“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ” - Collosians 1:16-17

Last month, forty prominent members of the Southern Baptist Convention signed A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change declaring that, as a denomination, they have been “too timid” in speaking out on environmental issues and affirmed a Biblical responsibility to address climate change.  While they are certainly not the first evangelicals to offer their help to the global warming crisis, this declaration was remarkable because the Southern Baptists represent the largest Protestant denomination in the nation and traditionally take conservative stances.

By issuing this declaration, they joined hands with perhaps the majority of environmentalists, scientists, politicians, entertainers, journalists, and other news makers.  The issue of climate change and catastrophic global warming enjoys the support of the most outspoken people in the world.  In recent years we have seen numerous people step forward to champion this cause.

At the forefront of the debate, former Vice President Al Gore has probably done more than any other person to increase awareness about this issue.  Starting in 1992 with his best seller Earth in the Balance, Gore has continued his campaign in the political and entertainment spectrums.  Most recently he is famous for his 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which not only won him the Nobel Peace Prize, but also took home two Oscars.

Mr. Gore and his supporters believe that left unchecked, human green house gas emissions will cause the earth’s temperature to steadily rise, eventually wiping out human existence as we know it. The consequences of global warming include: more violent rainstorms, more violent hurricanes, more droughts, more wildfires, higher sea levels (and destruction of our coast lines), extinction of 20-30% of all animal/plant life, ad infinitum. [Source: Natural Resources Defense Council]

The evidence also suggests that most people are inclined to believe these reports. A 2006 Time Magazine poll reported that 88% of Americans believe global warming presents a risk to future generations. And why not believe it? With politicians on both sides of the aisle giving lip service to the issue, campaigns on television and print encouraging us to get involved, and celebrities dedicating their time to the issue (with other celebrities giving them awards for doing so), the casual observer would be foolish to dissent.

As Christians and intelligent, thinking people, we have several obligations when analyzing the validity of any position, whether political, scientific, or both.

Most obviously, we must read the Bible. What, if anything, does the Bible have to say about global warming and environmentalism/stewardship?

Fortunately, the Bible has much to say about the future, God’s sovereignty, and our relationship with the world we were created to inhabit. From Genesis to Revelation, we may learn several important things:

1. God knows the future and nothing can prevent His will from being accomplished (Isaiah 46:10) 
2. God does not lie or change his mind…like we do. (Numbers 23:19)
3. God created the universe, including the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
4. God left us as stewards of the earth. (Genesis 1:28)
5. God has promised not to destroy the earth by flood. (Genesis 9:9-13)
6. God owns the earth. (Psalm 24:11)
7. Jesus holds the universe together. (Collosians 1:16-17)

In this list I have focused only on the conceptual role of God and man as presented in the Bible. If we were to delve into eschatology, it seems clear from scripture that the end of the earth will not be man created or due to climate change. (See Revelation 9, etc)

Furthermore, if we believe in the adequacy of scripture, we have to believe that the Bible tells us literally everything we need to know. Not everything we want to know but everything we need to know. (If it doesn’t, God has not adequately prepared us and we would be right to question whether we should trust Him at all!)

Looking beyond purely Biblical reasoning, we have several more things to consider.

What are the idealogies of those who have researched and currently propel global warming ideas? Majority opinion is not a sufficient reason to believe something. If it were, we would be obligated to disbelieve the Bible, believe in the Theory of Evolution, “good people” go to Heaven, and many other intolerable positions.

Unsurprisingly, most of the research and support for catastrophic global warming theory comes from humanist sources.  It is easy to see why this is true.  Logically speaking, if you do not believe in God, or do not trust in God, you are likely to fall back on mankind and their actions as the hope of the world.  If you do not believe in heaven or eternal existence, you are likely to view the earth as the only important realm or environment. If you do not believe anything (or Anyone) holds the future, you are likely to fear what the future could be.  If you do not have an eternal purpose, you are likely to seek a temporal purpose.

For all of these, reasons global warming is the perfect cause.  Not only does it provide something bigger to believe in, it places the crux of the issue on the individual.  It is easy to see why the refrain of pundits like Al Gore sounds more like religious opinion than scientific opinion.* This is no more evident than in the use of the term “Mother Nature” to personify and romanticize earth as an agent worthy of our respect and service. However, just as majority approval does not guarantee an idea is truth, it also doesn’t prevent an idea from being truth. Neither is an idea false simply because the supporters of if are liberal humanists.  To claim such would be fallacious.  However, these facts are instructive not irrelevant and we may safely use them as we build our position.

