"We care for the environment precisely because God will create a new earth."

If you ever overhear me muttering threats while I read Christian media, it’s likely that I’ve discovered more “Christian” shows of contempt for environmentalists.

It’s amazing how often I find fellow believers putting down those who strive to save the natural world our Creator made. I get sick to my stomach when I hear that Christians disregard the state of the environment because, well, Jesus is coming back soon so why worry about global warming?

And when certain Christian movie-review sites (you can probably guess the one I’m thinking of) note a film’s focus on the environment as a bad thing, I find myself tempted toward some truly sinful behavior in response.

These things are especially affecting to me when I visit my favorite panoramic displays of God’s creation, like my personal favorite… the view from the coast of Whidbey Island’s Fort Casey, where I am right now, writing this to you.

Today, I’m grateful for this view… and for David Neff, editor in chief at Christianity Today. He’s courageous enough to take on tough topics, endure the angry mail, and respond with grace and patience I admire.

Here’s his special look at “Second Coming Ecology.”

Seeing through eschatological eyes pushes me in the direction of relating to desperate people who are at a distance, because God has promised some day to bring them close. When I was growing up, eschatology meant “end times”‚Äîthat is, my church focused on the timing and manner of final events.

But Jesus and the apostles played down the time element and even the manner of the End. Instead, they emphasized the inbreaking of God’s rule and the way our ability to see his rule helps to transform the present.

If we are given that ability to see God at work, bringing the present into contact with the End, we cannot be indifferent to the way things are. We cannot be deaf to the groanings of Creation. And we can treasure every gift God gives us as a sign of his promises.

Thanks for that, David.