“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And he called it good. “God created man in his image” to “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it”. Meanwhile, many Christians and “evangelicals” in the USA minimize humans’ role in environmental stewardship. By looking only at one verse, people can put their own interpretation onto how they think they should rule or govern the earth. Reading the Bible in context, however, refutes reckless expenditure of the earth, instead it shows how God expects us to reign over his “good” creation, teaches the concept of responsibility, depicts the Creator´s connection to his creation. So how does God expect us to “exercise dominion” over creation? Let’s look at scripture in context to extract the Bible’s principles of environmental stewardship.
Principle #1: We have dominion over nature.
“And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Adam served as a template in a sense. God told him to name the animals and tend the Garden of Eden. God continued to give creation care commands to people after Adam, so we can easily infer this mission wasn’t a one time deal. God also repeats a very similar command to Noah: “Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth. All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it. And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die. If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.” So Creation is God’s and, amazingly, he grants us authority over it.
Principal #2: And that’s good.
God calls creation “good”. God then calls humans and our lordly place over the creation “good”. If we were intended for nature’s destruction that would undermine the goodness of what he made first. God made Creation with humans as a part of it and our use of it in mind, so we don’t have to feel guilty for using its resources. Sometimes it can seem like humans are just mindlessly destructive parasites on earth, but according to our Creator, we are a “very good” part of his masterpiece.
Principal #3: We have a common life-source with the rest of life on earth.
Genesis 2 describes God shaping man out of dirt. Appropriately the name Adam comes from the Hebrew word for dirt, “adama”. God seems to like repurposing his materials, because he makes woman out of Adam’s rib (Genesis 2), and gnats out of dust (Exodus 8), and an atmosphere out of the ocean (Genesis 1), an army out of dry bones (Ezekiel 37), and heroes of the Faith out of the rejects (throughout). Man was made so connected to the earth that in Genesis 3, God curses man by cursing the very ground in which he works. Humans also have the same basic needs and share many of the same limitations and genes as the animals. We also share God’s “breath of life” with the animals (Genesis 1:30). We share with the animals our dependence on our Creator. On a primal, atomic level we are part of the earth.
Principle #4 We need creation to survive.
At the end of Genesis 1, after God explains our rulership in his first line of dialogue, he explains that he gave us many plants to eat. From the wilderness wandering Israelites in Numbers to the fish Jesus’ disciples caught to the all seasons tree, God shows care for us by providing us with food from his creation. “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.”
The negative side of this also shows this principle. The Bible has many examples of God cutting off or damaging the earth to hurt humans to catch their attention so they would turn back to honoring him. For instance, God said in Ezekiel 6: “And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land desolate and waste, in all their dwelling places, from the wilderness to Riblah. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Principal #5: God made Creation our abundant resource and project.
Genesis 2 describes creation as a “sandbox”, a resource-rich playground of opportunity. God used his previously created resource, dust, to make man, and then, amazingly, God allowed man to join in his creative work- shaping what made into new things! God let man see and name all the creatures. God let Adam and Eve cultivate the Garden of Eden. This begins a theme throughout the Bible and human existence of people using or misusing the resources God gave them.
Do you ever feel awkward interacting with someone whose name you forgot? Why don’t people recommend naming animals bred for eating or prepared for dissection? Why do we name cats when they don’t come when they are called? While the Bible doesn’t record the original names Adam came up with in the primal human tongue, i think the recording of God letting Adam name all the animals shows the connection God intended between us. Looking at Genesis, i believe God gave humans to opportunity to join creation in giving him glory.
Principle #6: God designed us to worship him with his materials.
“The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.” The original Hebrew text uses the words Abad and Shamar. Abad means to work, to slave, to till, to worship. Shamar means to keep, protect, or guard. God commanded and described the Levites working in the tabernacle using the same pair of words 3 times in Numbers and nowhere else in the Bible. God came close to man in his special garden; God came close to man in his special temple. Both consisted of beautiful natural resources created by the Father and shaped by his children for him. We are linked to the prototypical humans, Adam and Eve; and to the royal priesthood through the Messiah according to 1st Peter chapter 1 and Revelation chapter 1. Did anything discontinue that primal directive? Is working in and protecting creation one of our holy callings as God’s image bearers?
Principal #7: Human error harms creation.
