I wanted to hide, but instead my mind began to serve up excuses and explanations. Oh, I had a large inventory of useful responses.
“I didn’t mean to do it!”
“She told me to do it.”
“I didn’t see anything wrong with having a taste.”
“I’ll make up for it.”

Sound familiar? Since that time, I’ve learned just how much like my father, Adam, I am. We share not only an unbroken connection through our DNA but also an unbroken record of selfishness, pride, and desire for power. In short, like Adam and Eve, we want to have it our way:

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was a delight to the eyes,
and that the tree was desirable to make one wise,
she took from its fruit and ate;
and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. Genesis 3: 6-7

Adam and Eve hid in the garden among all the flowers and trees that God had provided to be freely enjoyed. Indeed, they had walked in the garden with their Creator, and now they recognized the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). God came this time, not for another pleasant time of fellowship with His image bearers, but to begin the restoration process as a righteous Judge, beginning with the discipline and instruction that was now needed as a result of the first human disobedience.

It is instructive for me to consider how “my father, Adam” responded when his Father asked that penetrating question, “Where are you, Adam?” Adam knew everything had changed. He felt exposed, naked, shameful, fearful– all new feelings. But, he also chose to “do it his way” to solve the problem. He would cover himself and his wife with green leaves stitched together; and, they would hide.

God had a different solution. His answer to our depravity involves a costlier and messier extraction from His creation than detaching a few green leaves. Instead, animals must bleed and die, serve as a sacrifice for sin, and foreshadow the ultimate sacrifice, the human sacrifice of God's only Son, Jesus Christ.

Here we have not only the first instance of sin, but the first instance of humans wanting to solve the problem by “doing it our way.” Indeed, the biblical account of human history and recorded history since the first century church is a story of fallen mankind, caught repeatedly with a hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. But rather than owning up and seeking to restore fellowship with their Creator, humans have sought to follow Adam’s example–“doing it our way.” Green leaves instead of red blood spilled in order to provide the costly atonement for sin.

Today, there are many worthwhile projects in our neighborhoods that serve our fellow man and benefit the environment. But, I wonder if, like Adam, we have the cart before the horse. What good deeds are we doing that are like “stitching green leaves together” when all the while, we need to respond to God’s question, “Where are you?” If we are really hiding behind the flowers and trees of the Earth, even through acts of “creation care”, shouldn’t we come out of hiding, turn from our wicked ways, and accept the reconciliation of Christ, purchased with His blood on the cross.

I’ve insisted that creation care need not be a distraction for Christians who are called to live out the Great Commission, God’s pursuit of lost souls headed for eternity apart from God. See "Christians and Creation Care." But, knowing how I respond to being frequently caught “red-handed” in sin, I wonder if there is a proper order we must follow as those who are concerned about stewardship of God’s creation. Perhaps we should “stop on red, before going on green.” At least, this seems to be God’s plan in Scripture.

What do you think? 
Can you think of other instances in the Bible in which human ingenuity and “doing it our way” was repulsive to God? 
NOTE:  Looking back on this article, written almost a decade ago, I believe my thesis is still accurate.  America is divided morally and politically, torn down the middle, on issues like immigration, gender rights, and sanctity of human life.  Europeans face a similar challenge.  Currently, France is in turmoil over objections to excessive taxation aimed at addressing"climate change."  Wouldn't you agree that unless we recognize our need for a spiritual transformation and repent, we will be less and less able to live in harmony with our nearest neighbor let alone address global problems like immigration and climate change? 

"A Steward's Prayer"

As we approach the end of the first decade of the 21st century, it is clear that some monumental challenges will follow us into 2010. A central question facing American politics is “What is the responsibility of ‘the have’s’ toward ‘the have not’s?’” This question is inherent in the debates involving diverse issues including “bank lending to homebuyers,” “fertility for childless couples,” “universal health care,” and “global climate policy.” Consider the common element among these four issues which are often discussed in the context of “social justice.”

First, the current economic crunch was precipitated in part by a crash in the housing market brought on by the unhealthy dynamic that arose when clients with limited financial resources were awarded low-interest loans. Many of these loans were offered through banking policies encouraged in part by well meaning government bureaucrats who believed that “the have’s” should help “the have not’s” to “have it now.”

