Part Twenty Three: Ecological Evangelism—What Can Happen?

In my book Engaging the Closed Minded, I explain how to initiate a “point of contact” when discussing topics that concern both Christians and non-Christians but on which there is disagreement. A point of contact is an area of mutual agreement. It is a starting point from which productive dialogue can blossom and lead to the Christian perspective on the issue at hand. This technique can also be used in ecological evangelism.

Lifestyle

When non-Christian environmentalists—young or old—observe Christians sincerely showing concern for the natural environment and its wild denizens, when they observe Christians engaged in eco-friendly activities, it can create major evangelistic opportunities. Edward R. Brown, founding director of the environmental mission agency Care of Creation, explains:

Letting our friends and neighbors see us as people who love and care for God’s world can give us a powerful bridge to relationships. Sharing such a fundamental value can—and often does—become a platform for sharing many other things, including our love for Jesus and our desire that others would learn to love him too. . . .

There is no question that a vigorous and visible creation-care program will go a long way toward enhancing and enriching any evangelistic outreach program [the church] already [has], just as it will enrich worship and improve children’s programs (Our Father’s World: Mobilizing the Church to Care for Creation, 2nd ed., 154).

Ecological lifestyle evangelism should include inviting non-Christian friends—and the community at large—to join us in creation care activities. When they work side-by-side with Christians on ecological projects, we have opportunities to befriend them and to invite them to visit our churches. Author and pastor Tri Robinson, who includes ecological programs as part of his church ministry, comments on this:

Through becoming faithful stewards of creation, we are presented with an opportunity to share the Gospel. In becoming leaders in this area, we won’t be selling out to a culturally compromised Gospel; rather, we will be faithful in contextualizing the Gospel in our own nation as well as making it real for other people groups around the world. . . .

Many people are often enamored with the beauty of the world around them, yet they haven’t yet met the Creator. . . . [E]nvironmental ministry outreach not only puts believers in the community but it puts them working hand in hand with those who have not yet received Christ. In outreach, making the connection and building relationships is 90 percent of the work—and usually the hardest. Eventually, when other people begin to see the light of Jesus alive in us, the opportunities to share our faith will come . . . and they come at their request (Saving God’s Green Earth: Rediscovering the Church’s Responsibility to Environmental Stewardship, 58, 140).

Environmentalism and Christian Missions

This same evangelistic outreach can play out on a worldwide scale. Millions of people die every year for lack of a healthy, sustainable environment, and many millions more are forced to leave their homes due to a variety of environmental disasters. According to the World Health Association, some of the leading causes of death in developing countries are poor nutrition, contaminated water, and poor sanitary conditions. Environmental degradation almost always results in poverty and disease. Nature is not the only thing that suffers when natural environments deteriorate. The poor also suffer.

It’s understandable that poverty and hunger force people to misuse their environments. It’s not that poor people want to degrade their environments; it’s a matter of feeding their families in order to survive. The poor in undeveloped countries have no ability to reverse this trend. They must continue to deplete their environments just to meet their basic needs—creating a devastating downward spiral into ever more environmental degradation and consequent poverty.

Just as missionary organizations send doctors, teachers, and builders into impoverished countries, the church can open the door to the Gospel by sending ecologists, conservationists, and other environmental specialists who can teach people proper sanitation techniques and how to get the most out of cultivation by adhering to fundamental ecological principles. Missionary-minded environmentalism, which should include programs such as drilling wells to reach clean drinking water and training farmers to use their land without destroying or contaminating it, could help eliminate malnutrition and many communicable diseases. Certainly the goal of such aid is not just to share the Gospel. It’s to help impoverished people live healthier, longer lives and to raise their standard of living. Nevertheless, imagine the evangelistic opportunities available if an emphasis on environmental stewardship were added to our missionary outreach. Teaching people to care for their environment is an extension of caring for people themselves, which all Christians are called to do (see Matt. 25:40; James 2:15–16). ©

The blog articles in this series are adapted from my book Should Christians Be Environmentalists? published by Kregel Publications in 2012. The blog articles do not contain all the chapters, data, quotes, references, or my personal experiences, which the book includes. So for “the rest of the story,” you will need to purchase the book, which is available in both paperback and Kindle. This and the following articles are copyrighted material and may not be reproduced in book or article form. But feel free to send links to these articles to your personal email list, Facebook friends and groups, Twitter followers, or other people who may enjoy them.