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 Editorials | Opinions | March 2007 
Caring for Creation: The Greatest Moral Crisis of Our Age
 J. Matthew Sleeth, MD - t r u t h o u t
| | Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth is author of Serve God, Save the Planet, A Christian Call to Action. For more information, see www.servegodsavetheplanet.org |
Jim Dobson and several conservative Christian groups have sent a letter urging the National Association of Evangelicals to force its policy director in Washington to stop speaking out on global warming.
As a physician, environmentalist, and evangelical Christian, I can state without reservation that global warming is real and that it disproportionately harms our one billion neighbors who live on a dollar a day or less. But, as Christians, our concern should not just be global warming; it should extend to caring for all of God's creation. We might argue about the extent of man's contribution to global warming, but we cannot deny the dome of smog that hangs over many of the world's cities, the thousands of species that are going extinct, and the increasing scarcity and access to fresh drinking water.
The Bible repeatedly commands us to demonstrate our love for the Creator by caring for His creation. We are further told to love our neighbor, particularly the least among us who are hurt most by our profligate use of resources, by stewarding God's blessings wisely.
Until six years ago, I was director of an emergency room and chief of the medical staff of a beautiful hospital in New England. I had all the trappings of the American Dream - a big house in a postcard-perfect village, two luxury cars and lots of stuff. Then in one week's time I admitted three women in their thirties with breast cancer, all to die. I decided that it was time to "stop running for the cure," and to start looking for the cause.
The Bible calls me to take the plank out of my own eye before I worry about the speck in my neighbor's. So my family took an accounting and found that our energy usage was exactly average for America - which is well above the global norm. Yes, compared to other physicians, my family was using less, but the Bible tells us to measure our lives against the example set by Jesus. When held against His humble life of service - Jesus never owned a home, had more than one cloak, or rode except on a borrowed colt - my consumerist lifestyle was indefensible.
Over the next year, my family embarked on a spiritual and environmental journey that resulted in us cutting back our electricity usage to one-tenth the national average and our fossil fuel use to one-third. We gave away half our possessions and moved into a house with the same footprint as our old garage. (Don't feel too sorry for me; we had a big garage.) Along the way, my wife, two teenage children, and I all were born again into a new and better life of service. I quit my job and began speaking, preaching and writing full time about faith and the environment.
So what is the ethical response to global warming? Christians must start by acknowledging their complicity. The vast majority of our resource consumption does nothing to glorify God. In fact, it does just the opposite.
As in any moral dilemma, evangelical Christians look to the Bible for wisdom. In Christ's most known sermon, given on a mountain, He tells us that "the meek shall inherit the earth." We must set an example by the way we live our lives and steward limited resources.
It is time for Americans of faith to put aside their squabbles and begin working together to solve the greatest moral issue of our day. Future generations will not judge us by our rhetoric or good intentions, only by our faithful actions.
Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth is author of Serve God, Save the Planet, A Christian Call to Action. For more information, see www.servegodsavetheplanet.org. |
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