by Eric Corpus 
In August 2006, my wife and I founded a non-profit organization called Take Care Now to promote caring for God's earth and the people on it. We got to do a few cool things. For example:
- We sold stickers and nylon reusable shopping bags with our logo on them.
- We held regular street cleanups of a less affluent part of town.
- We held a Nintendo Wii Sports tournament to benefit displaced refugees in Uganda. This was soon after the Wii came out, so we'd like to think that it was the first-ever Wii tournament for charity. Maybe it wasn't, but it's a nice fantasy world to live in.
However, after our first child, our priorities shifted. TCN still exists in name and idea, but its future is uncertain.
The interest is there, as our Facebook group still has its core 100 or so members. We'll just have to see what God has for it.
This post is the text of the About page from our original website. I think it's a decent explanation of why the earth (and the people on it) should be cared for.
Take Care Now exists to inspire Christians to act on their faith through care for neighbors and stewardship of resources out of love for God.
We think that the earth is a very cool place to live. And we think that we as Christians should take care of it. Here’s why:
You’ve probably heard of stewardship, the wise use of what God has provided. There is stewardship of one’s talents, finances, and time — but what about the natural resources that God has given us?
Jesus said that the greatest commandments are: Love the Lord your God with everything that is in you and love your neighbor as yourself. Where does environmental stewardship fit into this? Being mindful of creation shows love for God and our neighbors.
By caring for the earth, we show our love for God by appreciating His glory that is evident throughout creation. Romans 1:20 teaches that God’s power and divine nature can be seen by what has been made. Psalms 24 and 89 declare that the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. This incredible place in which we live is a gift, and we should honor and maintain that gift.
We show our love for neighbors by helping to keep this place wonderful because we all live here and share it. This also helps the poor (some of Jesus’ favorite people to love) by fighting air pollution, water contamination, and the increasing accumulation of waste, as they don’t have the resources to shield themselves from such problems.
We don’t have to force environmental stewardship into our lives as Christians. It should be a natural part of living lives of love. We know that God wants us to be good stewards of all He has given us. Likewise, we know that our decisions affect our neighbors now and in the future. The next step is to act on this knowledge! There are many ways to do this that don’t take much time and can help you be a better steward of other resources as well.
We don’t want to exalt God’s creation, nor do we believe in devoting your life to saving the earth. There are simple choices that can make a difference. We believe in exalting God through showing love in actions and in truth, as stated in 1 John 3:18.
We’re excited about starting this movement to care for God’s earth. It’s like a new world of ways to show our love for God has opened up to us. If this sounds good, we hope that you’ll join us in honoring the Creator by caring for His creation!
Do you practice any environmental stewardship? Should we even care for the earth to begin with?
Recommend
Comments (13)
We should worry more about the people on the planet.
I think taking care of the earth and taking care of people go hand in hand. You can't take care of people without taking care of the land they live in, if you want to help people. A lot of problems like hunger, disease, and other disasters can be prevented if we took care of the earth and the land. that's my take on it.
Oh and also
If you love the creator, take care of his creation
Why care for the earth?
It's just going to be wasted away after the rapture and such and such.
NOT.
The earth is, to me anyway, a Goddess unto herself. She needs the respect and she needs our love...Because she gives us a home, and for Christians, basically a doorway to heaven. (or so I believe.)
I think you may enjoying reading a book by the theologian N.T. Wright called "Surprised by Hope". In it he talks about how the "new heavens and earth" will have something to with this earth and how what we do hear has a greater effect on the end times more than just rewards in heaven. So taking care of our bodies, the earth etc...will have eternal effects. If that is true, I think that taking care of the earth is a huge deal! Sadly, it is a challenge to get out of my American mindset of "if it is available use it".
We just talked about that a few weeks ago either at my church or at Christian Union. (Or both) The speaker said that since most of the world's poor depend on the environment for their livelihoods, not taking care of the environment is akin to taking the money out of their bank accounts. If we ruin this world that we have, they're not going to have any hope for survival.
In other words, yes, we should definitely take care of the environment! Good post! I hope that your organization works out - it sounds like it's showing the love of God in a big way.
I respect your view and good article. If we all share our parts it would be great. But i think there are deeper thinking, and more parts in this game than you think. I dont know how complicate the enviromental issue is, but it wouldnt get this bad if it wasnt complicated. So take my words for it, you will see the dramas drag on, until good action are take. But another view of it is, why does we have to act since God the almighty can act on anything to rid us of the dirt in this world and the evil it can do. Just another angle for us to see and test ourself of our faith and our evil doing. I dont know if im knowingly done any damage that supposenly this entired planet responsible for. But if im held responsible all by myself, i will probably have to protest. I mean if a bad action is rewarded it is a bad deed being done. And people have been taught many years to take care of the inviroment, and still....So my thoughts linger....Maybe we all should try harder to research, to motivate, to be the lesser cost of the problem....or stand by to watch in an unparanoid way of how things will play out. My thoughts can go on and on with this but i like to stop here.
We're a part of nature, so by taking care of the earth we're taking care of ourselves.
God asked us to take care of this earth. It seems only right that we should be more concerned over the welfare of the planet. I completely support your endeavors :) Keep on loving nature.
a couple of points. One of the first commandments was to subdue and inhabit the earth. Adam was told to tend the Garden. From this i would assume it is our responsibility to take care of the Earth. Also the bible says that the earth is Cursed because of us. It stands to reason that we are responsible for this curse and have a responsibility to help the planet as much as possible.
I try to be a good steward, but most people I come across who make a big deal about environmentalism go overboard imo.
of course :] if you missed it, definitely check out renewal. you can buy the dvd now, or maybe your library has it by now..i just saw it on pbs and it was wonderful! here's the description from the site:
Across the nation, people of faith are standing up for the environment. Evangelical Christians are fighting mountaintop removal, a coal mining process that is decimating Appalachia. Muslims are supporting sustainable farming. Jews are helping children experience the bond between nature and spirituality. Interfaith Power and Light is mobilizing people of all faiths in a religious response to global warming.For the first time, the combined energy of these diverse activists is the driving force behind a feature-length documentary, entitled RENEWAL. Veteran film producers Marty Ostrow and Terry Kay Rockefeller have crisscrossed the country to capture these exciting stories of people whose passion and deep moral commitment are making a difference in a time of grave ecological threats.
I recycle, use canvas bags, and even have a few CFLs at home. The part of the environmental movement that scares me is when it becomes politicized, mandated, and too wrapped up in money. To me, it seemed like an oxymoron when I heard that the Empire State Building was spending $20,000,000 to become "greener." That's A LOT of money, especially in a recession, and when the goal is supposed to be saving money in the long run.
A commercial I saw the other day was even advertising this series on the History Channel called "Life After People." The message seemed to be, if humans became extinct, the world would be a lot better off and would resemble a lush garden (with nobody to tend it, and no eyes to see it?). That's going too far in my opinion. I hate feeling false guilt, as if I'm to blame for the way the Earth is breaking down.
During the tribulation, I wonder what the green folks will think, as God starts to pull down stars, poison the water supply, scorch fields and unleash plagues of war and starvation.
What IF we 'Accidently' Sinned in our Minds....when we are already in Heaven ??
Will we be kicked out of Heaven like Lucifer was??
I hope not.
Steve from San Jose, CA.