Is the earth our sacred mother? Is global warming true or not true? Are Christians responsible for messing up the environment? What's the Bible say about the church and the environment?
That's today. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are a discipleship-driven ministry on a mission to encourage Christians everywhere to live like Christians. Have you ever thought about these questions Chip just posed? To some, this topic may seem a bit unimportant compared to what else we've addressed lately, but today as we continue our series Caring Enough to Confront, we'll learn that God has some pretty direct things to say about His creation and our duties to it as followers of Christ.
So with that, here now is Chip with his talk, The Church and the Environment. There are a few topics that I've ever encountered that cause as much controversy and polarizing opinions as when you say, what do you think of the environment? What are the issues?
What's the problem? And I've read a lot, and in my research I've found people that will give me amazing statistics and tell me exactly who to blame, and then I read some more and I find there's a different group of people or multiple groups of people that will tell me all those people are wrong and they give me a whole different set of statistics, and I mean it is like heat, heat, heat. In fact, as I read I started to jot down sort of some major different perspectives that different groups have. I mean just to get my arms around this, and I'm just going to go through, these are actual perspectives people have on the environment, and then as I kind of read through these I'd like you to think about, so what's mine?
What do I really think? One group says the real issue with the environment is whether global warming is happening or not. That's the deal. Another group says no, no, no, no. Tree huggers and environmentalists, they're liberal, new age folks seeking to thwart economic progress and prosperity. Another group says no, that's not really it. The problem we're in today is a direct result of the dominion dogma taught for centuries from Genesis chapter one. It's those Christians and their teaching and what they've said that has caused this idea of subduing the planet.
Well, they've subdued it all right. Another group says the whole environment debate is overblown. This is a religious group.
The Bible says it's all going to burn anyway, so don't worry about it. Yet another group says the earth is our sacred mother, and it's the equal giver of life of all species, and so all species should be protected equally. And so this is sort of a pantheistic, the earth is in fact God. And then finally, sort of the skeptic or pragmatist is the going green movement in business and government is just a sham to exercise undue control and increase profits. Now, I don't know about you, but if you would just read through those and realize they're all over the map and they conflict one another radically, and so I would ask you, so if I put a microphone in front of you and then they put a camera and we're going to broadcast this to the world, and I said, okay, those are a lot of different views, what do you believe about the environment? What are your convictions? What's true? What's false?
What's right? How should we live and why? And your answer would be, when I looked at all these different opinions, what I realized maybe what I needed to do and so I thought might be good for you too, maybe I need to really ask and answer the question, how as a follower of Jesus Christ do I need to think and act and respond with regard to the environment? And maybe the best place to start rather than all those heated views is at least just do the basics and back up and say, what does God say about the environment? I mean, what does the Bible actually teach about the environment?
And then kind of take that for sure truth and apply it to all these different issues that we're faced day in and day out. I want you to go on a journey with me and I'm just gonna tell you, I have never done, I'm a little bit ashamed to say this, I've never done a study of scripture just for the environment all by itself. I've alluded to it in different things over the years and so as I begin to read, I thought, okay, if I had to boil it down to six absolute things that the Bible says for sure about the environment, about our responsibility to it, here's six things I know for sure as kind of the basis or the grid to make wise decisions in terms of how I'm gonna respond to all those different views. Number one is the earth belongs to God. It's foundational. Psalm 24 one and two says the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. For he founded it on the seas, he established it on the waters. In essence, when you start with scripture and the truth, God says the earth is mine, everything in it is mine and therefore since I'm God and I made it, it's spiritual and it's important and it matters and you can't just blow off this issue.
This really, really matters. The implication is we're to honor God's creation. We're to honor God's creation.
Now, if you would, open your Bibles because we're gonna be there in just a second, just the very, very first page, all right? Genesis chapter one, just how it opens. The very first thing we learn from the Bible is in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and it goes on in chapters one and two to talk about that process and keep your finger there because we'll be back there in a minute. But we're to honor God because he made it, he created it. Not only did he create it but as he created it, he said it is good, it is good, it is good, it is good and then later he will take the pinnacle of creation which is you and me and say it's very good. So how do you honor God? He's the greatest artist and he's the greatest architect who's infinite, who's all wise, who's all powerful and who's all knowing and one of the great ways we honor him is we respect what he has made, we study what he has made and we give him honor and credit and praise for the beauty and the provision that he's made for us. The earth is valuable, it is precious, it's irreplaceable and here's a word you might jot down, it's sacred. It's not just a piece of land, it's not just air to breathe, God made it, it's sacred. A trite illustration but it kind of brought it into focus for me.