The Bible has numerous examples of human failure polluting the world. This pollution is more than CO2 emissions and uniquely affects soul-carrying homosapiens. The corruption of sin leeches into the earth. It tangibly damages the good creation man is supposed to be ruling. Where did this begin? In Genesis 3, Eve and Adam used the one piece of creation forbidden to them. Because Adam and adamah share such a close connection, the Almighty cursed Adam by cursing adamah. The earth that had previously burst with life now requires painful toil to yield produce. We came from earth and the earth absorbs our misdeeds. Our life source comes from the ground and our death excretions go back into the ground. Human impact on the environment continues throughout scripture. The wickedness described in Genesis 7 resulted in a flood that destroyed life on earth. The stubbornness of Pharaoh in resisting the Exodus caused 10 devastating plagues in Egypt, 8/10ths of which hurt the environment. God lays down the option for his people to choose destruction or blessing, extensively describing each in Deuteronomy 28. While i believe God does intervene miraculously and does answer prayers, i also think part of this “errors damage and right living blesses” dynamic comes in the form of natural consequences.
Principal #8: Make an effort to do no harm.
Deuteronomy 20: “When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it in order to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can get food from them. Do not cut them down. Are trees of the field human, to come under siege by you? But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce food. You may cut them down to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls.
God expects intelligent use of creation from us, its rulers, since he expects us to live from it. The destruction of nature is the destruction of ourselves. Also, notice the tone of this section, it’s not phrased “how to use nature to achieve conquest.” God expected the trees to be spared if possible. Twice, here, God says to not to go all Onceler on them. In the end, God gives permission, not a command, to chop down some non-fruiting trees for siege machines. Deuteronomy 20 plainly shows that the environment should not be limitlessly exploited or treated as the enemy. Even during the life and death context of war, God prioritized the future of humans and their environment. If the environment matters to its Creator in wartime, does it matter any less the rest of the time?
Principal #9: Human environmental management has human consequences.
Deuteronomy 22: “If you come across a bird’s nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, do not take the mother along with the young. You may take the young for yourself, but be sure to let the mother go free, so that you may prosper and live long.” Notice the context is of someone traveling about, not farming chickens or whatnot. Some argue that God is really teaching compassion here through a practical action, similar to other practical-spiritual lessons in the same chapter and elsewhere in the Law. I think this passage gives a picture of God’s intended balance between human need and environmental responsibility. Like in the siegeworks passage of Deuteronomy chapter 20, the passage does not advocate rampant, thoughtless use of natural resources. On one hand, the person finding the nest gets useful chicks or eggs and on the other, a producing mother bird gets to keep living and producing. If you glut yourself taking both the bird and the chicks or eggs, you are probably unsustainably consuming natural resources and hurting all of creation, including your future self, your neighbors, and the local and global ecosystem in the process. This sort of delayed gratification proves easier to say and harder to do because the future seems murky and distant, while our current need is looking us in the eye right now. Still your future self might thank the present you for your self-control.
Principal #10: God shows favor through environmental blessing.
I am not saying that good behavior always goes with good harvests and vice versa. The Bible blatantly explores examples of the righteous and wicked sharing a “common destiny” (Ecclesiastes 9) or even an unjust fate like Naboth the vineyard owner in 1 Kings 21. That said, God often uses the abundance of nature as a sign of his favor. You can see it in that last example of leaving the mother bird alone when taking eggs, God followed the command with the promise of prosperity and long life. Also consider God’s often repeated promise to the Israelites of entering a “Land of Milk and Honey”. Joel 2 gives an in depth picture of the rain, peace, and green fruitful abundance of a land blessed by God. Being in good relation to God is the goal of our lives on its own and God often blesses this faithfulness with natural abundance.
Principal #11: Exercising restraint is a form of faith, obedience, and dependence on God.
Leviticus 25 and Exodus 23 explain God’s design for a rest year. Just as God made every 7th day a rest day, so he made every 7th and 50th year a rest year. Our loving Creator understands and cares about the land and the humans who depend on it. So by telling the Israelites not to sow for a year, scholars think God was instituting something akin to crop rotation. That break makes the farming more sustainable and easier for the farmers. God said that the land during its sabbath can feed the poor and the wild animals. However, the idea of an agricultural society like Israel not farming for a whole year must have sounded frightful, in fact, nowhere in the Bible does it mention anyone following this law. The restraint required faith. From the 6 days a week manna in Exodus 16 to Jesus’ prayer, “give us our daily bread”, God meant for us to continuously rely on him to provide. We don’t have to burn through energy to gather every possible resource constantly. God expects a faithful level of moderation that leads us to him.
