In today's global marketplace of ideas, the idea of "saving the planet" or "going green" are really two similar ideas that find their origins in the environmental movement, a movement based in part on animism - the belief system that not only do humans and animals have souls, but so do all things in nature including rocks, plants, trees, etc. By now you probably realize that I have a bias against environmentalism, "going green", and animistic practices, and you are right because I am a Christian, which is to say that I am a follower of Jesus Christ, the Bible (which was written by men throughout antiquity to teach us about who God is, and his plan of salvation for each individual through Jesus Christ), and the teachings of orthodox Christianity which comport with the teachings contained in the Bible. So clearly environmentalism with its at least partial adherence to animism goes against the basic tenets of Christianity. But why do Christians have such an aversion to "going green"?

I believe that the answer to this question is that while many Christians may not be able to easily voice their reasoning for not "going green", their reasons for doing so are Biblically based. Namely, the Bible teaches that this earth will not "pass away" or be destroyed through humanity's actions alone. So the idea is that Christians feel little need to focus on saving the planet or to be hyper-conservationists because that is not the chief goal of man, nor will it save us from our own personal sinfulness and inherent demise through the penalty of death.

But where is the Biblical justification for such a view? It comes from the first and last books of the Bible. The very beginning and the ... very last new beginning, of the story of the earth. (I'll explain that a bit more at the end of this post.)

In Genesis 8:20 we come to the end of the story about Noah and the great flood that destroyed all human and animal life on the earth, save the animals and humans that were in the ark Noah built which God had told him to build because the flood was coming. In Genesis 8:20-22 we find the following written:

Genesis 8:20-22 -

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease." (emphasis is my own)

So we see here that contained in the Biblical text is a mandate from God that He will keep the earth 'going' as long as He wishes to even in spite of all the evil that is in man's heart. So the question then becomes: How long will God allow the earth to remain in this current state? We get our answer to this question in the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible:

Revelation 20:11-21:1 - 

^20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. ^21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. (again, emphasis added)

So the earth does not "pass away", or get destroyed, until Jesus returns to do away with all evil for all of the rest of time. Now, you may not buy any of this Bible stuff. Maybe you are reading this article of mine and think I am an idiot. That's fine, I can live with that! I just want people to know that this is the reason why Christians, or at least those who claim to be Christians and argue against "going green", tend to think that environmentalism is a foolish waste of time and resources - because God has promised that the earth will not be destroyed again according to Genesis chapter 8 until all evil of man and Satan is cast forever into the lake of fire as seen in Revelation chapters 20 and 21. Again, this may sound like a bunch of myth, silly stories, or even downright ridiculous fairy tales to you, the reader, but recognize that this is a difference of belief between Christians and those who are not who also tend to believe in environmentalist types of beliefs about the nature of the earth and the things in it. Now, having said that I believe it is incumbent upon the environmentalist, the Green Peace activist, or the animist who says that they are "tolerant" of other beliefs to not get up in arms when they see that Christians believe differently than them on this issue of whether or not to act to "save the planet." Otherwise, they are the hypocrite.

Now, does this mean that I, as a Christian, have no interest in keeping this earth in good condition, in stewarding its resources wisely, in being mindful of the harm I can cause it? Absolutely not! If anything, I have an immense amount of respect for the cleanliness, stewardship, and upkeep of this wonderful earth that God has allowed us to still inhabit and steward in spite of our ongoing, sinful motivations and actions. So please don't think that Christians have no interest in this earth... we do! We just don't worship it, we worship God.

Lastly, what did I mean by the "very last new beginning of the earth" when I ended paragraph 3 above? You will notice that in the Revelation passage that the description of the passing away of the earth is immediately proceeded by the new heaven and new earth. This is a curious feature of many parts of the Bible, in that you typically see a beginning of things, a middle and death of those things, and then a new beginning. There is no final end. Hence, I say that there is a very last new beginning to the earth because while our current earth that is filled with disease, pestilence, wars, death, pain, and suffering; there will be ultimately a new earth that is free from these tragedies, and according to the Bible, those people who have decided to follow the triune God, trusting in the Son of God, Jesus, to save them from their sins will be the only ones who inhabit this new earth and have a new life that is free from sin and all the consequences of it - primarily death. So while animists and environmentalists may believe that the power to maintain life and this earth rests in humanity's hands, I appeal to a higher power - the Creator God of this universe and savior for me from my sins - to maintain this earth and the future earth to come that will be immeasurably better for me to be a part of and live in. And therefore, worshipping the things of this earth pale in comparison for me to the worship of the God who has promised to us through the Bible that He is the one with all power and authority and love for us to create things anew for us in the eternal life to come.