Photograph by Chris LeBoutillier via Unsplash

Given the historic Baptist emphasis on soul freedom and Bible freedom, and the fact that we are legion, it’s risky to generalize about Baptist responses to any issue. But it’s safe to say that all observant people, irrespective of religious convictions, political leanings and cultural location, are aware of the inundations, droughts, heat waves and freezes, notable for their frequency and extremity, which constitute “the climate crisis.” And the overwhelming evidence of human causal influence in this crisis, including but not limited to the pumping of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, is impossible to ignore. The inescapable question is: How do we respond?

As a theologian, I can claim no special expertise concerning the practical responses to climate change, but I feel called, alongside other people of faith, to examine our values and commitments, and to generate the will to respond. And as a Baptist theologian, I would suggest that Baptist traditions, in all of their complexity, present special challenges and opportunities as we undertake this task.

Baptists of all varieties emphasize personal commitment to Christ. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). And this personal commitment to Christ is a response to God´s initiative. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God . . .” (Ephesians 2:8). This may produce an individualism that insulates the believer from the problems of the collective, but on the other hand it may also produce a freedom to be for the other, with Jesus as our model. Witness how Jesus assures us of God’s provision (Matthew 6:25-34), and counsels us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (6:33). And witness how the original body of believers “were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:43-47).

This emphasis on grace and God´s provision presupposes that prior to the grace of redemption, which is a cornerstone of Baptist tradition, there is a prior grace of creation – God’s original and spontaneous love for all of creation. At the conclusion of each creative day in the Genesis 1 creation narrative, God looked over that day´s work and “saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25); at the conclusion of the narrative “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good” (1:31). Witness exuberant creation hymns such as Psalm 104 and Psalm 148, and God´s answer to Job (chapters 38-41), where God exults in the wild ox which won’t pull our plow (39:10) and the hawk and the eagle that soar beyond our control (39:26-30). Truly God´s creative love does not embrace us alone.

With respect to the grace of redemption: many Baptists have interpreted it in an “otherworldly” fashion. “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through . . .” But images of the new creation, both in the Old Testament and the New, catch up all of God’s original creation, not replacing it but transforming it and perfecting it. Witness the image of the “peaceable kingdom” in Isaiah 11. “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, . . . and a little child shall lead them” (11:6). The new Jerusalem portrayed in Revelation 22:1-5 is an urban utopia whose residents enjoy the direct presence of God and the Lamb, a “nature reserve,” if you will. A river flows through it, with the tree of life growing on either side – in effect, a riparian habitat, one of earth’s richest and most fruitful. 

What an apt image this is for a world where an increasing majority of global population lives in cities, and a healthy climate will be accessible in the city or not at all. Paul in Romans 8 portrays all of creation “groaning in labor pains” awaiting release from “its bondage to decay” even as we humans await “the redemption of our bodies” (8:21-23). The contemporary understanding of ecosystem reminds us that there is literally no life without the other, here or hereafter.

Finally, however we Baptists may differ sociologically, theologically, and politically, we are “people of the Book.” Humanly speaking, the widely diverse writings gathered into the Bible were written by human beings, for human beings. In that sense, it’s an anthropomorphic book. But if we attempt to read the Bible through the eyes of its ultimate Author and Subject – what I would call a theocentric reading – we will see God’s immense love for and joy in the totality of creation throughout its pages. 

The psychological, technological, moral and spiritual capacities associated with the imago Dei – the image and likeness of God in humanity — and the original and permanent centrality of our particular role as God´s gardeners and caretakers (Genesis 1:26-30) should not move us to pride and assertions of privilege. We receive the gifts and responsibilities that we have precisely as the beloved children and agents of the Creator. And the “dominion” that we are granted in the Genesis 1 narrative (1:28) is for the well-being of the entire creation, and is to be exercised according to the model of Jesus. Speaking to his disciples in the upper room after he had washed their feet – the ultimate act of humble service – he said to them, “You call me Teacher and Lord – and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example . . .” (John 13:13-15). 

Returning full circle to where we started, I conclude with one more compelling motivation for addressing the climate crisis precisely because we are disciples of Jesus and members of his earthly body (1 Corinthians 12). In these days all the “traditional” priorities, activities and concerns of the Church – evangelism, discipleship, spiritual formation, the pursuit of justice in all its forms – can only be practiced in the context of creation care. If a livable world does not exist, we cannot follow Jesus.