Second, the current debate over embryonic stem cell research and its potential threat to the sanctity of human life has resulted in part from the population of frozen human embryos that exist as a result of couples (and individuals) claiming their right to be biological parents through use of fertility drugs and in vitro fertilization. What or who should take precedence, the rights of the unborn or newly conceived, or the rights of adults who seek to gain from human enbryos.

Third, those who favor universal health care claim that the millions of American citizens who “have not” been covered by health insurance should be able to join “the haves.” Finally, the “climate change” debate centers on whether “the haves” among nations –i.e. those with the industrial and economic capacity to limit their emissions of greenhouse gases-- should take on the responsibility and cost of limiting emissions out of concern for the planet as a whole and the “have not” nations in particular.

In each of the four issues, policies are being drafted by our elected officials that will give the federal government greater authority to redistribute monetary wealth and (supposedly) opportunity to those who have less. Many, including this writer, believe these policies will bring major changes to American society and culture. At the same time, the growing secularization of American culture is leaving us more and more divided over what is “right” and “wrong.”

The rightness or wrongness of public policy depends ultimately upon a belief in objective truths which individuals accept and are willing to implement through their decisions and actions. For example, our founding fathers believed that the “human rights” of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are endowed from a sovereign Creator. It follows, that freedom is secure as long as the citizens recognize their responsibility to steward their time, talents, wealth, and power in cooperation with God’s divine purposes. The apostle Paul asks, “what do you have that you did not receive (I Corinthians 4:7)?”

Personally, I believe the most fundamental concept of a “free society” is the concept of stewardship. Stewards recognize that what they “have” is ultimately “on loan” from God. Such stewardship is guided and motivated by “love”—love which itself comes ultimately from the overflow of the God of the Bible Who is love. The citizen-steward who is motivated by love can do “what is required of him” as stated through the Old Testament prophet Micah; namely, “do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)."

Political leaders and citizens who exercise biblical stewardship marked by a passion for justice, mercy, and humility will seek godly wisdom in matters like affordable housing, human fertility, health care provisions, and climate change. Such wisdom from above will help us correctly discern the respective roles of social institutions – family, church, and government—and how each can do its part in promoting “social justice” whose ultimate goal is “righteous living.” The best “stimulus packages” are those containing just what is needed for each individual and community of America, filled and provided through godly wisdom by members most closely acquainted with the needs at hand, motivated by the great commandment—“to love the Lord your God... and your neighbor as thyself (Matthew 22:37,39).”

And so, as the first decade of millennium 2000 comes to an end, leaving us with huge challenges, please be encouraged by a God Who calls us to be His children (John 1:12). As His children, we are to be stewards of the riches of His wisdom and of the time, abilities, and resources entrusted to us. God gives us the responsibility to use what we “have” in ways that promote “biblical justice and mercy” toward our neighbor and toward the creation around us.

Perhaps “A Steward’s Prayer” recently published in Flourish Magazine online will convey a stewardship perspective to you as you read and pray through it, and plan to make a difference in 2010.

Climate Change Debate Demands “Good Science”

In today’s world, science and technology influence our lives at every turn. Science has not only shaped our worldview; it literally shapes our view of the world. Digital technology awakens us in the morning, provides our coffee, delivers the news from anywhere in the world, helps us to plan our day, and converse around the world by wireless communication. The clothes we wear, the food we eat, and the vehicles we drive all shape our lives as fruits of science.

But science is not value-free. Science is a human endeavor and the fruits it yields to society depend upon the values of the culture. For a culture to prosper, it must value education and the pursuit of knowledge, freedom of expression, respect for ones neighbor, and reverence for all creatures and the physical order. Each of these values must be undergirded by an ethic that seeks after scientific truth – i.e. ‘What is true?’ or, “What best conforms to physical reality?”– and wisdom – i.e. ‘What is right?’, or ‘right application of knowledge in a world that recognizes the human capacity to do evil.’