Early in our marriage I was working for a guy and doing some part time jobs, I was doing some other things and Teresa and I were going to have a getaway weekend and we were very poor and he was my boss and he was pretty wealthy and he knew all about it and so the day that I was going to get away, it was like a Friday for a weekend, he pulls up and he goes hey I have a little gift for you to really enjoy your time and this will date me but that's okay and so he pulls up and if you can remember it was like the first or second year the 280Z came out and it was a silver hottest sports car going at the time, it was super fast, it was like being in the cockpit of an airplane and he hands these keys to me and goes I want you and your wife to have a really good time. My first thought was if I wreck this car I'll die and it's my boss and then the second was I probably should test this to make sure it's going to be okay for me and my wife on this trip and so boy I punched that thing a few times and like whoa this is like way too much fun and so then you know so she get in and we you know well here I am and going down the road and I feel really cool and so then we get to this little place and I think I got a park where someone's not near it you know if what if a door hits it or here's my point my boss gave me something precious and sacred that I it was for me for my pleasure but I felt a tremendous weight of responsibility to both enjoy it and not mess it up. How much more, how much more God thinks that way about the earth and the planet that he's entrusted to you and me. Which is the second point. God appointed mankind dominion over the earth. Psalm 115 16 says the highest heavens belong to the Lord but the earth he has given to man.
Underline the word belong and encircle the word given. He's given to man. So God says I've created this but I've created it in the highest heavens and I'm the creator I've given this to man. Well what's that mean? Here's the implication we are the earth's vice regents. We're the caretaker we're the managers we're the stewards.
He says I've created all this but I'm putting you in charge. If you're still in Genesis 1 skip down to verse 28. It says God blessed them speaking of mankind be fruitful and increase the numbers fill the earth subdue it rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves to the ground. Those two key words are subdue and rule. They're very strong Hebrew words.
They're used elsewhere for taking absolute control. They're very powerful words. God says I gave you this earth. You are the executive vice president of this planet. You're the vice regents. You're the caretaker.
You're in charge. And so there's a real sense of authority and power and do well with this earth cultivate it develop it grow it tame it is the idea. Now unfortunately those strong words taken out of context by some of our ancestors and some present day have made it out that we can just do with the earth whatever it's just made for us and we can treat it any way we want to meet our needs for whatever we want to do. And so some of the worst offenders environmentally have been Christians in the name of God using that passage because any verse that you don't get in context is usually a wreck. Skip to chapter 2 because he's going to define a bit more about what it means to subdue. In chapter 2 skipping down to verse 15 he says the Lord God took the man and he put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it or literally to cultivate it and to take care of it.
It was to steward. It's the idea that he would take something and you have this huge opportunity and authority over this precious possession and you have this huge responsibility to care for it the way I would care for it. Again early early days Therese and I were on this journey we took everything we owned we put it in a rider truck we put our car in the back of it and then we went to Texas to prepare to go into the ministry which is very new for me I was a basketball coach. And I didn't we had $700 to our name we did not have a place to live and I didn't have a job. But other than that we were really set for this new adventure.
And so there was a missionary there who said look we're going to be out of the out of the country for six to eight weeks. You can put all your stuff because I was in a truck we had to unload it put it in his garage and you can just live in my house. You can have dominion over my house. You can use my refrigerator.
