What Commandment Tells Us to Recycle?

By Jan Markell

From Sydney, Australia, to San Francisco, nearly 4,000 cities in 88 countries turned off their lights this past weekend for "Earth Hour." The campaign was designed to highlight the threat of climate change. If people want to spend their weekends this way that is fine; however, I have a real problem with the root of their thinking which would be that man is causing a climate catastrophe, and that man is at the root of global warming. So in light of my sentiment, I kept my lights on and chose not to dine by candlelight.

In spite of the attempts of Al Gore, I have yet to be shown absolute scientific proof that man is at the root of the global climate "catastrophe." I suspect the sun is somehow involved; however, visit my home state of Minnesota just about any January and you would actually wish that Gore's fake science would come true.

This rather secular cause has made its way into the heart of many Christians! What fuels it? First we have many churches that belong to the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) who make it a primary issue. The NAE was birthed in the 1940s to be an instrument to counter the more liberal National and World Council of Churches that never met a social cause behind which they didn't rally. The NAE for decades focused like a laser beam on gospel preaching, missions, evangelism, Bible memorization, and more.

If you visit their Web site, http://www.nae.net/, you are hit with propaganda such as this: "What do you personally do to take care of God's creation?" "Evangelical" leaders and pastors respond by talking about recycling, picking up (garbage) after others, and purchasing used furniture. One person polled proudly stated that his goal was to fill just one garbage can a month! How about a call to win one lost soul to Jesus a month? But this is the new NAE!

Moving on to a similar example, now we have The Green Bible. This Bible is trying to make gardeners out of all of us. It is put out by Harper Collins, and it calls attention to more than 1,000 verses related to nature. It is printed in forest green and on soy paper. As much as I love the nature that surrounds my townhouse complex, if I am looking for a new Bible, it will be one that has 1,000 verses highlighted about winning lost souls.

The Green Bible furthers the cause of "creation care" by containing supplementary writings by Desmond Tutu, Emergent leader Brian McLaren, and others who are not sound in their theology. Some contributors to this Bible suggest that eco-neglect violates Jesus' call to care for the least among us. In other words, a tree is now the "least among us." How tragic things have gone this far off course.

Southern Baptist leader Richard Land says,

"Sure it is important (to take care of the earth), but when Jesus was asked what was the most important issue, He said, 'Love your God, and love your neighbor as yourself.' He didn't say a word about eco-neglect."

I wonder if churches, including so-called "evangelical churches" that are printing their Sunday bulletin on eco-friendly paper, have the same zeal for witnessing to the lost because the time is short?

The magazine Christianity Today, normally pretty friendly to left-leaning causes, is critical of The Green Bible because...

"its aim is to orient readers to the Bible's concern for the natural world along with its call for social justice and poverty relief."

Christianity Today goes on to point out that this Bible includes...

"tips for getting started in Christian environmentalism, which looks basically like secular environmentalism along with a list of secular organizations devoted to the environment."

Yes, we are commanded in the Bible to take care of the earth. It sickens me every time I hear of another species that has become extinct. The reckless targeting of whales and dolphins is deplorable. Man has a responsibility to the earth and the creatures and elements over which we have been given authority to rule. But fighting the pollution and global warming wars will lead to only one thing: One-world globalism. The source of our ecological problem is man's fallen nature. He has set himself at the center of the universe. In the absolute extreme, some of the eco-efforts going on, even in the church, can lead ultimately to "mother earth" worship.

The Bible says, "For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs" (Romans 8:20-22) as it waits for earth's real liberation -- the return of Christ. The Green Bible and a form of Christianized Sierra Club activity are not what the church is called to today. Souls are eternal and plant life is not! Preaching the good news of Jesus Christ and using a Bible that most effectively aids in that should be our focus when selecting a Bible.

Please walk past the aisle, and keep moving, when you spot The Green Bible, and why don't you remind the NAE of its roots? They have nothing to do with recycling.

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