Serve God, Save the Planet

"You shall not pollute the land in which you live. . . .You shall not defile the land in which you live, in which I also dwell."

Numbers 35:33-34, NRSV

A Christian call to protect and cherish the earth.

Five years ago Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth and his family lived in a big house, had two luxury cars, loads of money, and lots of stuff. As chief of the medical staff at a large hospital, Sleeth was living the American dream—until he realized that something was terribly wrong. As he saw patient after patient suffering from cancer, asthma, and other chronic diseases, he began to understand that the Earth and its inhabitants were in trouble. Feeling helpless, he turned to his faith for guidance. He discovered how the timeless lessons of personal responsibility, simplicity, and stewardship taught in the Bible could be applied to modern life.

The Sleeths have since sold their big home and given away more than half of what they once owned. In Serve God, Save the Planet, Sleeth shares the joy of adopting a less materialistic lifestyle, and reveals what was easy and what was hard about the changes his family has made.

Drawing on science and religion, Sleeth builds a bridge between environmentalists and mainstream Christians. He and his family are harbingers of the creation care movement, which calls on all those who love God to love our planet. Sleeth shares how material downscaling led his family to healthier lifestyles, stronger relationships, and richer spiritual lives. Serve God, Save the Planet is more than a book: it is a prescription for taking personal responsibility for global survival.

Creation Care Wisdom

"We cannot be all that God wants us to be without caring about the earth."
—Rev. Dr. Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life

"The growing possibility of our destroying ourselves and the world with our own neglect and excess is tragic and very real."
—Billy Graham

"We make an appeal that everyone will make a determined effort to solve the current burning problem of ecology, in order to avoid the great risk threatening the world today due to the abuse of resources that are God's gift."
—Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Bartholomew I, in a joint statement

"As Christians, our faith in Jesus Christ compels us to love our neighbors and to be stewards of God's creation. The good news is that with God's help, we can stop global warming, for our kids, our world, and for the Lord."
—Rev. Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, Longwood, Florida

"Love of God, love of neighbor, and the demands of stewardship are more than enough reason for evangelical Christians to respond to the climate change problem with moral passion and concrete action."
—From Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action

About the Author

J. Matthew Sleeth, MD

Five years ago, J. Matthew Sleeth M.D. and his family lived in a big house on the coast of Maine. They had two luxury cars, two incomes, and too much stuff. As chief of the medical staff and director of the emergency department at one of the nicest hospitals in America, Dr. Sleeth was living out the American dream. Then he realized that something was terribly wrong. He began to feel like he was straightening deck chairs on the Titanic while the whole ship was going down. That's when he turned to the Bible and discovered some eternal truths.

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