The overarching question that guided the deliberations leading to this summary was: How might Christians in the church, parachurch, and workplace collaborate to reach and disciple others in the practice of caring for creation and the vulnerable, which is integral to our gospel witness?
Listening to the Current Reality
It is important to acknowledge that this Gap covers a broad scope, including caring for creation and the vulnerable—covering planet-wide issues ranging from human to non-human creation! Most people selected this Gap either for environmental issues (“caring for creation”) or for vulnerable human communities (“caring for the vulnerable”). Some participants felt there was a distinction between those working with nature and those working with vulnerable people. However, others could see the overlap of the issue and are already working at the intersection between nature and people.
Participants also mentioned that combining these two issues may promote the utilitarianism of God’s creation. In other words, it suggests that caring for God’s creation is important only based on how it affects or benefits people. How can we affirm that even apart from the suffering of vulnerable people from environmental challenges, the church should still be at the forefront of seeking justice for creation?
Consequently, the broad scope of this Gap drew participants from various professional backgrounds, including those working with youth, educators, financial regulators, entrepreneurs, advocates protecting vulnerable populations (eg trafficked persons, orphans), doctors, conservationists, sustainability professionals, theologians, and more.
Brainstorming the root causes for the gap pertaining to both human and non-human creation led to the following identified items:
- Poor theology
- Ignorance
- Indifference
- Poor discipleship in church
- Inequalities in wealth/exploitation
- Greed
These root causes highlight the disconnect in churches and wider society regarding planet-wide issues and Christian faith. Some Christian leaders adhere to a theological understanding of the destruction of the earth. This paradigm of thinking can perpetuate the apathy for, and even dismissal of, caring for God’s creation.
Overall, there is a gap in our Christian discipleship between what is taught from the Bible and how our faith is lived out. For example, we might explore how we read the Bible and understand God’s story of creation, salvation, and restoration considering all creation. What might be different about how we talk to others about Jesus when we consider Jesus not only as personal Lord and Saviour but as Saviour and Lord of all creation? Also noted is the disconnect between the human condition (eg, greed, indifference, etc.) and how it impacts and/or perpetuates societal inequalities and inequities.
The discussions identified multiple reasons why addressing this Gap matters. Some of the primary examples include:
- Our response to these issues affects the global church’s integrity.
- Risk of food insecurity and biodiversity loss is a reality.
- Urgent solutions are needed as patterns for natural disasters are shifting.
- These issues particularly matter to the younger generation.
- It is necessary to tackle corruption, poverty, and societal injustices.
- Increasing marginalisation of vulnerable groups
These examples highlight the gravity of what happens when we do not take ‘caring for creation and the vulnerable’ seriously. Consequences often cascade from one part of creation to another, such as how the destruction of land and wildlife can later impact human creation as well.
For instance, environmental degradation combined with extreme weather events can lead to food insecurity (eg when rice fields are destroyed in a storm), increasing the vulnerability of farming communities. In some cases, such farmers may seek out job alternatives and could end up becoming victims of human trafficking.
In such circumstances, what is the role of Christians and the global church? How do we integrate creation care and justice issues into our Christian witness?
Imagining a Preferred Reality
If we truly collaborated over this Gap, what is possible?
Although broad in scope, “caring for creation” and “caring for the vulnerable” overlap significantly. First, creation includes both human and non-human creations. Humans are both children and creatures of God. Second, the vulnerable include not only vulnerable people (such as orphans and trafficked women) but also wildlife and biomes threatened due to human impact. Moreover, there is a dynamic interplay between working with people within environmental and vulnerable population sectors. This means that there are great opportunities for collaboration in these spaces.
So, whilst participants of this Gap’s discussions were generally focused on either vulnerable human populations or nature rather than both, the group identified many intersections. For example, deforestation can detrimentally impact both human and non-human creation. Large-scale deforestation impacts biodiversity and wildlife habitats. Deforestation also increases the risk of flooding (as trees absorb water into the earth) and exacerbates the impact of natural events like typhoons. More specifically, the urban poor living in low-lying areas with few trees are at risk of getting flooded out of their homes during big storms. When the land suffers, people suffer too, and vice versa.
Painting a picture of 2050 allowed participants to dream big, yet realistically, around closing the gap. Some of the 2050 pictures include:
- The church being involved globally in holistic mission
- Comprehensive theological content in seminaries
- Transformation in peoples’ lifestyles (ie simpler and more sustainable)
- A more just world led by just leaders
- The church as a driving force of the fulfillment of UN sustainable development goals (SDGs)
- Inclusion and learning for populations that are currently invisible or marginalised
Our collaboration towards reaching these goals begins with naming where and how God is already at work. (The most encouraging example named by several participants was being part of the afternoon Gap collaboration sessions and seeing the Holy Spirit move among our discussions at the Lausanne 4th Congress in Seoul.)
Other examples include:
- Growing theological, exegetical, and hermeneutical work in this Gap area
- Seeing younger generations rising to respond to these issues
- Increasing renewable energy options
- Willingness to work together and collaborate across different sectors
- Deepening awareness of planetary issues in the church
Creating a Way to Close the Gap
What steps move us toward collaborative action?
