Caring for Creation (Idea #4)

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Celebrating “Earth Day” Since Genesis 2

God made every tree “pleasant to the sight and good for food” (Genesis 2.9 ESV).

SO WHAT? Getting attention, interest, “buy in”

Ever since Amy Grant sang “Put Up A Parking Lot” we have been pouring more and more cement.
And you cannot find a better way in to talk about creation (“environmentalism”), rural living and the need to care for land, crops, animals, and community than Paul Harvey’s So God Made a Farmer. I used the 2-minute 2013 Super Bowl commercial version (Ram Trucks) with public university students in a class. They were mesmerized. It’s a GREAT way to begin a lesson.

WHO CARES? Relation to student, potential applications

“Earth Day” is everyday. The way we care for what we own, recycle-reuse-reduce, steward our resources, and appreciate what we have is a statement about
[From “REFACT” here on the website.] There is no more clear worldview statement than the three words atop the masthead. I am simply pointing out that one’s beliefs are driven by one’s assumptions. The conversation is refacted here by pointing out the creational world should be our all consuming focus, our religion. The cathedral is nature. The belief is naturalism. Obeisance to dictates from the high priests of environmentalism is worship.
Of course, this is NOT to say that care for creation is unnecessary! See my videos on the biblical basis for creation care here, an emphasis on God’s immanent care for His world here, or an article on the beauty of God’s creation here.
Ultimately, the worship of the earth is simply another act of “refacting.” In biblical terms, an idol. God through Moses warned of this idolatry early in Israelite history (Deut 4:17-19). And given the prevailing worldview of evolutionary causes, it is hypocritical to say we should save the earth when, if evolution is true, perhaps any climate concerns are simply part of evolutionary history; we should let the planet take its evolutionary course.
It strikes me that care for the planet is human selfishness apart from a transcendent care given by The One who has made all things. On the other hand, the “environmentalism” could be simply another way to control populations, reserving resources, dictated by an elite, whose sole purpose is control.
Xandra Carroll in her article “Why Evolution Undercuts Environmentalism” is a great place to engage solid arguments and good Christian thinking.

WHY SHOULD I? Reasons for investing time, thought

Students will appreciate a self-deprecating approach, an acceptance of responsibility, how The Church has messed up in the past. One of the (many) ways that The Church “dropped the ball” when it comes to cultural commitment, is with the environmental movement in the 1960’s. The Church should have been at the forefront of the movement. Certainly Francis Schaeffer was when he wrote Pollution and the Death of Man. 

 

HOW DO I? Ways to be involved

Ask the students, “How can you be invested right now in a proper care for creation?” Simple answers could include:

  1. Taking care of what I own, taking responsibility to care for what others own
  2. Picking up trash, whether on the road or in your room
  3. Brainstorm ways that recycling practices can be a money-making service project
  4. Volunteering at local animal shelters
  5. Partnering with (unbelieving) environmental groups for apologetic-evangelistic opportunities

Find examples and biblical principles of PROJECT-based learning here.

See my review of Making Thinking Visible here to show the HOW of student engagement.

 

WHO SAYS? Authority, standard, influence

Biblical principles that can be applied in many ways:

  1. “Sacred places” began with “the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). Yahweh gave land to Israel (Genesis 12:1-3), “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Num 13:27), where boundary stones would secure “a place of my own” for Israelites (Deut 19:14; 27:1).
  2. In an early response to care of creation Heaven’s injunction included, “Are the trees of the field people that you should besiege them?” (Deut 20:19).
  3. One of Judah’s great kings Uzziah was said to have “loved the soil” (2 Chron 26:10). When God’s original intention is restored, ”Every man will sit under his own fig tree” (Micah 4:4) culminating in “the New Heavens and Earth” (Rev 21:1).
  4. Following God’s commands for earth-keeping provided nourishment for all. “Give careful attention to your herds” (Prov 27:23, 27). Even during Babylonian captivity the Triune God commanded “plant gardens and eat what they produce” (Jer 29:5) building prosperity for individual and nation alike (Jer 29:7).
  5. Obedience to God and fruitfulness of the land were intricately tied together (Lev 20:24; Deut 11:17). The new earth will yield its plenty when people are changed toward their Maker (Ezek 36:25-30).
  6. Prosperity produces the possibility of private property development (1 Kings 4:25; 1 Chron 27:25-31). Love of the soil spurred Uzziah’s land development providing work for people and cultivation of the land (2 Chron 26:10).
  7. Ownership provides for a flourishing economy (Jer 39:10; 40:10; 41:8).

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