We should also consider the motivating factors for global warming research. Million and millions of federal research dollars are available to those who can produce research which predicts catastrophic climate change.  Research that is not alarmist in nature is not news worthy.  Just as in polling and statistics, it is results that are outside of expectations that are most likely to make headlines.  No one is interested in research that confirms what everyone already suspects.  Imagine an article predicting hair loss among older males.

Researchers are more likely to attract fame and research money by producing research that is remarkable.  This is unquestionably an incentive for doing so, and when you create an incentive for something, you create more of it.

Again, this does not in and of itself, disprove global warming, which is why we must proceed to analyze some of the science being offered as proof of global warming and dissenting opinion.

It is true that the earth is currently experiencing a warming trend, but just how much is it warming? According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), the average global air temperature has increased 1.33 (plus or minus 0.32) degrees Fahrenheit in the last 100 years.  [Source]  They conjecture that this warming has been largely caused by a rise in green house gases due to human activity.

In order to support their claims you have to presume that the the temperature changes of the last 100 years are abnormal compared to the 100 years before that and the 100 years before that.  The evidence seems to be to the contrary.

For example, we know that at various times in history we have seen times of rather extreme cooling. These periods have been termed “ice ages”.  In fact, roughly 30 years ago, the prevailing belief was that earth was headed for another ice age.   We also know that areas that are current uninhabitable or agriculturally unuseable due to extreme cold have not always been such.  Melting glaciers have uncovered remnants of farms in climates where it was previously thought impossible to farm.  Between 800 and 1300 AD, much of the world was several degrees warmer than today. People grew wine grapes in England, figs in Germany, assorted crops in Greenland. [Taken from ICECAP] None of this is possible given today’s climate in those regions.

Taking both of these facts together, it seems more rational to conclude that climate swings are normal and that the warming trend we are seeing right now is firmly within historical norms.

It is for this reason that meteorologist John Coleman, most famous for founding The Weather Channel, calls global warming “the greatest scam in history”. He believes it is just as likely the earth will experience a cooling trend in the next 20 years as a warming trend. [Source: COMMENTS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING]

Obviously I have only examined one angle of this argument: the known present and past. This is intentional as the present and the past are the only tangible facts in this debate. Future predictions are based on the past, present, and computer based weather models which any meteorologist will admit are unable to consistently predict tomorrow’s weather let alone 100 years from now. There are thousands if not millions of factors which influence global climate.

Summary

So how do we put all of this together? As Christians we can agree with environmentalists that preserving the earth’s resources is a good thing. We can support efforts to clean our air and water and increase our fuel efficiency. We can install compact flourescent light bulps and low flow shower heads. We can raise our thermostat a couple of degrees in the summer and lower it a couple of degrees in the winter. We can recyle.  None of these things are wrong and they are all good.  (I would also say that using incadescent light bulbs and not recycling is also a morally acceptable decision. I also hate low flow shower heads!)

However, we must be very careful to avoid supporting any idealogy which promotes the roll of mankind over the role of God. We must avoid joining hands with or inadvertently supporting those who find meaning in staving off climate catastrophy. The Souther Baptist Convention is failing miserably here.

If we rely on the Bible as our modus operandi, we must arrange our priorities accordingly.

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” – Collosians 3:2

Kind of puts things in perspective does it not? Additionally, much of Ecclesiasties is devoted to pointing out the vanity of our earthly existence in comparison to our eternal existence.  We cannot get caught up in earth centered missions that conflict with our larger purpose as Christians: being Jesus to a lost world.

I firmly believe there are better uses of a Christian’s time than joining green initiatives and signing declarations to help curb climate change.  Even if we were to discard the idea of God being in control, it is human nature to desire a clean environment and we, as mankind, are unlikely to tolerate those who would trash the planet.

I realize that these last points may prove offensive to some. I don’t know how else to say it:

• Be a good steward of the earth.

• Trust God with the future.

• Spend your time fulfilling the great commission.

I welcome discussion on this issue.  

Suggested Reading:

There is a myriad of information available to refute the claims of environmentalists.  Here are three links which I believe give a good survey of some of that information. If anyone would like more information, please feel free to contact me.  There is much much more where this comes from.