Principal #12: The land (and everything) is God’s.
In case the fact that he created it wasn’t enough of an explanation, in Exodus 25:23 God stated, “The land is not to be permanently sold because it is mine, and you are only aliens and temporary residents on my land.“ Psalm 24 says, “The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord”.
Principal #13: Love your neighbor.
God repeatedly calls us to show justice and mercy to those in need. Jesus called loving your neighbor the second most important commandment. Micah 6:8 tells us, “Mankind, he has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” How is creation care related to loving neighbors? Because environmental problems unequally affect those in impoverished areas. People with little savings or income also have few resources to rebuild in the wake of disaster. For instance, with no better known options they can afford, the farmers outside Bengaluru, India use wastewater from the big city to feed their crops and suffer crippling health effects. The toxins also soak into the surrounding ecosystem. So how can we claim to love God without picking up the trash dumped on our brother? How can we share in Christ without sharing the planet’s limited resources?
God gives some direct instructions specifically about the environment. I have tried to clearly and Biblically explain my understanding of those. God also teaches a lot about stewardship. While this concept covers way more than just the environment, God called us to be stewards of the environment before he called us to steward anything else- before the creation of other humans even! The theme and pattern of stewardship runs throughout the scripture. Sometimes the Bible directly explains it, but mostly stewardship shows up in the lifestyle of people who honor the Lord whether they are prophets, slaves, or kings.
Principal A: God models responsibility.
God created each amazing detail of the universe from the arrangement of the solar system to growing a fetus’ bones. He plans diagram level details as you can plainly see in places like Joshua 18. He provides for his creation, noticing even a single fallen sparrow as seen in Matthew 10. And Christians are called to imitate their Father in places like Ephesians 5:1. You can still focus on the big picture, but you should replicate his stewardship.
Principal B: Stewardship and following God go together.
Jesus told several parables comparing servants and masters to believers and the Lord. The masters reward and/or praise the servants who steward well. In many of the stories, like the one about the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:23-35, the judgement of the faithful and unfaithful servants in Matthew 24:45-51, and the 10 gold coins in Matthew 25:14-30. I believe the task given to the servant is a metaphor for a human’s whole life. So to excel in the work of a servant shows respect for the Master. In fact in Paul’s address to slaves in Ephesians 6:7 that i think applies to more than slaves, he says “Do your work with enthusiasm. Work as if you were serving the Lord, not as if you were just serving people.” Work is not just to get the job done- it serves the higher function of honoring God.
Principal C: Stewardship is rewarding,
really, in every sense of the word. Of course, we should practice good stewardship primarily as an act of love for God, but that doesn’t mean there are no benefits. For one, as mentioned in Principal # 10, God blesses and rewards those who love him and keep his commandments. Psalm 103:2: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits”. Also as a natural consequence like in Proverbs 27:18: “He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who cares for his master will be honored.” It all ties together. Stewarding for God is a joyful act in itself. As Ecclesiastes 5 says, “I have seen what is best for people here on earth. They should eat and drink and enjoy their work, because the life God has given them on earth is short. God gives some people the ability to enjoy the wealth and property he gives them, as well as the ability to accept their state in life and enjoy their work. They do not worry about how short life is, because God keeps them busy with what they love to do.”
Principal D: Stewardship ripples.
When looking at the world’s mess, it’s easy to feel hopeless and impotent, but our actions have a ripple effect beyond what we notice. That works both positively and negatively. For instance, in Exodus, Pharaoh’s refusal to release the Isrealites led to Egypt’s devastation from 10 plagues. In a roller coaster of life journey near the end of Genesis, Joseph’s stewardship consistently blessed his sphere of influence including Potiphar’s house, prison, and all of Egypt until it ended up sparing the nation and his family from starvation. Not bad considering that Joseph started off managing sheep. How you manage your responsibilities shows people your character and influences them. Your choices cause benefit or harm in more ways than you can plainly observe and in issues big and small.
Principal E: The more given, the more expected.
The way you handle your responsibilities shows how capable you are of handling more. Jesus told a parable about servants in Luke 12, closing it with this concept in verse 48: “But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.” The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 also shows a master, representing God, giving corresponding levels of responsibility to 3 servants based on his appropriate level of expectation for them. The Master praised the servants who fulfilled his trust in them and gave them more trust and authority. The Master shares his philosophy in verse 29, “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.”
