Thursday, May 13, 2010

Caring for God’s Creation (Part 3)

This is the third in a series of posts examining the spiritual aspects of caring for God’s creation.

III. Respecting God’s Creation

How do what I wrote in the two prior posts relate to Earth Day and God’s creation?

1. Humans Are God’s Creation

First, humans are a part of God’s creation – the pinnacle of his creative work. Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and although he didn’t say why, I believe it is because we are God’s creation, made in his image. If we disrespect one another, we are disrespecting God.

2. Worship Creator, Not Creation

Second, we have to be careful that we don’t worship the creation rather than the Creator as I mentioned earlier. Environmentalism can degenerate into pantheism, believing God is every-thing and everything is God. Some talk about Mother Nature more reverently than they do about God, who made everything. We mustn’t worship the creation, but we should respect and honor that which was made by God because he did it, and it is good.

3. Protect God’s Creation

Third, if we have the attitude that God made everything and everything belongs to God, then we will treat it properly. Moreover, if you respect your fellow human beings, you won’t do things that reduce their quality of life or disrespect them in any way. You won’t litter, create noise pollution, pollute our air and water, or let your dog mess up your neighbor’s lawn. Think of how much better life would be if people had the right attitude towards God, each other, and the environment.

4. Stewardship: God and Future Generations

Fourth, stewardship is a significant part of environmentalism in that we are taking care of the environment and preserving natural resources for others. The most important person is God, who gave us dominion and responsibility over the earth, entrusting his creation to us to use but not abuse. In addition, future generations are trusting us to leave them the earth in good condition, with adequate resources for them to have decent lives. The way we are going, future generations will be disappointed and I believe God is saddened by our lack of stewardship.

More on this topic in a future post.

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