Several repeated themes emerged as key priorities for this Gap, including:
- Ensuring that caring for creation (human and non-human) is a core part of our Christian discipleship.
- Teaching and living out the whole gospel—not just verbal proclamation.
- Collaboration among regional networks and between Church and community.
- Intergenerational and co-leadership, which involves mentoring younger leaders and inviting younger leaders early on.
- Developing theological content that is regionally contextualised and disseminated widely.
- Engaging in political and apolitical initiatives to defend creation and vulnerable populations for transformative advocacy.
These priorities emphasise bringing together aspects of Christian faith where there has often been separation. First, the desire is to integrate our engagement in God’s creation with our ongoing discipleship in Christ. Our spiritual lives are not separate from our physical ones. Second, Christians are not meant to choose between the proclamation of Christ and caring for society and creation. Rather, as the Cape Town commitment affirms, all three are essential to what it means to follow Jesus. Third, our theological engagement is not only for a selected demographic and/or led by a particular age group; instead, it’s an invitation to all ages and backgrounds to work through how to live out our care for creation and the vulnerable.
When discussing the role of Lausanne’s Fourfold Vision in relation to this Gap, key opportunities linked to the core of our Christian faith in light of all creation were identified. These include:
- Keeping Christ at the centre of our creation care efforts [“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” Ps 24:1]
- Caring for creation as part of our Christian discipleship and linked to disciple-making
- Looking at kingdom impact, not only in every sphere of society, but in all of creation
These points help to highlight how this Gap includes not merely social and environmental concerns but also spiritual ones as they deeply matter to God. After all, God is the one who spoke all creation into being from the beginning and has a plan to save and restore all creation in the end. How we relate to God’s creation is an inherent part of our spirituality and affects our Christian witness and, ultimately, our relationship with God.
Similarly, when discussing what kinds of actions are needed towards closing the gap, both physical and spiritual actions can be taken, including:
- Committing to the importance of prayer and the role of the Holy Spirit
- Church leaders to take this Gap’s issues seriously
- Valuing the “commons” but identifying differentiated responsibility [ “To whom much is given, much is required” Luke 12:48]
The final point highlights that this Gap is also a justice issue. The reality is that some people are not concerned about the wider creation and the vulnerable in our societies because they benefit from maintaining the status quo. For example, the economically rich may be able to ‘afford’ to keep environmental issues and the economically poor away from their lifestyles, churches, or workplaces, especially if they are benefiting from the exploitation of land and vulnerable people. Part of our collaborative action then is to speak up about these injustices and ensure differentiated responsibility as part of addressing these gaps.
Communicating a Prayerful Proposal
Who will collaborate, on which opportunity, for what goal?
The clear overlap between wider creation and society and with other sectors was evident in the discussion about collaborative action. The examples of the following potential collaborative action teams (CAT) show the intersection of different sectors and populations of society:
- Creation care and Children
- Creation care and Youth
- Justice and Creation care
- Theological education including “caring for creation and the vulnerable” into their syllabuses
- Creation care and Business as Mission (BAM)
- Creation care, Development and Peace building
- Communication, dissemination and connection through Art.
We are aware that there are many other possible CATs if we include those other gap areas and issue networks within Lausanne. We propose that every CAT address care for creation and the vulnerable within its remit. The scope of this Gap reminds us of the planet-wide reach of these issues. Thus, effective collaborative action depends on the cross-pollination of people engaged in multiple sectors and issues. The challenge will be in the ongoing coordination of efforts while avoiding duplication and finding creative pathways to understand and address these critical issues.
This is why our Christian collaboration must be rooted in prayer. Our human efforts alone will be in vain if they are not first submitted to God, rooted in Christ and dependent on the leading of the Holy Spirit. Key areas needing ongoing intercession are:
- Being a prophetic voice for our age
- For the church to stand up / cry out for justice and repent
- Discerning how to contextualise our theology with contemporary issues
- Unity of the church—removing the “scales from our eyes” and outpouring of the Holy Spirit
- Learning how to appreciate and work with one another despite our differences
- Wisdom for how to work better at the intersection of issues: business, politics, church, academia, healthcare, etc.
Acknowledgements
Content Specialists: Benita Simón Mendoza, Dave Bookless, Jasmine Kwong
Facilitators: Harrison DJ, Ptr Homero Aziz
Affinity Hosts: Annemarthe Westerbeek, Caroline Pomeroy, Juliana Morillo, Mark Polet, Rolf Zwick, Vanessa Chang, Richard Buggs, Liza Storey
Authors
Jasmine Kwong | Lead author
Catalyst for Creation Care in the Lausanne Movement. Jasmine is also the global lead for creation care in OMF International and is based in the Philippines. jkwong@andrew-fletcher
Dave Bookless | Catalyst for Creation Care in the Lausanne Movement.
Dave is the director of theology for A Rocha International, which mobilises the church to care for creation practically across six continents.
Benita Simón Mendoza | Catalyst for Creation Care in the Lausanne Movement.
Benita is an indigenous Mayan Kaqchikel woman. She shares her life with Jeison Rodriguez, and together with their little baby, they make community life in Guatemala.