Save the Planet vs. Save Souls

There's a debate in Christian circles which goes like this: "We must save the planet, it's God's creation!" and the other says "No, the earth is doomed, we must save souls from this sinking ship!" Perhaps you've heard or participated in a version of this conflict yourself. I want to propose that the former is a strategy for the latter.* That is, a vibrant, flourishing planet is an irrepressibly persistent, remarkably effective and undeniably global apologetic for the God of the Bible. It can't be stopped by borders, or language barriers. It has the power catch people when their defenses are down. It can be both overpoweringly awesome and quietly insistent. Helping Creation speak, by preserving it's wildlife, habitats, and resources, ought to be a top priority for those with true evangelistic zeal. Not sure you agree?


Hear the Psalmist's claim: 

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 display knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Psm 19)

And Paul's assertion:

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities— his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Rom 1:20)

And St. Augustine's rebuke:

Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book:the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?

And St. Bernard of Clairvaux's (1090-1153) opinion:

Believe an expert: you will find something far greater in the woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you cannot learn from the masters.

So if you're a Christian as yet unconvinced to join the green cause, someone who admits no other aim than 'saving souls' then drive a hybrid or plant a tree for those souls that will be drawn to the Creator God through the beauty of his Creation.

*Nancy Ortberg gave voice to this idea in a sermon titled "A.K.A. Creator" at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church on 6/14/09.