Environment?
No Yes Not Sure
Fig. 3: Distinguishing the Christian Mandate
It is clear from the results revealed in the chart/graph above that Christian leaders realize that there is a difference between what secular movements are teaching about the environment and what the Bible teaches as revealed by the majority answer “yes,” which made up eighty percent of the responses. None of the Christian leaders answered “no,” which would have revealed a lack of knowledge of this difference. This is very encouraging given that some of
these movements are mostly humanistic, pantheistic or atheistic15 and their teachings are inconsistent with the Bible. It is true that a lot of the environmentalism that is seen today has been driven by these secular movements. However, while the active environmentalism that has resulted is to be commended, the teachings of these movements have to be corrected as some even believe nature is to be worshipped like God.16 From a Christian perspective, it is known that while nature has to be respected and cared for as God’s creation, this does not mean that
mankind has to worship it.17That is why it is encouraging that Christian leaders do understand the difference between the secular views and the Christian views. Christian leaders have to be aware of this difference in order to effectively lead in the environmental agenda.
While the awareness of the differences between the secular and Christian views of environmental protection is apparent, the fact that twenty percent of the Christian leaders stated that they were not sure of this difference is troubling. This is because Christian leader are the ones supposed to lead the way in the biblical environmental protection agenda. If they are not sure of the difference, they might end up preaching a theology of nature that reeks of pantheism, materialism or other neo-paganist views of the environment.
In spite of the above, it brings a lot of hope to realize that Christian leaders see
themselves as the ones with the role of leading the way and teaching the truth about what true biblical environmentalism is as revealed by the responses to question 9. In fact, ninety six percent of the Christian leaders surveyed indicated that it was not good for Christian leaders to leave it up to secular groups to lead the way in environmental protection.
Clearly, the results revealed that the Christian environmental mandate is distinct from
15
Geisler, Christian Ethics. 16 Geisler, Christian Ethics.
secular teachings and that leaders need to teach this truth. Therefore, any recommendation that is to be made has to take cognizance of this fact and be based on environmental stewardship as defined by the Bible. No other theory of nature meets the standard of truth that the Bible brings and should not be used as the basis of the theology of nature that will be recommended.
The Theocentric nature of Biblical Environmentalism
To ensure easy analysis a multi-bar chart was used to indicate the results of the questions that were asked to reveal is Christian leaders understand the theocentric nature of biblical
environmentalism. The chart 4 below reveals the results to questions 20, 21 and 24, which pertain to the theocentric nature of Christian environmentalism:
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Question 20 - Environmental Stewardship Indicates Obedience to God Question 21 - Environmental Stewardship Indicates Goodness and Faithfulness to God Question 24 - Environmental Stewardship Glorifies God Yes No Not Sure
Fig. 4: Theocentric Nature of Biblical Environmentalism
The results of questions 20, 21 and 24 showed that Christian leaders understand that Christian environmentalism is a God-given mandate as revealed by the majority “yes” responses as opposed to the “no” and “not sure” responses. This derives from the understanding that Christians love nature because God created it, loves it and has given them a mandate to take care
of nature, which He will finally redeem.18 He cares for nature and maintains it as a very present and faithful landlord, who faithfully does everything necessary to ensure that creation functions as He created it to.19The responses also reveal that Christian leaders understand that biblical environmentalism derives from God not just man’s love for nature. It is also clear that Christian leaders understand that taking care of the environment amounts to good stewardship and
obedience to God, who gets the glory when things go according to His plan. This is because Christian environmentalism always derives from God and this means that mankind cares for nature but serves and worships God alone.20
While the majority of the responses were positive revealing an understanding of the theocentric nature of biblical environmentalism, it was worrying that about eighteen percent of Christian leaders answered that they were not sure when asked if good environmental protection and stewardship amount to obedience to God. One wonders how such a large percentage of the sample of Christian leaders would not know about this given that they spend a lot of time studying the Bible and should have been trained about this in seminary. As if that were not enough, twelve percent of the respondents answered that they were not sure when asked if it is important for Christians to be good and faithful servants of God by exercising good
environmental stewardship. Such lack of knowledge is worrying, even though the majority of the responses revealed awareness. It is this researcher’s opinion that no Christian leader should be unaware of biblical environmentalism, given that the Bible speaks about it clearly. God is the
18 Dan Story, Should Christians Be Environmentalists?
19
D.C Jones, “Theology of Nature,” 817.
creator21 and owner of all things22 and has entrusted the earth and its resources to mankind’s care. Mankind has to become trustworthy stewards of what God has entrusted 23 because a time is coming when those who destroy the earth will be judged.24
Christian Environmentalism as an Expression of Love
As noted earlier, question 22 was asked to inquire from Christian leaders if Christian environmentalism was an expression of love for God’s people in other parts of the world who may be affected by environmental inaction. The responses to question 22 were presented in the bar chart below for easy analysis.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Yes No Not Sure