From Dean Ohlman on December 29, 2011

Last January I wrote a post about the third major “Lausanne Conference,” which occurred in the fall of 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa. In that conference world evangelical leaders added more contemporary issues to what they believe falls under the Christian responsibility of spreading the good news of the Gospel. Under its Cape Town Commitment is its “Confession of Faith” and “Call to Action.” Its seventh confession relates directly to the aim and mission of this Wonder of Creation website and its organizational host, RBC Ministries. I thought it would be good to repeat this as we contemplate ways we can become more loving, active, and effective as followers of Christ in 2012:

Confession 7: We Love God’s World

Waters coverning the sea NASA

We share God’s passion for his world, loving all that God has made, rejoicing in God’s providence and justice throughout his creation, proclaiming the good news to all creation and all nations, and longing for the day when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

We love the world of God’s creation. This love is not mere sentimental affection for nature (which the Bible nowhere commands), still less is it pantheistic worship of nature (which the Bible expressly forbids). Rather it is the logical outworking of our love for God by caring for what belongs to him. ‘The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.’ The earth is the property of the God we claim to love and obey. We care for the earth, most simply, because it belongs to the one whom we call Lord.

Working on an A Rocha project

The earth is created, sustained and redeemed by Christ. We cannot claim to love God while abusing what belongs to Christ by right of creation, redemption and inheritance. We care for the earth and responsibly use its abundant resources, not according to the rationale of the secular world, but for the Lord’s sake. If Jesus is Lord of all the earth, we cannot separate our relationship to Christ from how we act in relation to the earth. For to proclaim the gospel that says ‘Jesus is Lord’ is to proclaim the gospel that includes the earth, since Christ’s Lordship is over all creation. Creation care is a thus a gospel issue within the Lordship of Christ.

Global trash on Hawaiian coast

Such love for God’s creation demands that we repent of our part in the destruction, waste and pollution of the earth’s resources and our collusion in the toxic idolatry of consumerism. Instead, we commit ourselves to urgent and prophetic ecological responsibility. We support Christians whose particular missional calling is to environmental advocacy and action, as well as those committed to godly fulfillment of the mandate to provide for human welfare and needs by exercising responsible dominion and stewardship. The Bible declares God’s redemptive purpose for creation itself. Integral mission means discerning, proclaiming, and living out the biblical truth that the gospel is God’s good news, through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for individual persons, and for society, and for creation. All three are broken and suffering because of sin; all three are included in the redeeming love and mission of God; all three must be part of the comprehensive mission of God’s people.

KEY SCRIPTURE:
The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. All your works praise you, LORD; your faithful people extol you. They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom (Psalm 145:9-12).

See the report by my friend Ed Brown, author of the book Our Father’s World and CEO of Care of Creation. Ed was in Cape Town for the conference. A large number of Christian organizations have used the Lausanne Covenant as their statement of faith. It was one of the 20th century’s most significant statements about the beliefs of the worldwide Body of Christ. It is worth reading every year. You might also want to drop in on some of the sites that appear in the right sidebar of this page. Consider if you might want to become involved in one of those organizations in 2012.