Unfortunately the environmental movement has been dominated by the political left. With catch praises like “global warming” and “climate change”, which hint at future ecological devastation, environmentalism has become a political hot button. As a consequence of this partisan divide, many faithful Christians have been misinformed or reluctant to become involved in environmental issues. Now, I am not going to lay out the cases, for or against, “climate change” or beat the drum that our planet is in danger of environmental collapse….though that would be a great future blog post (foreshadowing?). No, what I am going to do is discuss why being “green” is more than just a responsible choice for Christians, but a requirement to obedience under God.
Simply and plainly put God has left man (meaning humans not man/woman) as stewards over the earth. God has left us as responsible for his creations.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground." Sadly this verse has been misinterpreted or hijacked throughout the years to tolerate the abuse of nature with the rationalization that mankind "rules" over the earth. However we are the “rulers” not because we are the creator but because the creator has place stewardship to us, the earth is not ours, it is His and it should be treated not as our possession but treated respectfully as a creation of God. Think of it this way, God did not hand us the keys to his car saying "it is yours to do with it what you want," the car is his, we are simply driving it. We need to be responsible with choices we make that affect the world around us.
UPDATED: 7-15-11
"Thanks to the vigilant eye of camera traps stationed high in Afghanistan's remote northeast mountains, researchers have uncovered exciting news: A population of endangered snow leopards, one of the most elusive big cats on the planet, is thriving in the region."
http://news.yahoo.com/photos-elusive-snow-leopards-thrive-surprising-spot-150801114.html
*Note: The 3 animals in pictures above (Jaguar, West Indian Manatee, Red Wolf) are all native to North America and listed as endangered due to man....i.e. poaching, fishing, boating, hunting, loss of enviroment etc.
AMEN! I feel like so many Christians get caught up in the politics of it... they don't see the biblical truth that should be guiding our actions. ...I also feel like many Christians put their head in the sand & say that we aren't having "that bad" of an impact on the world around us... drives me nuts!!! But I won't rant all over your blog... :D
ReplyDeleteActually we do believe that life will end through "climate change.". THE climate change. Check out 2 Peter 3:4-14! But more on point in answer to your question, I think God likes His creation (He created and "saw that it was good" (Genesis 1) and so is likely not pleased with the abuse of it. He also keeps every living thing in his hand. I also came across Job 12:7-12 actually this morning (interesting passage in light of the topic). So yes we must steward well but that never means that creation itself becomes so valuable to us that it is sort of "god like" in status. We must remember that the earth is also God's footstool. Isaiah 66:1
ReplyDeleteLOL..THE climate change, yes and of course I was not advocating for any "god like" status to be apply to nature however it is all God's creation and should be treated with that type of respect. We can not continue to abuse the environment around us and expect there to be zero aftermath. While "climate change" may not end the human race, it could very much effect the earth and how we are able to live. We can not simple ignore the damage we are doing to the world around us because we don't believe it will cause apocalyptic results. I have heard Christians too many time scoff at "global warming" because they do not believe it will end the earth, but how is that being a good steward to what god as left us?
ReplyDeleteBtw, Bizz feel free to go as nuts as you would like.