We have some fruit trees in the back. You have complete dominion over my house. My car is there if you need to use it it's yours. I had this huge opportunity and it was fun and you know I found a bunch of part time jobs and we eventually found a place to live and it all worked out well but during that time to get all of our stuff in his garage I had to take his car and park it on the side of the road and it was parked at an angle and I think that was part of it and the Texas sun was really hot and I didn't ever think about one of those shade type things so for six weeks his car didn't move with the sun coming at a certain angle. But when I went to take the car and put it back in the garage you know the part that does the windshield wiper and all that was melted together. We have a very big problem because I started with $700 to my name well I don't have $700 now and I've got to make a payment to get in that apartment that we're going to have and I checked on it and I found out it's a whole part and it's like a $139 part which back then was a lot of money and then I'm thinking what am I going to do? I can't leave this messed up and I had a miracle it's one of the early miracles of my life.
I went to a junkyard and I showed them I actually took I got screwdrivers out it was scary I'm not mechanical and I pulled this thing off and I took it to a junkyard filled with all these wires and I said I need one of these and the guy went out and pulled one of these off and I brought it back and I had no idea what I was doing but I thought well I bet the red wires go with the red wires and the green ones go with the green ones and I'm serious and I put it all together I stuck it back and it worked and it was like Lord Jesus after I'm and my wife probably said there was the Red Sea and there was Chip doing that. But here's what I'm going to tell you it never entered my mind that after he gave me dominion over his home that I would leave his car in a way that didn't work after I left. Are you starting to get I want you to get the emotion and the feel of how your Heavenly Father feels and thinks about this environment and this planet that he gave you dominion you have power to subdue but to cultivate and to care for it you're a vice regent you're a co-creator you're a caretaker. Third we learn from scripture that the earth has intrinsic value and reflects the character and the beauty of the creator underline the word character and beauty the earth nature it has intrinsic value. Notice what the scripture says in Psalm 19 the heavens declare the glory of God the skies proclaim the work of his hands day after day they pour forth speech night after night they reveal knowledge. Look at the verbs there look at the verbs of communication they declare they pour forth they proclaim they reveal. Yes the earth is a gift from God with oxygen plants four-footed creatures that can become food creatures that you can put heavy weights on so you don't have to care creatures that you can learn to cultivate God gave us subdue develop use your mind be a co-creator we started out as just gatherers and hunters and then we cultivated and then we learned about seeds and then we planted things and then we took animals and realize that some of them we could actually create livestock on a regular basis and then years later we would learn through our minds and subduing and technology that there's things inside the earth that were valuable like metals and God knew when he gave all of this that there was fossil fuels and he knew that we would we would have the ability to extract as we learn and groom because we're made in his image that we constantly develop this thing called technology but he says those are to meet your needs but what I created I didn't it's just not utilitarian I created it in a way where there is beauty nature the earth what you see what you observe in and of itself reflects who I am it's like if you see a great painting or you see a great sculpture or you go to a building that's just amazingly made how that building is made tells you a lot about the architect that painting tells you a lot about the artist that sculpture tells you a lot about the sculptor God says I made this in a way to reveal my character and my beauty I didn't have to have over you know two or three hundred kinds of beetles I didn't have to make billions of galaxies the Alps don't have to be that beautiful the Grand Canyon doesn't have to be that breathtaking I didn't have to make an ecosystem that is so delicate and so amazing that I had these little bugs that fly around and insects that take the pollen from here to here to here to here to make everything work I can go thousands of feet down and see things at the bottom of the sea that look like creatures from outer space and I can see breathtaking views of redwoods that are almost three hundred feet high that were here for thousands of years he says all of those things are to reflect that I'm God that I'm wise that there's beauty that I have power of falls in Victoria Falls in South Africa that just the roar and the rush and the beauty see God has made this for us to reflect who he is You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and we'll continue our series caring enough to confront in just a minute but quickly are you a little intimidated to talk to your friends co-workers or family about Jesus do you wish there was an easy stress-free way to share the gospel well there is stick around after the teaching as Chip highlights our newest resource that will help you and your small group talk about the message of the cross in a winsome loving way you won't want to miss it for now let's rejoin Chip for the remainder of his talk look at the implication the implication is we're to explore but not exploit we're to enjoy but not worship the earth we're to explore that are you ready for this some of you and especially some of your kids you need to get outside we're living in a world we're living in a world where some of your kids and some