The Rev. Jim Ball
On the list of political issues championed by evangelical Christians, environmentalism usually falls off the page. The Rev. Jim Ball, 47, hopes to change that. The Brunswick, Md., resident is the president and chief executive officer of the Evangelical Environmental Network and its publication, Creation Care Magazine. Ball and his network of pastors work to “bless the facts” about the environment, and convince Christians to care for it. He spoke with The Examiner about his green and godly work.
Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
I’m a Baptist Christian of the evangelical variety. My faith provides me with the ultimate meaning of my life: to do God’s will.
Did anyone or any event especially influence your faith or your path in life?
I accepted Jesus into my heart because the elderly associate pastor of Jupiter Road Baptist Church, Dr. Odum, came to our home in Richardson, Texas, when I was 13 and explained to me how I could accept Christ. He simply and plainly explained that if I were to say a prayer and ask him to be my savior, I’d be saved. And this was a fundamentalist church, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there was something about hell in there somewhere. But it was a simple and plain message. My memories of Dr. Odum are of a very kind man, very sincere — I guess in some ways, he embodied the love that God had for me.
I grew up in a Christian home, but at a certain point you make your own decision. That night in the privacy of my room, I did. Several months later I walked the aisle and was baptized.
You use the term “creation care” to describe your movement. What does creation care encompass that environmentalism does not?
We use the term in part to help people understand that we’re not just talking about the environment, but about something created by our Lord. It’s God’s creation. Have you ever heard anyone say it’s God’s environment? No. The word “creation” implies a creator — this is not just some environment that popped up out of nowhere, [with] no meaning to its existence — no. This is about caring for his creation.
And the other reason is that some in our community are wary of environmentalists. I don’t think it’s fair to paint them with a broad brush, but some do. That’s a reality. And we use “creation care” to help people see that they may have dismissed this because they’re concerned about what “environmentalists” think. But the Bible says no, you can’t, it’s right there in the first few chapters, right there in Genesis, and at the beginning of the Gospel of John. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And it goes on to say that through him all things were made, all things were created through God.
What has been the biggest barrier stopping conservative Christians from embracing the environment as they’ve embraced the pro-life movement, for example? How can you overcome it?
The biggest barrier preventing Christians from more fully embracing creation care, including addressing global warming, is not understanding and accepting that to do so is an important part of being a disciple of Jesus Christ today, of doing the Lord’s will. We will overcome it by helping Christians understand what the Bible says about creation care and also about protecting “the least of these” from such major threats like global warming. We will also overcome it through prayer. Of course, it is really the Lord who will overcome these barriers. I simply hope to be his faithful instrument.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
The central defining belief of my life is that Jesus Christ is my Savior and my Lord.