Principal F: Our God-given resources are to be used for God’s worship.
Let’s combine some concepts here. First, Psalm 24, as mentioned above, says that everything belongs to God. Second, Isaiah 43:7 says, “They are my own people, and I created them to bring me glory.” Third, God made man “ruler” over creation in Genesis 1. Viewed together, (as scripture is best considered) i think it’s clear that we, as good stewards, should use creation for the Creator.
Jesus told the rich young ruler in Mark 10, “Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” And he taught, “You can’t serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). God calls some people, like the rich young ruler, to sell everything and he calls others, like Boaz, to own stuff and use it for him. The point is that we should prioritize God above all. Everything we possess, we should be using for him. Everything we have is from the Father, for the Father.
Each piece of the creation system connects to the rest and keeps you alive! So even though these principals are not specifically about creation care, can we follow a God who clearly expects stewardship without applying it to creation? God has given all of us air, water, sunlight, and an environment to steward. Not only does the Bible command responsibility over the earth, and uphold the value of stewardship, it describes a special interaction between the Creator and his creation.
God’s relationship with creation should serve as an example that shapes our understanding of Biblical stewardship.
Principal I: God enjoys his creation.
In Genesis 1, God noted that his creation is “good” 7 times. Genesis 3 describes God walking in the garden of Eden in the cool of the evening breeze. There is some debate on what 3:8 means, but to me, it sounds like God strolled through and just enjoyed what he made. God counts hairs and notices even little sparrows as mentioned in Luke 12. Most people would be bored and boggled by that much detail. So why does God pay that much attention, if he isn’t interested? Also, when Job questions God, the Almighty appears in a storm and shows his power and authority by telling Job and company about his awesome creations in chapters 38 through 41. In 41:12, when describing the leviathan the Creator says, “I cannot be silent about his limbs, his power, and his graceful proportions.” I believe that God shows his artistic satisfaction in more than the text of the Bible alone. You can also see it in the details of Creation. He didn’t halfway make anything. Every organism has its niche. Some mushrooms are so quirky they are like easter eggs for us to find. And do you believe God made the blob fish with a straight face? Like a series of inside jokes, could the fun intricacies of creation be God’s way of inviting us into enjoying it with him too?
Principal II: God uses creation.
In Genesis 1, God makes spaces, then populates them. He separated light from dark, sea from sky, land from water, then fills them with plants, celestial bodies, fish and birds, and terrestrial animals. He then makes Adam from the ground and Eve from Adam. Maybe he is trying to make his actions comprehensible, maybe he is trying to avoid the butterfly effect messing up a good natural order; maybe he just likes the system he already set up, but God shows his power and makes his point by bending his creation with minimal ripples. God doesn’t send Jonah in an air bubble to Pluto for 3 days, he doesn’t transform Peter into a donkey for his son to ride into Jerusalem, he doesn’t suddenly put energy and fiber in 5,000 hungry people’s bodies. The Creator of natural order works within his own system; he respects his own continuity. After coming back to life in John 20, Jesus folds the funeral clothes he was wrapped in, even though dying would serve as the ultimate excuse to not fold clothes. This show of responsibility probably does the trick of convincing the unnamed disciple (probably John) to believe Jesus resurrected, because grave robbers wouldn’t leave behind a neatly folded outfit.
Principal III: Creation naturally glorifies God (humans are the only ones that mess this up).
Psalm 148 is all about creation praising its Creator. By fulfilling their natural functions of life and existence, the universe praises the Almighty. In the same vein, Nehemiah 9:6 says: “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.”
Principal IV: God teaches us with creation.
You have never met Leonardo da Vinci or even seen a photo of him, but by seeing his art, you can learn a few things about him. Similarly, looking at creation can tell us a lot about its Creator. Romans 1:20a says “For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made.” Creation can give us examples of how to live too. King Solomon in Proverbs 6:6 said, “Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise.” Jesus explained the kingdom of heaven and a lot of spiritual truth by drawing on creation many times as examples, saying, for instance in Matthew 13, that the kingdom of Heaven is like a precious pearl. Because of the diversity of nature, we can better understand our complex Creator.
Principal V: God cares what happens to animals.
