24God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.25Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.26And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,27so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;28for in Him we live and move and have our being...
We serve a mighty Creator who has made us in His image and has given us stewardship responsibilities, over ourselves and our spiritual lives, over our families, our resources, and a variety of other areas. We also discover there is a stewardship responsibility over the...earth, the earth which He created, the earth that testifies to His greatness. We can appreciate the beauty of His creation and look for opportunities in which we can be involved to honor Him by being responsible and respectful in how we interact with the environment, not in political extremism, but in practical application of our call to stewardship.
In Genesis 1, we see that humanity was given stewardship over the earth:
26Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
It is Earth Day - and today marks the 45th time that this occasion has been observed. Kevin DeYoung writes on The Gospel Coalition website that the original Earth Day “capitalized on the emerging consciousness [in the wake of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring], channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center.”
National Geographic states that the original Earth Day launched what has become the modern-day environmental movement. And, even within evangelical Christianity, there is a range of ideas of what it looks like to be properly position with regard to the environment. I think that we can be involved in responsible care for creation without worshipping it. But, too often there are quotes about preserving the environment that undercut the value of humanity's ingenuity and creativity and lead to a mindset that man is at odds with the earth.
DeYoung writes that, "Too often a model is assumed where the earth is a healthy organism and humans are cancerous cells. All we do is pillage, pollute, and destroy. The world would be better off without us. Our goal then is to minimize our 'footprint' at all costs. All we do, it is implied, is consume the planet’s valuable resources."
He adds:
But the Bible also teaches that we are (sub)creators. We are capable of spilling 11 millions of gallons of oil off the coast of Alaska. But we are also capable of turning virtually worthless sand into silicon chips. We can create beauty as well as despoil it. We can actually make a harsh planet more inhabitable, more conducive for human flourishing. Would anyone but the most ardent environmentalists rather live on Earth now or 4000 years ago? By God’s grace, humans have learned to feed more people and help those people live longer, healthier, easier lives.He says that, "we must resist the temptation to think of humans as intruders from another world wrecking carnage in a pristine environment. Instead we must see ourselves as stewards, called to subdue, enjoy, protect, use, develop, and make more humane God’s fallen creation," and concludes by saying that, "we want to think carefully about how we can use our hands to make the earth more hospitable for more people, so that we might enjoy the beauty, grandeur, creativity, and productivity of our Father’s world."
The commemoration of Earth Day can serve to remind us of our role as responsible Christians, who are called to be faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us, and that includes care of the earth. A good word for today is "stewardship." What has God given you to care for today? Well, obviously we are to care for ourselves, as the temple of the Holy Spirit, and to not bring harm to ourselves physically, emotionally, or spiritually - we are to be good stewards of our hearts and not allow agents that would pollute our souls to enter in. Likewise, there are pollutants in the physical realm - activities in which we participate, items that we consume, that do not contribute to good health and longevity of life.
We have stewardship responsibilities in our homes - living as Godly examples to our children and teaching them Biblical principles. And, we have stewardship in the church and the workplace. We have possessions over which we have been granted stewardship as well, and we are called to earn, spend, save, and give our resources in a manner pleasing to God.
And, Genesis 1 is clear that we have stewardship over the earth. We can be stewards over creation and participate in activities that help us to appreciate what God has given to us. We can find ways to interact with and appreciate the beauty of creation. That may involve something simple like picking up litter and making sure we are not contributing to littering the environment. We can look for outdoor activities in which we can be involved that can help us to see God's handiwork.
Finally, we recognize that creation testifies to the existence of a Creator. God has painted on a wondrous canvas before us and has demonstrated for us unbelievable beauty that did not happen by random chance occurrence. The environment gives us an opportunity to point to the Designer, to think more deeply about the earth on which we've been placed, and to worship the One who has created it and continues to sustain it. And, a discussion of design can help people discover the realities of our great Creator, who sent His Son so that we could experience Him firsthand, the One who can change a human heart and make a person a new creation in Christ Jesus.
...a proper and balanced perspective on caring for the Earth and its inhabitants comes not from merely promoting “environmental awareness” but is only found within the Biblical framework, i.e. recognizing humans were created by a loving God and given the responsibility to rule over, subdue, and care for the rest of the Creation, once “very good,” but now suffering from the curse of sin.
We need to beware of the tendency to worship and serve created things, as can happen with some “Earth Day” activities. Instead we should give glory and honor to the Creator and return to the authority of His Word.
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