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Evangelicalism and the Environmental Movement
John MacArthur
Grace to You
I do think we have a responsibility to care for the environment — we ought to care for every resource God has provided for us.
That’s illustrated in the Old Testament account where God put Israel in the Promised Land, a fertile land flowing with milk and honey. God provided them that productive land and commanded them to let the soil rest every seventh year.
You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your
people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove (Exodus 23:10-11; cf. Leviticus 25:1-7).
God gave that command because He didn’t want them to exploit the land and extract all its life. Allowing the land to rest every seven years ensured that it rejuvenated itself and continued to provide in the future.
When the Lord gave the Israelites the Mosaic Law, He warned them if they apostatized, He would remove them from the land (Deuteronomy 28). Sadly, the children of Israel did just that and came under judgment — the Northern tribes fell to Assyria in 722 B.C., and Judah to Babylon in 605 B.C. In fact, God designated the Babylonian captivity as a seventy-year captivity to rest the land for all the Sabbath years that Israel violated (cf. Leviticus 26:33-35; 2 Chronicles 36:17–21).
So I believe we are charged to treat responsibly all the wonderful resources God has given us. But that, in fact, has very little to do with the environmental movement. The environmental movement is consumed with trying to preserve the planet forever. But we know that isn’t in God’s plan.
The earth we inhabit is not a permanent planet. It is, frankly, a disposable planet — it is going to have a very short life. It’s been around six thousand years or so — that’s all — and it may last a few thousand more. And then the Lord is going to destroy it.
Most Recent User Comments
walkingmercy
6/25/2007 4:25 PM
This article belittles the role of stewards of creation that God has placed upon humanity. By writing off the earth as 'disposable' and essentially saying its going to blow up anyway discounts that we are sinning when we do not take care of God's creation as he has commanded. Where in the bible does it say that our ancestors will not be around in 10,000 years? In fact, it is the poor of the earth - the very one's that Jesus commanded us to take care of - that suffer the most from environmental degredation and global warming. I urge readers to think and pray upon the attitute that's required to be true stewards of the land. This article doesn't demonstrate it.
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duncansil
2/12/2007 9:30 PM
I may be mistaken but I get from the tone of your article that we can use up what we want now because it won't matter for much longer? I too await the return of our Lord but we nor anyone knows when that will be. And in the meantime lets use the resources the Lord has given us as best as we can for everyone in the world; water for the thirsty, food for the weak. As Christians we could be using the resources in a much more loving way than most of us do. Ask yourself is what you consume annually is treating your neighbor as yourself? Sure the environmental movement is associated to some degree with new age and paganism, but that doesn't mean everything they say about using our world's resources in a more responsible manner is wrong. And by the way the world being 6000 years old is a opinion not a fact [check out reasons.org]. That may give you a expanded view on God's timeline. God Bless!
zerblig
2/12/2007 9:45 AM
Nice concise point made by MacArthur about how earth is supposed to be disposable. Never considered that angle before.
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