A Facebook friend commented a valid concern about my last post (https://peacewithinreach.com/do-we-ask-wwjd-anymore/)—“I can see some push back on your main question owing to different beliefs about the nature of reality. Worldview differences have direct ramifications how one understands morality and how to define it.” I agree that “What Would Jesus Do? (WWJD?)” will probably not be asked in the same way by those who do not offer allegiance to Jesus. But, I hope those readers will give readers who are believers helpful push back to live-what-we-talk.
So, What Would Jesus Do about climate change? As the Son of the Creator Father, I imagine care for the physical world would be of much importance to him. And, he certainly cared much about those who were disadvantaged and poor (Matthew 14:13-21, 25:34-40), especially if they were neglected. Often, climate change has the worst effect on those who have the least, and those people often live in low-lying areas where the rise of sea levels hurts the most. We can imagine that would bother Jesus.
To be fair, if you have any arguments against the thought that Jesus would be concerned about climate change if it was human-caused, please comment below.
Okay, so if you give allegiance to Jesus as your Savior, how would he want you to address climate change? I was recently with some guys who seem to doubt climate change and that it is largely human-caused. The debate went back and forth—“so you read that, well, I read that proving climate change is FAKE N…” Yes, personally, I take the position that climate change caused by humans is a problem. I base that opinion on a lot of reading. Here are two articles that might be helpful–1) this article by the Institute of Physics is long and dry, and seems unbiased—http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024024. 2) Here is a 3-minute video by Christian scientist/professor Katharine Hayhoe–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1eGJLqxxKQ&feature=youtu.be. She and her husband–an evangelical pastor– wrote a book on climate change. (If you do anything with this post, at least watch this 3-minute video.)
Let’s get beyond the debating and back to the question, “WWJD?” I especially need to ask you readers who are my siblings in Jesus but who downplay or disregard the issue of climate change, “As ones commissioned by Jesus to be his witnesses, if you put yourselves in the shoes of those whom you want to hear the Gospel, wouldn’t it seem odd to join a movement that seems more disrespectful than others toward the creation made by the Creator whom they tell us to worship?” In essence, many Christians are viewed as anti-“green”, therefore as hypocritical and ignorant—traits which are unattractive to atheists and agnostics, and to the Christians’ own young people who study science in school.
“What Would Jesus Do?” I think he would encourage us to improve our messaging. If we don’t like the present use of “green,” the major color of creation, what’s a more palatable and more correct use of it?