Dr. Matthew Sleeth is succeeding where many have failed, and as a result, has become one of the most important voices in today’s environmental movement. I know that’s a pretty bold statement. Especially since there are hundreds of innovative environmental leaders around the world who are making a positive impact. However, Sleeth is going where few environmentalist are willing to go – the Christian Church.

Engaging the Christian Church with the message of climate change and environmental sustainability has been, to put it nicely, difficult. Western Christianity has only increased its political bias and scientific phobia over the last several decades for matters related to science, sustainable business, and stewardship. The Christian Church once birthed numerous forerunners in many areas of scientific discovery, observation, and theory (Newton, Galileo, Heisenberg), but has increasingly become a contributing force in the polarization of science and faith.

J. Matthew Sleeth, MD

Enter Dr. Matthew Sleeth. As a medical doctor and missions architect, Sleeth has treated thousands of people all over the world through the healing practice of modern medicine. He has seen, first hand, the correlation between environment and human health. Not only in foreign countries like China, which has seen a 31% increase in breast cancer rates over its last decade of industrialization, but also in his own community and hospital. It was while at work that  Dr. Sleeth first became painfully aware of this correlation. In a single week’s time he admitted three women with breast cancer only to watch all three pass away. That same week he stopped dedicating his life to merely treating people with physical ailments, and instead pursue the root cause behind the great human health issues of our day. Sleeth put it this way, “I felt like I was straightening deck chairs on the Titanic, saving one patient at a time, while the whole ship (Earth) was going down.”

So what did he do? First, he put his money where his mouth is. Sleeth gave up his large “Chief of Medical Staff/Director of ER” bank roll, cushy lifestyle, and New England home for a more simple existence. He did what Colin and Michelle Beavan did as an experiment – reducing trash, electricity, fossil fuel – and made it a permanent way of life. The Sleeth family reduced their fossil fuel consumption by two thirds and their electricity use by nine tenths. No small feat. They have also been consistently reducing their consumption and waste disposal numbers. Last I heard, they were producing around four pounds of waste per week, while the average American household creates 40 pounds of waste per week. Once his lifestyle caught up with his values, he began writing and speaking a gospel that many Christians overlook – that God is “green” and has always been in the business of stewardship and sustainability.

Many Christians balk at that last statement, and I would assume that it’s primarily due to the political rhetoric that has been ingrained with much of Western Christian theology. If you actually engage and listen to what Dr. Sleeth preaches, then you’ll soon find yourself nodding to his reasoning and compassion. For example, where many Christians read “love your neighbor as you love yourself,” and agree it means being kind and compassionate toward all persons, Sleeth expands that “golden rule” into the realm of conservation and environmentalism. He believes that being a good neighbor and loving others entails protecting resources and stewarding what we’ve been given. The logic is quite simple. When we do large or even small things, like solar panels or recycling, we are protecting resources and creating less pollution. This, in turn, creates a healthier planet and people. When we steward resources and protect the gift that is planet Earth, we are essentially saying I care about my quality of life, as well as my neighbors (foreign and domestic) and the future generation’s to come. In his book “Serve God, Save the Planet” Sleeth says, “Being pro-stewardship is not a case of valuing forests more than people; rather, it means valuing human possessions less, and God’s world more. Surely we must value the loan of God’s earth at least as much as we value the loan of an automobile, for God’s earth is only on loan to each generation.” He goes on to say that “Environmental concerns are intimately tied to issues of poverty, health, and compassion.” The point he’s trying to make is that “it’s” all connected.

What is “it?” “It” is people, planet, and our relationship with God. If you don’t value people, then you’ll soon find yourself in disagreement with God. God values, and loves us. All of us. When we lose that perspective, we loose sight of who God is and who we were made to be. Also, if you don’t value the planet, then you don’t value people. Everyone is counting on the planet for sustenance and shelter. That’s why God gave it to us. By not valuing the planet, we devalue the gift, as well as the gift giver. We also devalue all those “neighbors” that are counting on the planet’s provision. Being a “good neighbor” requires us to steward all that we’ve been given, not just part of it. Try as we might to compartmentalized our lives, the truth is it’s all connected.

If you would like to find out more about what Dr. Sleeth is doing, then check out his website below:

http://www.matthewsleethmd.com