From the outset, Sun Tzu and Climate Change may have very little to do with one another, but it is a quote from the ancient Chinese Warlord, and author of the now famous book, “The Art of War,” that ties the two together.

You see, Sun Tzu was a famous military strategist who lived roughly five hundred years before Jesus Christ, but his philosophy of warfare & intelligence gathering is still widely studied today around the world. What he said is this:

“If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the outcome of a hundred battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer defeat. If you know neither yourself, nor the enemy, you will succumb in every battle.” -Sun Tzu, The Art of War

So, there it is, the connection to Climate Change…., see it? Still confused?

For the past several decades and probably more, environmentalist have been desperately trying to convince us that man’s mere presence on the earth and the pollution we create, are changing the climate for the worst. First, it was global cooling in the 70’s created by excessive use of aerosols, then it was global warming in the 90’s caused by carbon dioxide, or more popularly known as “greenhouse gasses” championed by Al Gore, but eventually it morphed into it’s present day moniker to plain old climate change. This final transformation occurred around 2008 and covers all the bases just in case it goes one way or the other.

According to disciples, man-made climate change is the cause of a host of devastating outcomes including: famines, plagues, locusts, wildfires, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, floods, and even war. Any mention of God’s judgement for mankind’s sinfulness and disobedience are instantaneously dismissed as the ravings of religious lunatics, or ignorance on the part of the those who would suggest such a thing. It has become so taboo in our modern culture to even insinuate such a possibility that even the most ardent Christian believers are reluctant to suggest it for fear of committing intellectual suicide, or being ignored as spiritual kooks.

Thus we as Christians have a problem…., (as far as our human thinking is concerned), to be relevant to today’s culture we have to submit to the god of so called “settled science” and ignore what most of us all strongly believe in the comfort of our own living rooms as we sit sipping our coffee and reading the scriptures. And that is that God is going to deal with a disobedient and sinful people. Whatever testament you find yourself spending the most time in, “Old,” or “New,” it is plainly stated in both of them.

-“If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, ⁸ and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. ⁹ And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, ¹⁰ and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” –Jeremiah 18:7-10, NIV Bible, Old Testament

-“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, ^[a]pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Jesus, Matthew 24:7-8, Bible, New Testament

If you believe in the Christian God of the Bible, God’s judgement on man, first for individuals, then for society as a whole is a part of the package. Otherwise, the whole -Jesus dying on the cross to save sinful man- is pretty much pointless.

-Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

You see, the world is hurtling towards a teeth clenching, heart pounding, cataclysmic end according to the scriptures. The one and only way to be saved from this demise is to put your hope and trust in Jesus Christ, the only saving power, according to the Bible, that can deliver man or woman from this horrifying end.

If you find yourself thinking that man made global climate change is the enemy, then you have unfortunately fallen for Satan’s deception, the true enemy of mankind. So here in lies the connection to Sun Tzu’s philosophy; to know your enemy is to know how to fight that enemy and come out victorious. To spend your time in battling the wrong enemy or not recognizing who, or what that enemy truly is, is merely an exercise in self deception.

To illustrate my point, let me give you a few headlines:

-“Record Locust Swarms Hint at What’s to Come with Climate Change” EOS, Science News by AGU, July 2020

–“How Climate Change is Fueling Record-breaking California Wildfires, Heat and Smog” LA Times, Sept 2020

–How Climate Change Increases Our Risk For Pandemics, NPR, March 2020

And of course, the grand daddy of them all….. Climate Change inspired flooding because of rising sea levels….

–Climate change caused flooding threatens 300 million in Asia, USA Today, Oct 2019

Under this worldview, only you and responsible governments (if there is such a thing) are the ones who have the power to save you. Those who fear God and believe in His judgement are the real enemy because of their superstitious ignorance. However, God is clear in the scriptures that man will be deceived by his own arrogance.

–“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

Thousands of years ago, the Egyptians arrogantly made some costly assumptions about swarms of locust, hail, plagues and other disasters which befell their nation when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and it cost them their entire army at the bottom of the Red Sea. Likewise, the Babylonians failed to read the handwriting on the wall, and they never recovered.

As a Christian, I’ve often wondered what the world would be like when God’s final judgement finally did occur at the level spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24, and why the people would refuse to repent. What would cause people to do such a thing?

-“They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.” Revelation, 16:9

If people at that time only believe in “settled science” and not in the God of the Bible, then I guess they wouldn’t even recognize their own sinfulness. If you think your enemy is Climate Change, and not Satan and your own disobedience to God, then it certainly makes sense. And if this is the case, you most certainly better be right.

“Know your Enemy!”