Right application of scientific knowledge demands freedom of expression so that all who wish to participate may do so by offering rigorous critique and additional experimentation. The so-called “scientific method” has demonstrated itself to be very effective in identifying correct judgements about the natural world when scientists function as a community in a professional, ethical, and objective manner. It is particularly important that these elements be present where scientific authority is being used to influence public policy. Where one or more of these elements are missing, science risks being hijacked by a relative few who seek to use its fruits for political and economic gain.

For example, many global climate scientists utilize climate models that point to global warming to advocate both national and international policy changes aimed at reducing production of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Such policies are designed to reduce human consumption of fossil fuels and discourage other practices that are believed to cause global warming. However, some are concerned that such policy changes will provide little relief to either planet Earth or to the poor while at the same time shifting the balance of power to central governing bodies at the national and international level.

Given the immense impact of climate change-driven public policy decisions, it is particularly disturbing that the above ingredients necessary for a “healthy science community” may be lacking. It is not my purpose here to debate whether global warming is occurring or the magnitude of the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, I am concerned about the growing evidence that scientific openness and objectivity are being suppressed by political agendas both within government and within the scientific community.

For example, the recent hacking of e-mails and documents from the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University, Norwich, England, suggests efforts to intimidate or discredit opposing scientists (or see Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2006), suppress exchange of climate data, and suppress publications that question the assumptions of climate change models. Dr. Tim Ball, Canadian climatologist, expresses his concern in a recent YouTube interview. Remarkably, little attention is being given to the implication of the e-mail exposures.

Wouldn’t a healthy scientific community be well served if it were to openly take stock of the revealing e-mails and to own up to any private doubts or attempts to suppress conflicting or controversial data? Isn’t this an opportunity to test the expertise, professional ethics and motivations of climate scientists on both sides of the issue? Certainly, the lessons of the “Lysenko Affair” in the Soviet Union under Stalin testify of how science, hijacked by political interests, both stifled scientific progress and caused starvation and death of millions . Good science may not only provide answers to the “climate debate” but contribute to a more certain and sustained rationale for establishing lifestyles that foster human stewardship of the Earth.

Individual vs. Corporate Creation Care

In her August 18, 2009 blog entry in Flourish online, Kendra Juskus, Flourish’s Managing Editor comments on an article by Derrick Jensen, entitled “Forget Shorter Showers”, published in Orion Magazine. Juskus summarizes Jensen’s thesis as follows:

“lifestyle changes adopted on an individual level are powerless to change creation’s trajectory toward destruction, and that more organized forms of resistance to that destruction are crucial for any change to happen.”

Jensen cites four major problems that result from relying on personal changes alone as a means of changing Earth’s trajectory toward destruction: First, emphasis on individual lifestyle assumes “that humans inevitably harm their landbase.” Second, it places blame for environmental degradation on the individual. Third, according to Jensen, emphasis on the individual narrowly views humans by portraying us only as consumers. Finally, its logic leads to the conclusion that the most stewardly act of the individual toward the Earth is to take one’s life.

Thankfully, the biblical basis for human concern for the Earth is grounded in a balance between stewardship of individual freedom and opportunity, on the one hand, and an accountability of the individual toward God-ordained institutions of family, church, and government on the other hand. With freedom to utilize the resources of the planet to support our lives, livelihoods, and recreational enjoyment, there is also the responsibility to limit our own consumption and enterprises so as not to jeopardize the well being of our neighbor, our local communities, and the global community.

It would seem that the institutions of family and church provide an excellent context within which we as individuals can grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and grow in the character qualities and virtues that encourage right living, love for God and for our neighbor, and frugal consumption. As the body of Christ seeks by the power of the Holy Spirit to be a “community” that mutually reinforces such a lifestyle, Christians can be empowered not only to give the Gospel but to be the salt and light that makes for a powerful witness both individually and through institutions in ways that adorn the Gospel and steward the creation.

All well and good. But are churches, particularly in North America, nurturing a passion both for the pursuit of Godliness among believers both individually and corporately as the body of Christ. Does the church stir a passion within us to seek reconciliation of God and humankind as well as between humankind and creation? Is this not what is meant when we pray, "Thy kingdom come on Earth as it is in heaven?" How would you assess your current "spiritual health" and the "health of the church?"