Christian Responsibility :
Christian Responsibility towards the Environment
In a week which has seen our government put back the law which was going to improve recycling of consumer electronics and the UK emissions of greenhouse gases went up to 158.4 million tons of CO 2 ,(so we will might now miss our Kyoto agreement commitments) we are starting a new four-week series looking at Christian Responsibility, and the first one is looking at Christian responsibility towards the environment.
It is difficult to imagine a period in human history in which the environment has been such an important and pressing issue. A BBC online report outlines the problems we face in terms of food - 1 in 6 people suffer from hunger and malnutrition, water - by 2025 two thirds of the world are likely to be living in areas of acute water stress; energy - oil production could start to decline by 2010; Climate Change - with increased storms, floods, droughts predicted; Pollution - hazardous chemicals are now found in the bodies of new born babies and 1 in 4 people worldwide are exposed to unhealthy concentrations of air pollutants; and underlying this the continuing increase in population. I have books written in 1984 which worried that the population of the earth would hit 6 billion by the year 2000. It did.
So in the light of this, we have to ask - what is the Christian response to this issue? Does the Bible have anything to teach us about how we should respond to these global issues? I believe it does.
For most of the 20 th Century the evangelical churches lost track of their social conscience. The reasoning seemed sound "the gospel is about saving peoples souls, not the planet", "with limited time, where does it make sense to put our effort?". It sounds inarguable, but we do well to remember that old saying "people don't care how much we know until they know how much we care". That is why so much missionary work started in the form of medical missions after all. Happily since the 1980's evangelical Christianity has regained its position at the forefront of social issues alongside its commitment to preaching the gospel.
I want to look at two things today: Gods world and our stewardship responsibilities .
Gods world
To whom does the earth belong? Ps 24v1 says "The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it" . We affirm that God is the creator of the world, indeed the whole universe, and he has sovereign rights over it. We include in that Jesus: Col 1v16 says of the Lord " For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ".
God also maintains watchful care over his creation. In Ps 50 " every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills ". In the sermon on the mount Jesus explains that God clothes the lilies in the fields, and later comforts his disciples by saying that not even a single sparrow falls to the ground without God noticing it.
It's not quite as simple as that though. Ps 115v16 says " The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to man ". Consider also those well known words in Genesis 1v28 " God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it . Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.' "
Does God hand over rule and title of everything to Adam to do with as he will? No. Adam & Eve are tenants on Gods property, looking after it in his stead and on his behalf. God has delegated authority to man but is still Lord of his creation.
God uses strong words to Adam, one means "trample on" and the other means "subdue into slavery". Unfortunately many people today point at Christianity as the root of all manner of environmental evils, alleging that our holy book tells us that it is OK to despoil the land and use it up exactly as we fancy. That illustrates the danger of picking on one or two words and ignoring the wider context in which they are provided. Adam and Eve didn't have carte blanche to do as they wished - they were still subject to Gods laws - and Gods judgement if they transgressed them.
This same principle was established when Israel receives the law and then the land of Canaan . It is written into their law that individuals own their land only as representatives of their tribe. Nobody could sell land outside of their tribe, or sell it to anyone in perpetuity. In 1 Kings 21 we read of Naboth who was murdered by king Ahab because he refused to sell him "the inheritance of his fathers". Furthermore, every 50 years there would be the year of Jubilee when the title of all lands reverted to its original family. Lev 25v23 says " The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. "
God has delegated authority to man but is still Lord of his creation.
In the new testament, in all three of the synoptic gospels we read a parable of Jesus - the landowner who prepared his vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away on a journey. In the story he sent his servants to the tenants but they beat them and sent them away. Then he sent his son who was murdered. The main point of the parable is Israel 's rejection of the prophets (Gods servants) and Jesus (Gods son). But the frame of the parable is this idea once again. that people are tenants on this earth. Again and again Jesus used parables which represented God as the absent master and people as workers for him. God has delegated authority to man but is still Lord of his creation.
Our Stewardship Responsibilities
Gods principles still apply to us today.
This world is still Gods world. What kind of state is it in? Well, as I said at the outset - not too good at the moment.
Some of this is because this world is wracked by Sin. It was affected too by the Fall when Adam sinned. Romans 8v19-21 says " The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. . in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. ". Richard Dawkins, arch-atheist and opponent of Christianity interestingly first made his public mark with his book "the Selfish Gene" - part of the thesis of which was that apparently altruistic behaviour in the animal kingdom was actually best explained as selfishness. An idea which is entirely in accord with the Christian understanding that Sin, selfishness, has corrupted all of the natural world.
So some of the problems which this world faces are due to corruption in Gods original plan for this earth.
But so much more comes down to people though. Even climate change has its roots in basically selfish human behaviour. I've seen a bumper sticker that pretty much sums it up. "Spending my children's inheritance". Traditionally the northern countries, Europe and North America , have been happy to utilise the lions share of the worlds resources. A rapidly industrialising China and India look like taking over that mantle in the near future - last year China became the worlds second biggest oil consumer.
Then again there is the economic issue which is associated with globalisation - in particular the unfair treatment of third world countries and individuals by governments and big corporations.
Given all these problems and more, what are we to do?
One response is to say "those problems are too big, what difference can I make?"
But I think that there are a number of options open to us, centred around how we use energy and materials, how we use our money and how we use our time.
Firstly, on a practical level, if we are going to be good stewards of this earth then part of that is acting responsibly with respect to local recycling. We Christians should be showing respect to our masters property by doing our part in local initiatives. That might also include deciding when we can walk instead of drive, and a range of other options which our children probably know more about than we do, since I understand it tends to be taught quite well at school now.
Secondly, we could decide to support Fair Trade and related charities. Make choices about the degree to which we want to help support third world individuals.
Thirdly, we can pray.
Now I say that advisedly. All too often "praying" is just the convenient get-out clause, the safety blanket that we refer to. All too often we don't take praying seriously. I'd like to close by reading a short account from John Ortberg (walk on water, p91 the man who was challenged to start praying and see if anything happens within six months. He chose to pray for Kenya and God ended up using him in remarkable ways).
God has delegated authority to man but is still Lord of his creation.
You and I have responsibility towards our masters property. The only question is, how we choose to exercise our responsibility.
Alex White
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