of you this is your body posture most all the time some of you there's stars at night trust me they're out there there's flowers or I watch people now let's get out in nature here's how people take walks there is something that will shrink your soul when you don't explore what God has made there's a part of what he's made is to comfort you there's a part of the power and the wisdom and the beauty that gets soaked into your soul through nature he speaks through his word but he speaks through nature he speaks to your heart and some of that you need to be exposed to where you get this overwhelming sense of a God who created all those stars and billions of galaxies do you think he really has the power to help me in my marriage to help me get a job to give me the grace to forgive someone who hurt me what do you think you think as I see the rotation of the seasons and how things die and they come back to life that regardless of a big failure in my past or what I've done that isn't God trying to tell me there's seasons of winter and death but there's new life and spring see it's made to teach us to renew us the danger however is we can get so involved in nature that we begin to worship it it's from the beginning of time of all the things that said to Israel worshiping idols worshiping idols and the Sun and the moon and the stars in fact if he will turn to Romans just middle of your Bible Matthew Mark Luke John Acts then hit Romans Romans chapter 1 a second critical place where he talks about creation because here's what happens when you focus on creation creation creation creation after a while you lose the Creator so places like Santa Cruz Sedona Arizona Boulder I could take you to a number of other places in the world that are just spectacularly beautiful they always gravitate to New Age colonies because people who begin to worship the creation pretty soon lose sight of the Creator but when you begin to focus on the Creator and see his creation you get an accurate picture of his greatness and his wisdom and his love and his beauty notice what the the Apostle Paul would write Romans chapter 1 picking up go down to about verse 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them well how how did God make truth plain to them for since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities well like what his eternal power his divine nature have been clearly seen being understood from that which has been made so the people without excuse for although they knew God they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were dark and what God is saying is enjoy but don't worship it the earth is not your mother the earth is a created beautiful gift from your Heavenly Father to reveal his character and to provide for you and so he says okay I made it it belongs to me second I'm gonna put you in charge of it you are a co-creator you're a vice regent you're a caretaker you're a steward and a manager of this creation that belongs to me and third don't get utilitarian it's not just getting wood out of this and it's not just a piece of dirt it's just not rocks here it's just not food to do your own thing I want you to pause and stop and explore the wonder of who I am through what I've made fourth he says mankind is placed in the middle of the created hierarchy and is uniquely responsible to God above and for the animals plants and resources below I like you if you would circle that word hierarchy and underline the phrase uniquely responsible God made the planet and the earth he said it's good and it's interesting we read it it says by his finger he created the galaxies the moon and the stars but when God talks about creating you and me it says he formed us with his hands and he he breathed life in us into our flesh there's the Creator a little bit lower than the Creator there is mankind made in his image unlike any animal or any plant you can think and feel and reason stamped in you is the very image of God you were made for relationship with him then there are animals animate living things that have breath with purpose and there's inanimate things like plants and trees and rocks and right in the middle of that are you and me mankind and we have a responsibility and a stewardship upward to our Creator and we have a responsibility downward to treat animals and plants and the rest of the creation with this delicate balance of using it for our good productivity and also preservation and restoration this is Living on the Edge with chip Ingram and you've been listening to part one of chips message the church and the environment from our series caring enough to confront chip will be back shortly to share some helpful application for us to think about our world right now can be characterized by one word divided there's a dangerous us versus them mindset out there that's invading every aspect of society and unfortunately even in the name of holiness Christians have begun thinking this way too so when confronted with the hot-button issues of our day how should followers of Jesus respond in this vital series will learn the true meaning of being salt and light join us as we explore what the Bible says about topics like abortion politics and sexuality and how we are to lead with grace when we engage with those with different beliefs you're not going to want to miss a single program also throughout this series chip and our guest teachers mention many resources to educate you about what's happening in our world and prepare you to respond in a christ-like way we've gathered all of these resources together for you so check out the entire list right now at Living on the Edge org that's Living on the Edge dot org well chips joined me in studio now with an insightful word to share chip thanks dave you know as Christians we've heard the Great Commission it sounds like a great principle right you know go into all the world and share our faith and make disciples and there's the part that we're supposed to do we're supposed to as we go to the gym and to the coffee shop