…don’t worship the creation.

I recently completed an intensive consultation with a church wanting to know more about becoming creation care aware. One of the first questions asked at the beginning of the consultation was “What exactly does ‘creation care’ mean?”

It’s a great question, but not an easy answer! Creation care is sometimes used as a synonym for sustainable initiatives, environmental stewardship, green church, or eco-justice or something similar. These are all good words in their own right, but they seem to be just a little to trendy for my taste. I prefer creation care because it helps me focus on the right direction – the Creator, not the creation.

Jonathan Merritt (Green Like God) says it well:

The biggest reason I reject pop environmentalism is because it cheapens the issue. We have deeper reasons to go green. We serve the Creator of the planet that green living preserves. He created this earth and took the time to tell us His plan for it. The God of this universe has given us the great task of caring for our planet.

Why should we be consumed with a “trendy cause” when we have been given a sacred task? The story of God throughout the Scriptures is about a creative, eternal Being – who is committed to the preservation and redemption of everything.

In the creation narrative of Genesis, we find that every demonstration of power (and God said let there be…) is followed by a statement about God’s passion for the planet (and it was good).

After He was finished, He looks back over everything: “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good: (Genesis 1:31).

“The Beginning” was just the beginning – now we have a responsibility to “work it and take care of it.” The charge for Adam to care for the world is really a charge to us all. Nowhere in Scripture is it ever revoked.

Unfortunately, most Americans have forgotten that charge – they have more important things to do.