Cross

Some evangelical Christians are reluctant to take climate action – and even cite scripture to support a hands-off approach.

“Revelation says that we’re going to get a new Heaven and a new Earth someday, and so some take that to mean that this one doesn’t matter,” says Evangelical author Lindsay Linsky.

Linsky offers a different perspective in her book, “Keep it Good: Understanding Creation Care Through Parables.”

“There’s a lot of scriptures including Psalm 24 that says it’s not our creation. God’s the owner and CEO, and we are the managers or caretakers,” she says.

In her book, Linsky uses parables to encourage readers to think about the scripture more deeply.

“I’ve borrowed from Jesus’s teaching style, kind of. Stories allow us to step into kind of a mental flight simulator. They help us to see things from another perspective,” she says.

One parable is personal. At 17, lost in thought while driving, Linsky struck and killed the neighbors’ basset hound.

“She’d given them such love and joy and companionship and then she was just gone – and you know, because of carelessness, honestly,” Linksy says. “I believe that’s how God sees his creatures and species extinction.”

So she encourages Christians to take care of the Earth.

“If we’re serious about our faith, then we need to be serious about taking care of his creation,” she says.

Reporting credit: Stephanie Manuzak/ChavoBart Digital Media.