More than two dozen evangelical leaders are seeking the ouster of Rev. Richard Cizik from the National Association of Evangelicals because of his "relentless campaign" against global warming.
In a March 1 letter to L. Roy Taylor, chairman of the NAE board, Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson and others said the NAE vice president's activism on global warming is "demoralizing" the evangelical umbrella group.
"If he cannot be trusted to articulate the views of American evangelicals on environmental issues, then we respectfully suggest that he be encouraged to resign his position with the NAE," wrote the leaders, none of whom are members of the association
There is something so laughably silly in this particular little bit that one is almost tempted to ignore it, but I just want to make the most obvious observation. The previous president of the NAE was Ted Haggard, who resigned last fall after revealing that he had an ongoing professional relationship with a male prostitute, and may or may not have experimented with methamphetamine. Something tells me that members of the NAE might be a bit more demoralized by the criminal hypocrisy of its previous president than by the environmental advocacy of its current president.
Be that as it may, this is a story that FIPL has been highlighting since this summer, as more and more evangelical churches have determined that care of creation mandates they highlight the abuse of creation and work to make amends. While this seems surprising, in fact it should not be for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it must be remembered that evangelicals are not fundamentalists; they are a group - including a variety of denominations, non-denominational "Free" and "Bible" churches - that professes the responsibility of the individual before his or her God, a responsibility that follows from the saving action of Jesus on the cross and through the resurrection. Biblical literalism, one of the hallmarks of fundamentalism, is, for the most part, unknown to true evangelicals, who have produced some of the most learned, insightful scripture scholars, motivated by faith to examine the text of the Bible for guidance for leading a faithful Christian life.
Evangelicals tend to be attracted to doctrinal statements, statements they often attribute to a systematic examination of scripture, and so it is no surprise, really, they often discuss their growing environmental awareness within the context of a reexamination of and reappropriation of the doctrine of creation. The doctrine of creation gives us, among other things, the final statement of God as to why human beings were created, and how we are to comport ourselves toward the rest of the created order. We are, in the words of British scripture scholar N. T. Wright, the caretakers of God's garden - our job is to make sure that creation is sustained as it was meant to be, as God proclaimed it on the evening of the sixth day - very good. The doctrine of creation is a rich mine of insight and motivation for action; it is not creationism, which is not religion at all, but ideology that uses religious language to mask a power grab by those threatened by the complex realities of modernity. Real Christians aren't threatened by science.
In their return to the Biblical imperative for creation care, evangelicals are coming to realize that environmental activism is warranted, not as a side project, but as part and parcel of the evangelical impulse to proselytize. One does not just preach, despite St. Paul's self-deprecating statement, "Jesus Christ and him crucified". One starts there, and moves forward to the very real, burning, urgent question of what this means for our lives as faithful disciples. Paul recognized this, and his correspondence is full of a variety of instructions as to how Christians are to live faithfully. Rev. Cizik is continuing that Pauline tradition, instructing the faithful as to their Biblically-mandated imperative to take care of creation, and to work diligently for the arresting of human-induced global climate change. James Dobson is more worried about spanking kids. Who, I ask not-so-rhetorically, is the more faithful evangelical?
May Rev. Cizik resist the pressure and continue to show us what real evnagelicals are and what they do.
UPDATE: Mea Culpa's all around. Richard Cizik is not the President of the NAE, but an executive VP. I need to make corrections. Cizik and the real President have this to say about the letter from Dobson, et al.:
"I speak with a voice that is authentically evangelical on all the issues, from religious freedom around the world to compassion for the poor [to] ending oppression in Darfur -- and yes, creation care is one of those issues," he said.
Anderson, meanwhile, told the paper Cizik was "a great asset" and noted that Dobson's organization released the letter to the news media before NAE officials were aware of it. "I guess that says it all," he said.