God sustains his creation. Can you see God flipping the sun’s on/off switch? Or triggering the growth hormone in underground seeds in spring? While science after the Enlightenment shows an autonomous universe continuing a complex pattern, Psalm 104 (among other parts of the Bible) depicts God taking part in moving creation along. While i think scripture shows God caring for all of creation, it gives several examples of God showing specific concern for animals. For instance, when God commanded Israel to rest on the Sabbath in Exodus 20, he included animals among those getting a break; Jesus also condoned breaking the Sabbath in Matthew 12:11 to rescue sheep if they fall down wells. God also took great care to have Noah build and keep an ark for his family and all the animals before flooding the earth in Genesis 6.
Principal VI: God restores creation.
This point goes with the many examples of God saving creation from destruction and harm already listed above. Because of the failure of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, God’s curse afflicted creation too, so that it would “produce thorns and thistles” and didn’t pop out food as easily as before. The produce could not prevent death. Paul describes a change in Romans 8, saying that creation was afflicted by “pain”, and “frustration”, for the “creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children!” Humans and the earth seem tied together as God’s creation and God seems to care about his craftsmanship enough to save it. Along those lines, in the 5th verse of the last chapter of the Bible, John observes a scene in God’s throne room: “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’” God reconciles all things. Obviously, this most applies to disgraced human souls, but notice that God doesn’t say “Look, I am making just your souls new.” He says, “all things”. When Christ ended Adam’s thorny curse he wore a crown of thorns, bringing things full circle to a reconciled state of harmony. Somehow, Jesus’ death and resurrection restores creation.
Finally permit me to contradict a false notion, one main source of church people’s apathy and antagonism towards environmentalism comes from texts about the end times, namely, 2nd Peter chapter 3. There, Peter describes the world ending in fire to be replaced by a “New heavens and a new earth”. “Why take care of something that’s going to be destroyed and replaced soon?” They ask. I have heard people dispute this argument of disposability by saying that the earth will be “renewed” so that beautifully preserved aspects will endure into the next edition of the earth and so these are worth protecting. Some also argue that the flames in 2nd Peter are metaphorical flames purifying the earth of wickedness and that the earth will not literally dissolve in fire.
Even taking the most literal burned up and restored interpretation, i offer the following counter argument: 1) We don’t know how long we will need to live on earth. Jesus said he was coming soon almost 2,000 years ago! God perceives time differently than humans (Psalm 90), so that could mean Jesus comes tonight or in several centuries. 2) We still need the earth’s resources. So until the Second Coming, it seems prudent to maintain a functioning global ecosystem. 3) In my opinion, a healthy planet is more beautiful than an expended husk. Think of earth like a pet. Even though you will likely outlive your pet by several lifespans, you are unlikely to throw trash at your pet, or shave it to knit a rug, or roast it for Thanksgiving dinner. Why not? Because you probably want to enjoy its healthy (unshaved) company for its comparatively short time with you. Even if you passed your pet on to someone new, you would likely find it embarrassing to give them a pet with bald patches or obvious signs of abuse. Like the servants in Luke 12 stewarding the household while their master attends to business elsewhere, it makes sense to take care of even temporary things and honors our common Master.
I am creation. So are you. We are a part of this world. How do you take care of systems you are a part of? Are you careless with your feet when lifting furniture? Probably not. Even if you dislike your pinky toe compared to your other toes, you wouldn’t want to drop a couch on it because even your littlest toe helps you stay alive and smashing it hurts. If you have ever messed up a part of your body you thought was trivial, you likely realized pretty soon that even parts like your pinky toe serve important functions, as does each piece of your body. God has charged man to rule his creation, he packed the Bible with examples of responsibility, he models a caring relationship with the planet, and it makes sense to use even a temporary resource like the earth wisely. To be an image bearer of God and even more to be a worshipper of God means to enjoy creation responsibly, to “Be imitators of Christ, as dearly loved children.”
Post Script: I use “man” in this article as a name for the human race. I don’t mean to exclude anyone at all. Women are great and broadly capable and, i believe, equally involved in all the issues described here. If you prefer, imagine “human”, “person”, or “homosapien” in its place.
Resources:
“Garden City” by John Mark Comer
Onceler reference from
“The Lorax” By Dr. Seuss
I skimmed this, but it had some great points.
http://www.webofcreation.org/archive-of-resources/590-reading-thebible-with-care-for-creation by David Rhoads
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