Christian Stewardship - Care of the Earth

8/2/2019 Christian Stewardship - Care of the Earth

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The article below is abstracted from the Kairos Research Center Malaysia Publication under the series on

"Understanding the Modern World Through Christian Eyes"

April 2010 issue with the theme " A Beautiful World: Creation and Its Care"

http://www.Kairos-Malaysia.org

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Christian Stewardship: Care of the Earth

By Leong Tien Fock

Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea

and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth (Genesis

1:28).

Planet Earth, home to human beings and other living things, is under threat. Not from the

aliens as science fiction might have us think, but from its own residents who use and abuse

science and technology. They have exploited and polluted the earth to the extent that human

existence and other forms of life are endangered.

Unfortunately, Christianity has been blamed for the crisis. The basis for this accusation is that

Genesis 1:28 sanctions human domination and exploitation of the earth and everything in it,

with the result that human beings have inflicted irreparable damage to the ecosystem.

It is one thing to say that Christians have contributed to the ecological crisis. It is quite

another to say that Christianity itself condones it. Does the Bible sanction human domination

and exploitation of Gods creation? What does Genesis 1:28 really teach?

Genesis 1:26-28 is known as the Creation Mandate. It teaches that human beings are made in

Gods image so that they have God-like qualities and abilities to fulfill their God-given

purpose. The purpose is to form a global community in fellowship with God and thus build a

global civilisation consistent with his will. So they are to be fruitful and multiply and fill the

earth, and subdue it, as well as rule, or have dominion, over other living things. The words

subdue and dominion have been read as implying exploitation and domination. This

is reading the text out of context.


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When the earth was created it was formless and empty. God then formed the earth so that it

became habitable before partially filling it with living things. He also turned a small part of

the earth into a garden so that it would be most hospitable to human habitation, and called it

Eden. The Creation Mandate was given when Adam and Eve were still in fellowship with

God in Eden. Within Eden, human responsibility to the earth was to work it and take care of

it (Genesis 2:15).

The commission to subdue the earth was in the context of filling, and thus inhabiting, the

less hospitable earth outside of Eden. To subdue the earth would then mean making the rest

of the earth hospitable like Eden and thereafter, to work it and take care of it. Hence the

idea of exploiting the earth is not only foreign, but opposed, to the mandate.

The word dominion need not imply domination. Human beings, made in Gods image,

are to rule or have dominion the way God himself would. When God decided to destroy the

world through the flood, he instructed Noah to build an ark large enough not only to protect

and preserve his own family but also the other living things that would have otherwise

perished. Noahs dominion over them involved protecting and preserving them! This was

after sin had come into the world and had marred the God-like nature of human beings. So it

is inconceivable that the mandate could imply domination over Gods creation.

Therefore the Creation Mandate involves human stewardship of and care for God's creation. It

is true that this ecological concern is not obvious in most of the Bible, especially the New

Testament. But it should not be missed if the Bible is read properly. Genesis 1-11 spells out

Gods purpose for the human race and how sin has derailed it. To put it back on track, human

beings must first be redeemed from the effects of sin and the marred image of God be thus

renewed (Colossians 3:10). The story of redemption begins in Genesis 12 and continues to the

end of the Bible. But this story must be read in the light of Genesis 1-11 in order not to miss

the complete picture.

Inasmuch as the goal of redemption is that we become renewed in Gods image, thus enabling

us to fulfill the Creation Mandate, human stewardship of Gods creation is a concern

throughout the Bible. And the fact that redemption affects not only human beings but also

the creation (Romans 8:18-25), culminating in the New Heavens and New Earth


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(Revelation 21-22), also shows that the Bible never lost sight of the earth's welfare. Since

redemption is in Christ, this stewardship has in this sense become a Christian stewardship.

To appreciate how caring for the earth is indeed a concern throughout the Bible, we will take

a look at the Ten Commandments as a whole and then focus on the sabbath commandment.

The Ten Commandments, which functioned as the constitution of the nation of Israel,

prescribed what a community in fellowship with God should be like. Motivated by the fear of

God because of who he is (Deuteronomy 10:17-20), and by the love for God because of what

he had done for them (10:21-11:1), Israel was to keep his commandments and thus form such

a community. But Israel failed. Under the Mosaic Covenant they did not have what it took to

fear and love God adequately.

But under the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:8-12), redemption in Christ

involves transformation and empowerment through the Spirit to fear and love God and keep

his commandments (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Romans 8:3-4). This enables the Church to form the

kind of community Israel was supposed to be (1Peter 2:9; cf. Exodus 19:5-6).

Most relevant to our theme is the sabbath commandment. This commandment affects the

economic life and lifestyle of Gods people. On the sabbath day, not only human beings, but

also the animals were to rest from work. The spirit of this commandment was applied to the

sabbatical year, when even the land was to rest (Leviticus 25:1-7). Therefore domination and

exploitation of God's creation were prohibited. Faithful stewardship of the earth is clearly

implied here.

The sabbath commandment aims to curb economic greed. This is best seen in its application

not only to the sabbatical year but also to the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-28). In the year

of Jubilee, agricultural lands that had been sold were to be returned to the original owners.

When enforced, this law had the effect of helping Gods people observe the tenth

commandment by overcoming the temptation to covet their neighbours land.

It is not a coincidence that the commandment that embodies stewardship of the earth has as its

goal the curbing of economic greed. For it is not difficult to conclude from reports related to

ecological degradation that at the root of the crisis is economic greed. This greed in its various


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forms is prevalent in every aspect of the economy: the production, promotion, distribution and

especially the consumption of goods and services.

It is a tragedy that economic greed no longer feels wrong, even to religious people. This is

mainly because the worldview that infuses and shapes the economy legitimises greed. For

scientific materialism, as it is known, affirms that everything in the universe is purely

material. There is thus no spiritual reality, no God to whom we have to be accountable, and

no eternal hope which we may look forward to. The Ten Commandments is then a primitive

hoax kept alive by religious fanatics. This leads to economic materialism, the view that there

is nothing better to live for except progress in material or economic terms.

The Creation Mandate is premised on Genesis 1:1. This verse teaches that God created and

hence owns everything in the universe. It implies that human beings are thus accountable to

God in fulfilling his purpose for them. It is a polemic against not only scientific materialism

but also New Age pantheism. It is true that New Agers are at the forefront in protecting and

preserving the earth and its ecosystem. However, their activism is motivated by the view that

everything in the universe is a manifestation of one impersonal God. As such, New Agers

worship creation since everything is God.

In contrast, Christians worship only the Creator. Because of their love for him, they should

also be concerned about the protection and preservation of the earth and its ecosystem. For we

would take good care of the things that belong to someone we truly love. What more when, in

the case of God, the things made by him are not only beautiful in their pristine form but also

designed to bear witness to him and his glory (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:20).

It is beyond the scope of this exposition to consider what Christians could or should do. But

as believers, we have already been redeemed. If we have consciously rejected economic

materialism in our heart and embodied the spirit of the sabbath commandment in our life and

lifestyle, we are already part of the solution. The foundation would have been laid for a

proactive participation in the care of the earth.

Leong Tien Fock is Research Coordinator of Malaysia Campus Crusade for Christ.

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Christian Stewardship - Care of the Earth