By Robin Gericke, Contributing Opinion
The Stuce and Bistro trash cans overflow with plastic. Recycling bins on campus are limited and located far from trash cans, and students have doubts whether the contents of the bins even are recycled. This alone is evidence that at both the university and personal levels, we have failed at creation care, and I believe this means we have failed as Christians.
According to the New York Times, a report from the United Nations scientific panel on climate change stated dire consequences by 2040. Within 22 years, there will be worsening food shortages and wildfires and a mass die-off of coral reefs. In 22 years, I will be 43 years old. This is not a futuristic fear, the plot of a post-apocalypse novel. This will likely be a reality in our lifetimes.
The report found that an increase in global temperature above 2.7º F will lead to these consequences. “While the pace of change that would be required to limit warming to [2.7º F] can be found in the past, there is no historical precedent for the scale of the necessary transitions, in particular in a socially and economically sustainable way,” the report stated. “Resolving such speed and scale issues would require people’s support, public-sector interventions and private-sector cooperation.”
Some will respond and say that climate change isn’t real, as if this looming worldwide catastrophe is simply a fad diet that researchers will disclaim in a few years, as if the research of thousands of scientists can be disregarded when confronted with uneducated personal beliefs.
But for those who want to face and believe the truth, let us stop being apathetic and care for creation.
According to Nancy Sleeth, cofounder of the creation stewardship organization Blessed Earth, the earth belongs to God, and he gave it to us to care for. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” Additionally, one of the first jobs God gives humans is to care for the earth in Genesis 2:15. Sleeth reminds Christians to not confuse dominion with license to harm.
“We give teachers dominion over our children when we send them to school, but we would not be pleased if at the end of the day our children came home ignorant, battered and bruised,” Sleeth said. “The same principle applies to dominion over the earth; when God gave us dominion over the earth, he did not intend for us to destroy his creation. As God’s appointed stewards, we can use natural resources, but not abuse them.”
I understand that a few hundred students choosing to live with a mindset of creation care cannot save our planet. Yet generations of apathetic individuals and corporations choosing to believe that they cannot make a difference is what caused climate change.
Asbury professor Dr. Jim Shores is an advocate for creation care. When asked what sacrifices he makes in his daily life in order to care for the planet, his focus was on recycling and food. “When we buy cheap food, people or the planet have paid the cost for that,” he said. Shores has adopted the mindset of ‘slow food’: locally grown or raised, handmade food. “We eat three meals a day, 365 days a year, for the rest of our lives, and food costs petrochemicals to make. You are voting on which is best.”
The list of ways to conserve energy and limit a carbon footprint are endless, but we are college students. What can we do? We do not own the electric companies or corporations. We don’t even have houses. Most of us don’t cook or grocery shop; we eat in a cafeteria where we have no choice in where the food was sourced.
Simply by looking at the amount of plastic in trash bins on campus, it is clear the majority of students aren’t even thinking about something as simple as recycling. That is a first step. Next, limit consumption of plastics and disposables. Bring your own cup to the HICCUP and practice another version of ‘slow food’ by eating in the Bistro instead of getting it to go. Choose restaurants that use real plates and silverware. Plan your trips to Lexington efficiently to decrease weekly driving and walk to Subway or Great Wall even if it’s cold. Consume less and think about how much you actually need an online order before hitting ‘ship now.’
Perhaps if we make these changes now, our mindset of creation care will continue to grow in impact as we buy smaller houses, greener vehicles and local food. Perhaps the more we sacrifice for the environment, the easier it will become to keep sacrificing, raising up a generation that exudes sacrifice for a great cause. Is this not what Christ did for us?
My brothers and sisters in Christ, it is easy to put our priority on more ‘noble’ causes such as mission trips, volunteering or other more highly esteemed Christian activities. Yet because of the actions of our industries and our society, natural disasters, food shortages and economic instability will become much worse. If we cannot even make the most basic sacrifices in our lives — such as walking a few extra feet to a recycling bin, limiting our use of plastic and disposables all together, buying local food or driving less — how will we sacrifice more for the Kingdom? We teach holiness, and an overlooked part of that is creation care.
I understand that my personal efforts to care for creation will not save the earth. But I know that I am striving to care for the precious creation God has given humanity.
In 2014, Michael Grunwald wrote an article in Time magazine reflecting on the lack of care Americans have about climate change simply because it doesn’t seem to affect them. Four years and countless natural disasters after that article was published, his words still ring true: “But if climate action depends on getting people outraged about what’s happening outside their window, we’re all doomed. We need action because of the pain that’s coming for our kids and grandkids, not because of the pain that’s already here. If we only act once the pain becomes unbearable, we’ll be way too late.”
