Of God and Nature: Caretakers.
Red-winged blackbird in flight
11 PM in Milledgeville, Georgia found me taking the trash out at work. I can finally begin to feel fall cloaking upon this Deep South town. Glancing up at the night sky, I see one solitary star. One. Polaris, perhaps? I suppose that’s always as good a guess as any for the layman such as myself. Regardless, it was overwhelmingly underwhelming. The dim orange-yellow streetlights of the downtown area had flooded the glory of billions of balls of burning gas, each of which being exponentially larger than the minute globe I’m standing on. But still, that one star pierced though.
“How old was the light? 10,000 years? 1 million?” I thought. “Wait, am I a heretic for even pondering that question to myself?” The coalition of these two thoughts made me consider the attitude of Christians in regards to being stewards of God’s creation. (And yes, I realize the irony of considering the stewardship of our own planet while pondering other celestial bodies.)
For many Christians who believe the entire universe is 6,000 years old, the care of our planet can be described as a nice sentiment at best, and an afterthought at worst. Indeed, to them the Earth is merely a stage upon which the redemption of man takes place. No doubt, this is one of its functions. But it’s as much of a classroom as it is a stage.
Have you ever considered why God created our world with such an astounding biodiversity? In the United States alone, there are 46 species of warblers, 45 species of bats and 36 species of pines. Globally, there are over 100 species of warblers, over 1,000 species of bats, and 115 species of pines. That’s incredible. Sure, every living thing is vitally connected to every other living thing through a convoluted web of life and sure, as members of this great web, all species are important for the well-being of others. But God could have easily created a barren world where humans survived off of one species of a life-giving plant that supplied all our essential nutrients. Perhaps this plant would be watered by shallow aquifers from the ground, springing forth only briefly for people’s collection and consumption. Indeed, He could have created a starless sky stretched over a landscape void of green landscapes and foaming rivers.
Undoubtedly, there would probably be a small handful of useful connections made between that limited natural world and God, but it wouldn’t be anything close to the opportunities we have today. Have you ever considered the vast amount of scripture referring back to the natural world? Is it any coincidence? I would hardly believe it. See the following scriptures:
“Consider the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” -Matthew 6:26
“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!” -Proverbs 6:6
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” -Matthew 6:28-30
“I am like a vulture of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places; I lie awake, I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.” -Psalm 102:6-7
And so on. It’s important to note here that these observations and lessons as derived from nature go to bring better understanding of the nature of God, and thus, bring Him glory as it is His creation. Indeed, Colossians 1:16 states
“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.”
Furthermore, nature helps bring everyone to Christ by causing genuine awe. Romans 1:20 says
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
So why do we seem so eager to strip Earth, as a creation of God, of its natural resources for our own gain?
A couple of weeks ago an older Christian gentleman who happened to be a John Hagee fan caught wind that I was an environmental science major. He asked me
“Let me ask you something. Do you believe in global warming?”
“I believe in global climate change.” I said.
He repeated himself, to which I repeated my answer. Then he asked me why would it matter that we save the Earth when God had already predetermined in scripture that He would destroy it one day with fire. This would be an interesting point had I not heard it approximately 2398752094572309 times before. I decided to give him a simple metaphor, which I will repeat here.
“Let’s say you build a habitat for humanity house for a homeless family. You tell them that for some reason, 70 years from now, you are going to destroy it, and you’ll let them know when so they can prepare for it, but they are free to live in it during the meantime. Chances are you would not be too happy if they trashed the place like they had no respect for you and what you did for them in building it.”
I don’t think he took to kindly to the metaphor seeing how he walked off. Anyways, please sound off with your thoughts via the comments. Discussion are always welcome at twenty.five.forty.
Next week will continue this thought with “Of God and Nature: Dominion”.
