Focus on Evangelism!

I wanted to use this post to respond to the comment made on my last post.  I am grateful for the honest discussion R. Mansfield was willing to make on Grace Vs. Global Warming.  Hopefully, this will spur on continuing discussion in the future.

On the last post R. Mansfield commented:

That doesn’t mean that we should ignore environmental issues. God gave humans the mandate to care for his creation. Christians should be at the forefront of environmental concerns, but instead we quote 2 Peter 3, say “It’s all gonna burn anyway, so let just focus on evangelism.” Personally, I think that’s the wrong approach. God created this earth for us, and we should care for it, nurture it, protect it. Anything less is sin. And how great could our witness be if we were to show our concern for creation for right biblical reasons as opposed to the reasons that non-believers use to care for the earth.

Let me start by repeating what is said in my previous post.  I believe human beings have the responsibility and obligation to care for creation and to subdue it.  I am not saying we should not care about environmental concerns.  What I am advocating, however, is looking at environmental issues with a biblical worldview.  I believe this means that (more often than not) we are going to be interpreting what must happen with environment differently than non-believers.  So when non-believers say the globe is warming and that we should all “Go green,” drive hybrid cars, and do “our part” so that the tides don’t rise and we all drown, we as believers have to look at what God’s Word says and believe in His sovereignty over His creation.  Part of this is understanding the world as we know it will only exist for a limited amount of time.  The earth is temporal and we can “go green” all we want but when the Lord says times up he means it.

One the other hand, there are eternal souls living on this earth who need to hear the Gospel before God says times up.  He has given this charge to believers.  I think this priority of evangelism is seen explicitly in the life of Christ.  In the Gospel of Mark the first words we read Jesus saying are:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

We see Christ’s emphasis on the saving of souls so they might have eternal life.  In fact, there are many places we could go in the gospels which stress the necessity of evangelism (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 1:17; Mark 6:7-13; Luke 19:9; John 4:34-38; etc.).  In reading these accounts it is easy to see Jesus said, “Focus on evangelism!”  Why would He put urgency in evangelism if future judgment was not immanent?  Jesus even says what will happen to these “weeds” (sons of the evil one):

“The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers and throw them into the fiery furnace.  In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:41-42).

Realize that the earth will burn, but God will make a new heaven and a new earth.  On the other hand their will be people who will burn eternally in the fiery furnace (see above quote).  That seems like good motivation to focus on evangelism. 

 
I would propose this evangelism must be more than just being a witness by showing our concern for creation.  Non-believers will not understand our reasons for caring for creation unless their eyes are opened by the Creator to see they are sinners and deserve judgment.  It is plain in reading the Bible that in God’s economy the worth of a man’s soul is worth more than that of a stable earth environment.  Jesus Christ came to this earth, lived a perfect life, died on the cross to save people from their sins and rose again on the third day.  Jesus Christ did not come to “Save the Dolphins.” He came because He loved the world (people) and He knew the God would be glorified in the eternal salvation of human souls.  I am not afraid to say then, “Focus on evangelism!”