Caring for Creation All Year Long
Earth Day is once a year, but as Christians our call to care for creation is every day. Don't know where to start? Here's some BioLogos resources to help.
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Earth Week and Day may only be once a year, but as Christians, we know that our call to care for creation is every day. It is both a God-given responsibility and a privilege to care for our planet, its people, and its over 7 million non-human species.
At BioLogos, we believe that Christian motivations to care for the natural world are clear and strong in Scripture. Caring for creation is rooted in both loving God and our neighbors (Mark 12:29-31). We also believe that Christians should be leading the way, showing the world what this love looks like in action. We cannot let anything, including politics, divide us, or prevent us from doing the good work Christ has called us to do. Thankfully, we are not alone in these convictions. The number of Christian environmental organizations is growing. And the number of Christians who are joining the environmental movement motivated by their love for God and neighbor, is growing too.
We want to see the world transformed by the love of Christ, and for that to happen, we need to empower and equip Christians and the Church to lead. Here are some resources to help you or your church get started. Importantly, this list highlights only a handful of our creation care resources; it is not an exhaustive list, but it is a growing one.
1. Need a Biblical Reason to Care for Creation?
If you or someone you know is unsure whether creation care is Biblical, check out our Common Question resource, “Why Should Christians Care for Creation?” At BioLogos, our common questions are simple resources framed as a question with thoughtful answers, communicated in a gracious way. The answers provided are rooted in Scripture, and evidence-based science.
When it comes to the environmental crises of our day, the science is clear: because of human activity, we see harmful effects like species extinction and climate change. As Christians, Scripture’s call to love God and our neighbor is clear as well. What better way to love God by loving what he has created, and caring for all those who bear his image? We have every reason to care.
2. Wondering if you Can Be a Christian and an Environmentalist?
Did you grow up in a Christian tradition that confused the environmental movement with earth worship, or elevating the creature above the creator? Do you feel uncomfortable as a Christian calling yourself an environmentalist? Consider listening to this talk from our BioLogos 2022 Conference by Biblical scholar Dr. Sandra Richter, who is also one of our Voices Speakers. You can invite her, and other speakers in our bureau to talk at your institution or event on various topics of creation care.
Also read:
- Why Should Christians Care for Creation?
- What is the Season of Creation?
- Caring for Creation as New Creations
In this particular talk, Dr. Richter graciously delivers an answer to the question “Can a Christian Be an Environmentalist?” With grace and conviction, her response is rooted in Scripture: “How can a son of Adam or daughter of Eve, redeemed and transformed by the second Adam to live eternally in the resurrected cosmos, be anything else.” Amen to that.
3. Looking for Hope Amidst the Environmental Crisis?
Do you as a Christian find yourself often feeling more despair than hope when it comes to the environmental crises of our day? Or perhaps, you know of someone who needs to be made aware of just how serious the reality of our environmental crisis today is? Consider listening to and sharing our podcast series “Creation Groans.” It is a sobering account of how deeply we have wounded the world God has created. It guides the listener through lament, and ends with hope. While lament might seem like the opposite of hope, it can be a forebearer of hope. This quote below from “Language of God” Podcast Producer Colin Hoogerwerf, beautifully encapsulates the spirit of the series. Be sure to check out other podcast episodes as well..
“There is a great darkness around us. It is one I have tried and tried to ignore out of fear that it might consume me. But I believe that the darkness will not overcome. And because I believe that the darkness will not overcome, I step into it. And there I find a community of living things that is beautiful, even in its brokenness, loved by God and deserving of my own love. And so I work. And so I lament. And so I hope.” —Colin Hoogerwerf, “Language of God” Podcast Producer
4. Searching for Community? Check out our Creation Care Events!
If you are looking for community, consider attending our conferences and summits to meet others who are passionate about creation care. We often include speakers and workshops that explore the topic of creation care, and have even hosted entire events centered on creation care. In 2023 BioLogos hosted a Creation Care Summit, with speakers that included theologian and environmental ethicist Steven Bouma-Prediger, Evangelical Enviornmental Network (EEN) President Jessica Moreman, Author and Naturalist Sy Montgomery, and more. Talks and workshops ranged topically from biodiversity, climate change, and stewardship to creation care and the global church.
If you are curious about our Creation Care Summit content, check out the full-length recordings of sessions posted on Youtube here. Below are a few quotes from our guest speakers:
“I think we cannot be in solidaruty with the global church without also being in solidarity with a groaning earth. I think the greatest thing we need is hope. People who can tell the truth, who can see the truth and who remain hopeful.” —Jason Fileta
“I believe we can love our telecoupled neighbors by caring for biodiversity. If the Good Samaritan went out of his way, why can’t we?” —Veronica Frans
“Jesus said that he came that we might have life and life to the full. When we join together with the restoration of what God is doing on this Earth we act together as the church—what future can we create?” —Jessica Moerman
5. Want to Learn More? Read our Creation Care Content.
If you are looking for creation care resources, check out our articles and blogs for inspiring creation care stories, profiles of scientists of faith who practice creation care, timely reflections on environmental policies (i.e. IPCC Report and the High Seas Treaty) and even how-to pieces on climate communication or incorporating creation care into spiritual practices. Below are a few quotes from our some of our online resources:
“As Christians, if we believe we’re called “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God,” then caring about a changing climate, and those already suffering its impacts, is something we’ve been created to do. It’s who we are.” —Katharine Hayhoe
“…what the Christian community has largely failed to realize is that in distancing ourselves from nature, we are distancing ourselves from God.” —Rick Lindroth
“Christians have not always stood at the forefront of environmental action. But our faith gives us the theological impulse and the spiritual practices to support us as we seek to appropriately respond to the cries of creation.” — Liuan Huska
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