and around the neighborhood but that's tricky for a lot of us because we don't understand the culture or we just feel out of touch and like we're afraid that we're gonna look awkward or worse be ridiculed or maybe even canceled if there's one thing I see happening in the church with very sincere godly people we're being silent we're just actually not saying anything because we don't want to either make waves or we don't want to be criticized but I want you to know there's a different way that God works it's not always the way that you have pictured in your mind and the way we've reached people in the past and that's why this brand new small group series that we've developed called not beyond reach is so inspiring it boldly challenges and equips us to share Jesus with those that are non-religious and it provides tools to do just that but it has amazing potential for us who are followers of Christ because what I've seen is what has to happen first the change has to happen in us can I just remind you that those that are far from God that might even be hostile to Christianity they're not the enemy that our battles not against flesh and blood that Christ died for everyone and that some of the people most hostile or people that are so far from God they're just lost and Jesus went to them when he walked on this earth and he wants us to go to them can you imagine what would happen if God would use you God would use the church to really care about people that are hostile where they would scratch their head and say why are you helping us and why do you care about us and the answer is because of Jesus but it's going to take a plan it's going to take some education and the not beyond reach small group series is designed to do just that for every church in America pastors listen up youth leaders listen up if you really care about lost people we need to go about this differently and this is the best resource I've seen to learn how to go about it in a different way to reach people that are far from God Dave take a moment if you will and share how people can get this brand new small group series be glad to chip for complete details visit Living on the Edge org or call triple-a three three three six zero zero three as you and your group or Sunday school class dive into this material we hope you'll develop a renewed drive to reach this next generation with the love and hope Jesus offers to learn more about our new small group study not beyond reach go to Living on the Edge dot org or call triple-a three three three six zero zero three app listeners tap special offers with that here again is chip in today's program we began to ask and answer the question how as a follower of Jesus Christ am I to think and respond and act with regard to the environment and we learned that the earth belongs to God second we learned that God appointed man with Dominion over the earth third we learned that the earth and nature has intrinsic value and reflects the character and beauty of our Creator and finally that mankind is placed in the middle of the created hierarchy in other words we're stewards we're in charge and here's what I want to say I just have to confess as I did briefly in this message I've not thought a lot about the environment and because of that I hadn't studied it at a very deep level and I just had to get through with this study and realize Lord I've blown it I mean I really am very serious about other areas of command where you've made me a steward and I've kind of blown it and it reminds me of about the first ten years of our marriage I was not very sensitive to another environment and it was our home things were broken the dish washer leaked we had when it rained we had a window that Teresa would have to put a towel in and I was all fired up about the church grounds looking right and really fired up about having family devotions and you know recreation and building relationships with my kids but our environment in our home I just totally didn't see I mean it wasn't I was trying to be a bad husband in that area I just didn't see it and then I remember having a real heart-to-heart with my wife and she did this little word picture that helped me see for the first time that she's the steward of our environment and we as a couple are responsible for and that our house actually reflects the kind of people that we are that you know what our yard looks like and it doesn't have to be you know super top-notch or spend a ton of money but we need to take good care of our home and it was one of those where I just shook my head and said you know what honey it's a blind spot I just totally didn't get it and you know what I think I think a lot of Christians have a big blind spot when it comes to the environment it's kind of like oh yeah yeah those other people argue or maybe I recycle a little bit I got news for you this is very serious to God he made you a steward he he's he's given us moral responsibility for this earth and how we use it and how we protect it if there's ever a time where we can line up with people that are very passionate about the environment and do it in the name of God and build some great relationships it's now let's take care of God's sacred earth that he made and entrusted to us good word chip as we wrap up I want to thank those of you who make this program possible through your generous financial support your gifts help us create programs purchase airtime and develop additional resources to help Christians live like Christians now if you've been blessed by the ministry of Living on the Edge would you consider sending a gift today you can do that by visiting Living on the Edge org or by calling triple 8 3 3 3 6 0 0 3 that's triple 8 3 3 3 6 0 0 3 or visit Living on the Edge dot o-r-g at listeners tap donate we want you to know how much we appreciate your support well thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram next time we'll continue our newest series caring enough to confront I'm Dave Drewey and I hope you'll join us then you
