Hans Hess, founder of Elevation Burger, believes that environmental care isn’t be a political issue – it’s a biblical issue which should be important to all Christians.

Transcript:

I believe Christians should care for the environment. I think that’s true because of the circumstances under which God created us. He gave us a mandate to tend the garden.

This really shouldn’t be a political issue. The reality is that as a Christian you’re created for a purpose, and that purpose has a lot to do with tending to the physical environment that God gave us.

If you just look at the biblical story at it’s most basic symbolic or representational level, humans are intimately connected to their environment. And so it follows that what we do with our environment matters. What goes on with it impacts us. We’re connected to it in a way. Us and animals are connected to it in a way that is extremely theologically significant. But not just that. It’s practically significant on a day-to-day level. How we treat the environment produces consequences for ourselves, whether that’s weather patterns or what have you.

So, should Christians care about the environment? Absolutely. We were created in an environment. And the environment was also given to us to take charge of and to actually function in and use in a way that honors God.

If I can apply my God-given talents to reduce the negative impact I have on my environment, why wouldn’t I? That’s something God gave me, and that’s something he expects of me. I feel like in obedience to God I have to take my actions into account when it comes to how I treat the environment. I think Christians should care about the environment just as much as about anything else.

Watch the full Elevation from the Faith & Co. film series from Seattle Pacific University.

This video serves as an illustration to the TOW Bible Commentary The Work of The Creation Mandate (Genesis 1:28, 2:15).