Submitted by Pastor Josh Brumbaugh
Should we be worried about global warming? In particular, should Christians – those who profess to follow Jesus Christ – be anxious about global warming? It seems about once a week that we get some reminder in the news about global warming. Sometimes it is a scientist or politician expressing concern about the future of our planet. And sometimes skeptics (be they meteorologist, politician or otherwise) openly deny even the reality of global warming.
I don’t know about you, but I am honestly uncertain what to make of all this. If scientists vehemently disagree – not only on the interpretation of the data but on the legitimacy of the data itself what should we think? The truth is out there. Objectively either the mean global temperature truly is deviating from the small fluctuations that occur or it is not. Unfortunately, we’ve become so adept at “spin” these days that it is difficult to know who to believe and even more importantly where to place our trust.
The Christian Church has the reputation of being indifferent and unresponsive to global warming. But the Bible makes it quite clear that man is responsible to care for the Earth – to manage its resources in a sustainable way: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”. (See Genesis 1:28-30) Good stewardship of the earth is a way of showing neighbor love (Matthew 22:39). So recycling, reducing our carbon footprint, conservation, gardening, etc. can be practical ways to be good stewards. And after breathing the sooty exhaust of trucks and cars in Nairobi, Kenya – I for one am thankful for the more stringent pollution requirements of the USA!
However, though we are called to be good stewards of the Earth, we must not put our hope or our trust in our efforts. I’m writing this article because I see so many in our community putting their hope in man’s ability to manage the earth or in the earth’s ability to regenerate itself. It comes down to the issue of trust. Who do you believe has the correct understanding of the situation? If we could agree that global warming was a legitimate concern, who or what do you trust will correct it? Which camp of scientists, politicians and ecological gurus do you find yourself in – the establishment or the naysayers? Or perhaps you are like the former NBA player that Frank Layden, president of the Utah Jazz, once asked, “Son, what is it with you? Is it ignorance or apathy?” The player replied, “Coach, I don’t know and I don’t care.”
The point of this article is not to weigh in on the debate & register my opinion. The concern I have as a Christian is: in what do we place our hope? If we are headed to the brink of danger, who do we trust to save us? Man? “Mother Earth”? Our Heavenly Father? I personally do not have a settled conviction on whether global warming is merely a trend or a real and present danger. However, as a Christian I do have a settled conviction on who I trust to save us – from this danger and every other threat like nuclear weapons, biological weapons, meteors & fresh water crises – God our Father in Heaven.
I am writing this article because I am not sure I have yet seen a coherent Christian solution to the threat of global warming. The typical solutions being offered are either to trust man or to trust “mother earth”. Neither of these options are palatable to me.
Option 1) Trust man. On the one hand, mankind is carefully monitoring the global temperature with instruments on earth, satellites in space, & scientists with tape measures at the polar ice caps. Scientists and politicians are offering all sorts of solutions. They range from the obvious – like reduce greenhouse gases, to the intriguing – like pumping cooler ocean water to the surface to reduce the surface temperature of the ocean, to the outlandish – like huge mirrors in space to deflect solar energy.
As a former engineer the vast majority of solutions that scientists propose make me nervous. I worked for a number of years on jet engines. These are sophisticated machines of 100,000+ parts that operate in very difficult environments – high g forces, temperature range of -100F to ~1500F in the turbine, & many other criteria. It typically requires a team of thousands of scientists and engineers to design a modern high performance turbo machine. And in the process of design there is a term that brings smiles to every nervous engineer: factor of safety. This basically means, when a part is under its worse load condition how much more can it take before it breaks? It is critical that a part doesn’t break because if you are flying a single engine aircraft and a part inside the engine breaks, the engine stops and now you are strapped to a metal rock. You can guess what happens next! The reason a scientist or engineer makes something with extra margin of safety in it is because the more sophisticated a system is the more difficult it is to predict what will happen. At the end of the day, no matter what your numbers predict on paper – every self-respecting engineer wants to break a few parts/engines to make sure it will work. In jet engine design there are always redesigns because you simply cannot perfectly predict what will happen. Here is my point: if scientists & engineers struggle to understand & correct complex machinery like jet engines, how much more will they struggle to understand & correct the complex machinery of our planet!? There are a lot of very smart people out there, but at the end of the day they are fallible. That is why I will not put my trust ultimately in man.
Option 2) Trust “Mother Earth”. I value this planet very much. You would have to be pretty unobservant not to marvel at the beauty of southern Wisconsin – the lush green after a warm summer rain, the golden fields of wheat, flowers – marvelous! But it seems that the other common solution to global warming is basically to worship “Mother Earth”. In this sense, the earth is seen as ultimate. We were created to serve her, rather than she created to serve us. This is an ancient myth that is repackaged by Hollywood in the movie Avatar. In this movie the indigenous people of the planet Pandora are threatened by the scourge of the universe: mankind. I won’t spoil the story for you if I tell you that basically “mother earth/Pandora” fights off her human enemies to protect herself. Worshipping “mother earth” is the second solution offered to global warming. As a Christian I object to this approach because the Bible teaches not only that earth is not our mother nor a god, but that the earth serves us. What is the pinnacle of God’s creation? It is not earth. It is God’s image bearers: man & woman (Genesis 1). Sounds preposterous to our modern ears doesn’t it!? You mean to tell me that God would create this entire planet, this entire universe simply to support human beings? Yes. Our Father loves us that much. (e.g. see Psalm 
This leads me to the only One to whom we can truly trust the matter of global warming: Our Creator & Father in Heaven.
Option 3) Trust God. Let’s assume that global warming truly is a real & present danger – how should a Christian respond? The only Christian response is to put your trust in God alone. To be a Christian means that you believe that God exists (Hebrews 11:6) and that He is sovereignly in control. Jeremiah 32:17 says, “Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” If you believe God created this marvelous planet, then certainly it is a small thing for Him to monitor and maintain His planet!? I don’t know about you, but I much prefer God’s hand to be on Earth’s thermostat than man’s! To put it simply, I trust God and no other. So if you are anxious or concerned about global warming in even the slightest – pray. If you’re responsible you will be a good steward of the small plot of land you’ve been entrusted with but don’t put your trust or hope in your efforts. Put your hope & trust in God. Lay this concern on the broad shoulders of your loving Heavenly Father and trust Him to do what must be done.