• ICECAP (http://icecap.us)
• FDRS (http://www.fdrs.org/arguments_against_global_warming.html)
• Ohio Roundtable (http://www.aproundtable.org/tps30info/globalwarmup.html)

*The same is true for those who believe in evolution. In fact, there is a large amount of overlap between these groups.

“How can we who died to sin still live in it?” – Romans 6:2b

“Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” – Thomas Watson

It is no secret that Christians sin.  Not only do we sin, many of us are eager to avoid any insinuation that we shouldn’t, and when we have let our fellow man down we repeat the worn out cliché “Christians aren’t perfect; they’re just forgiven!” as if this makes it alright.

We have collectively set the bar at “sin” so that when we do sin, we have simply aligned ourselves with expectations.

The only problem with this view point is that it has no support in scripture. Sure, we see from Biblical testimony that God’s followers are far from perfect, but this is always presented as part of the problem, not a pattern for us to emulate.

There are many reasons why Christians sin and there are many ways for us to avoid sin.  It is my goal in writing this to outline a few of these reasons and to share Biblical principles that will help us avoid sin in the future.

Problem: We sin because we expect to sin.

If we wake up each morning with the expectation that we are going to sin, we have already lost the battle.  There is little difference between expecting to sin and planning to sin.  Paul addresses this idea in Romans 6:

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 

Even though God’s grace is abundant in our sin, this is no excuse or motivation to sin or to not avoid sin.  In Christ, we have the victory whether we sin or do not sin, but for the believer to sin is going against his nature. 

Solution: Consider yourself dead to sin.

Paul finishes his thought by saying:

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:9-11)

Just as Christ was victorious over death and death no longer has power over him, we, in Christ, are victorious over sin. We are dead to it.  It should no longer rule us.

Problem: We give ourselves the option to sin.

Another reason we sin is because at some point we considered that we were choosing between two alternatives: righteousness and sin.  We layed these two options before us, considered the pros and cons, and decided to partake of sin.

Solution: Sin is not an option.

Part of considering ourselves dead to sin is removing that as an option.  James 3:11 asks, “Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?” In John 8:12 Jesus says “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

It is not only not ideal for a Christian to continue in sin, it is illogical.

Problem: We do not know God’s word.

In 2 Kings,  King Josiah orders that the temple be repaired. In the process of this repair, Hilkiah the priest finds the Book of the Law. Hilkiah brings the book to the king and the king has his secretary read it to him:

When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” (2 Kings 22:11-13)

If we do not know God’s word, we do not know what sin is. If we do not know what sin is, how can we avoid it?

Solution: We must know God’s word and make ourselves responsible to it.

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” – Psalm 119:11

Problem: We do not see or believe the benefits of righteousness.

Many people view righteousness as doing something you don’t want to do and not doing things you want to do…all to please God.  I know this because this was my point of view for much of my life.

With this attitude, living a holy life is nigh impossible. 

Solution: We must believe in God’s goodness and the goodness of His commandments.

“But you are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are true.” – Psalm 119:151

God was not haphazard when he identified sin to us. He did not do it simply to create an arbitrary standard. He didn’t give us His commandments simply to keep us busy or defeated.  God’s commandments show us who we are.

In Knowing God, J.I. Packer explains how this works:

God commands are true. Why are they so described? First, because they have stability and permanence as setting forth what God wants to see in human lives in every age; second, because they tell us the unchanging truth about our own nature. For this is part of the purpose of God’s law: it gives us a working definition of true humanity. It shows us what we were made to be, and teaches us how to be truly human, and warns us against moral self destruction. This is a matter of great importance, and one which calls for much consideration at the present time.

Problem: We do not truly believe we can avoid sin or live a holy life before God.

Most Christians believe it impossible to avoid sin, and if they do believe it possible, they do not believe it possible for any length of time.  Because of this, most choose to loose the battle because they cannot win the war.

Solution: We must believe that God does not give us an unattainable goal and that He provides us ways to avoid temptation, as He promises.

As Christians, we absolutely can please God.  Do we please Him by living in sinless perfection? No, not exactly. We please Him by striving to live in sinless perfection.

See, it’s not about whether you will be successful 100% of the time. It’s about whether or not you are trying to align youself with the heart of God and view sin as He does.

