From Dean Ohlman on October 16, 2008

A believer is an evangelist primarily by who he is and how he lives—not
by what he says. What he says is important;
but unless his speaking tallies with
what he is and does, he had
better keep quiet.
[Joseph Sittler, 1973]

Evangelical Christians often resist the efforts of environmental activists to move them toward more effective and responsible behavior regarding the environmental health of the natural world—what we call “the creation.” We do this in part because of our perception that most vocal environmental activists are either New Agers, amoral celebrities, or secular humanists. We typically think of these individuals as nature worshipers who believe everything is God, sentimental animal lovers who see no fundamental difference between people and their pets, or atheists whose only god is naturalistic evolution. Evangelicals are reluctant to become fellow travelers with those who appear to have such unbiblical views about the nature of the earth—even if there is no biblical reason for us to oppose the responsibility of caring for the creation. We hesitate to work shoulder to shoulder with individuals whose connections and motivations are non-Christian—often for fear that our churches, friends, and families will think we’ve been duped by eco-pagans, eco-socialists, pop idols, or godless scientists. Further, we have been trained to believe that our primary responsibility is to share the gospel with them—to tell them the good news about Jesus, not share a stream-bank clean-up with them. We ask, “Isn’t evangelism more important than caring for the creation?” And to that we typically answer, “of course.”

However, evangelicals would probably not say “of course” in response to a similar question: “Isn’t evangelism more important than parenting?” A more likely evangelical answer to that question would be, “of course not; these are two different kinds of responsibility, and we cannot neglect either of them.” Good answer. But I’m afraid that it’s not a conclusion we have considered in depth. If we did, we’d discover that there are many other fundamental human responsibilities, like parenting, that God requires of us. In reality the amount of time evangelicals actually spend in direct verbal sharing of the gospel is tiny—if we indeed even do it.

Most of our time, like the time of most of non-Christians, is spent on responsibilities related to living and loving—responsibilities we believe are also mandated by our Creator. Most of us would see it as sinful to neglect our loved ones or ignore our own health and livelihood in order that we can be out somewhere “proclaiming the gospel.” The reason is that we do indeed have different kinds of responsibilities. And I would propose that a God-given duty like parenting is even more basic than evangelism. I believe the Bible itself implies this. So what are the other responsibilities we have to our Creator? Consider humanity’s first responsibilities as they are indicated in the Bible’s first chapters:

1. Be masters over the other creatures, and allow them to multiply
(Genesis 1:26, 28)
2. Multiply and fill the earth (1:28)
3. Bring the earth into God-honoring subjection (1:28)
4. Cultivate the soil (by implication in 2:5)
5. Tend, care for, and protect the Garden
(by implication, the earth, in 2:15)
6. Marry heterosexually and reproduce
(an implication of man and woman becoming “one flesh” in 2:24-25)

Note that these responsibilities are no different for those who love God and follow Jesus and for those who despise God and reject Jesus. They are simply the foundational mandates of being human—of being creatures made in the image of God (whether or not one acknowledges that fact). We could call these our “material-creational” responsibilities (duties assigned to humanity by our Creator in the beginning). And they are expected of all people. By implication such duties would clearly prohibit our abusing and threatening the existence of creatures under our care and abusing and threatening the capacity of the earth to be fruitful and generate the products necessary to the life and health of all God’s creatures. They are the responsibilities we have as virtual vice-regents on the earth under the overarching regency of our Creator and Rescuer. Here is a general implied list of some universal human responsibilities to the earth and its creatures:

Our material-creational responsibilities (for all human beings)

Obtain food and water
Obtain shelter
Maintain health and safety
Bear children
Care for our families from conception until death
Care for the creation from which all living things sustain life

Again it’s important to note that no one is exempted from these prime responsibilities, regardless of his or her spiritual condition or status as a believer in God or follower of Jesus. These are simply the “first things” of being human. It’s from the remainder of the Scriptures that we gain an understanding of what are the more specific responsibilities of believers in God and followers of Jesus. These can be considered a Christian’s “spiritual-relational responsibilities.” Here is a less than exhaustive list:

Spiritual-relational responsibilities (for followers of Christ)

Loving God and loving and caring for our neighbors as we love
and care for ourselves
Sharing the good news about Jesus as our Savior and Rescuer.
Sharing the good news about Jesus restoring all things
when He comes again
Making disciples of Jesus
Modeling Jesus before the world
Being good citizens by sacrificial and orderly living

From such a differentiation of responsibilities it becomes clear to me that the latter follow from the former. In fact, we would fail in our spiritual-relational responsibilities if we failed to carry out our more basic material-creational responsibilities. An even more basic understanding here is that the material-creational responsibilities relate to the body (yet with spiritual implications), the spiritual-relational ones relate to the soul (yet with material implications).

This understanding, then, makes the question “isn’t evangelism more important than caring for creation?” meaningless. Further, if we are not tending to our fundamental responsibilities in an obedient and God-honoring way, we cannot expect to carry out the latter duties with any effectiveness. So one can be justified in believing that carrying out our material-creational responsibilities in an exemplary way is living the gospel —behavior without which our proclaiming the gospel becomes hollow.

We need to recognize that our material-creational and our spiritual-relational tasks are not conflicting responsibilities; they are complementary responsibilities that typically occur in a consecutive and ascending manner (much like Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs). And because we evangelical Christians have often failed to give due consideration to the general duties given by God to all mankind, the specific duty of proclaiming the gospel—the Good News—often falls on deaf ears. Can we really be good Christians without also being wise and materially responsible good people, good spouses, good parents, good providers, and good stewards of God’s creation?

Followers of Jesus should be committed activists in the cause of environmental responsibility—people who acknowledge and have compassion for both the Creator and His creation. We should be leading the way in responsible behavior concerning God’s good work, and not be seen by non-Christians as abusers or careless consumers of His creation.

It would also be wise for us to be instructed by the ultimate meaning of “responsibility”: it is the “ability to respond.” Respond to what? Respond first to the love and common grace of God, and also to our God-given obligation to be good stewards of all His creation gifts. It’s instructional for us to understand the psalmist who reveals that the things made by the hand of God will join with us to tell of the glory of the LORD’s kingdom and speak of His might so that all men may know of His mighty acts and the glorious splendor of His kingdom.

The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.

[Direct address]
All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you.
They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might,
so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor
of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.

(Ps 145:9-13NIV)

Dean Ohlman