Additionally, we have God’s promise that we absolutely can avoid sin when we are tempted:

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”  – 1 Corinthians 10:13

It goes without saying that a prerequisite for applying this is believing it.

So what do we do with the knowledge that we probably will not successfully avoid sin for the rest of our lives (the ability or not to do this aside)?  We can answer this question by examining our response to other things we are unlikely to achieve.  It is unlikely that you will go the whole rest of your life without getting sick, but do we not wash our hands and avoid germs? It is likely that most of us will hurt a loved one at some point in the future, but does this mean that you should not try to avoid hurting loved ones?  Of course not.

Apply the same standard to sin.

Summary

Sin is always associated with death.  Romans 6:23 warns us that the outcome of sin is death. We see in Genesis 3 that one of the consequences of sin is death…both spiritually and physically. The latter being representative of the former.

We are crucified with Christ and consequently we no longer live. Christ, rather, lives in us. (Galatians 2:20)

How can we who died to sin still live in it? Quite simply, we cannot.

Christians aren’t perfect, but they should try to be, by the power of Christ.

[*Thanks to Josh Stone who first called my attention to Romans 6 and what it means for believers.]

“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” – Isaiah 61:3 (KJV)

At Grace we sing a song which calls us to “put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness”.  I confess that I have sung this many times with almost zero understanding.  And unlike many things Christians say without understanding them, this one doesn’t even “sort of” make sense upon casual examination. It is just a weird thing to say. What is a “garment of praise” and what does it have to do with a heavy or faint spirit?

This week I was praying as I drove to work and it suddenly clicked.  I suddenly realized what is being pictured.

A garment is something that is worn for protection against the elements.  In addition to modesty, clothing keeps us from freezing to death in the winter and dying of dehydration and heat stroke in the summer, and, as Mark Twain once commented “Clothes make the man. Naked people make little or no influence on society.”

Simple enough, right?

Now let’s look at praise.  In what way does praise function in our spiritual lives like clothing functions in our physical existence?

When we praise God, we are responding to his Majesty. We are responding to what He has given us and what He does in us. Praise is not an isolated event, it is rooted in who God is.  We see this pattern all throughout the Psalms.

“I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.” – Psalm 7:17

“I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” – Psalm 18:3

“O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love. ” – Psalm 59:17

“Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. ” – Psalm 63:3

When we praise God, we take our eyes off of ourselves and our own condition and we thank God for who He is. We recount His attributes. We affirm his Majesty.  The result of this is personal joy. We cannot wonder in the awesomeness of God and take pity on our own circumstance. In light of God’s perfection and provision, our problems pale.

Additionally, we are orienting our attention away from the temporal and towards the eternal.  How can our temporary problems stand next to God’s eternal greatness?

As we consider His Majesty, the only natural response is to entrust Him with the things that cause us sorrow, rob us of joy, or make life difficult.  God himself entreats us to do so over and over.  “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14a) “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:27)  “My yoke is easy, my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30)

The only way we can cast our cares on Him (as 1 Peter 5:7 commands) is if we recognize his Majesty and His suitability for the job.

This is best demonstrated in the Psalms. Over and over David pours out his soul before God. He expresses grief and weeps. He feels abandoned, but without fail, he always comes back to God’s faithfulness and God’s praise-worthy attributes. These psalms are known as “Lament Psalms” and follow a pattern:

I. Address to God, Invocation
    a) first person address to God (I, you)
    b) an initial plea
II. Complaint to God
    a) description of problem, questions asked of God 
    b) crisis of any kind; in penitential psalms it is sin 
    c) claim of innocence 
    d) often includes an initial plea for help 
    e) condemnation of “wicked” or “enemy”
III. Affirmation of Trust
    a) “But as for me” or “Nevertheless” 
    b) turning point of the psalm; theological focus
IV. Petition
    a) plea for God’s intervention 
    b) often uses the words “save” or “deliver”
V. Acknowledgment of Response 
    a) assurance of hearing 
    b) vow of praise, worship
VI. Doxology: blessings, praise

Source: Patterns for Life: Structure, Genre, and Theology in Psalms 

As we approach God with what brings us sorrow, we should adopt this pattern in our own prayers. We should adorn ourselves with a garment of praise. In doing so, we will find true joy and spiritual contentment. Contentment that says “No, everything isn’t alright, but my hope is in the Lord.”