Being on a farm for the weekend has made me think about nature a little more. The views are gorgeous, the skies are clear, and the animals are smelly. All of this has made me think of our role in nature.
Various Views
Many have contemplated this relationship between man and nature. At one end of the spectrum* you have pantheism (God is and is in all of nature) and romanticism (nature is good and evil is the extent to which we leave it), and at the other end of you have what I personally call “destructionism” (wantonly destroying nature for the purpose of building industries, economies, cities, etc.).
Then there are various middle grounds.
What about the Christian?
Where should the Christian stand? Some go to one end by saying God is the Creator of nature, so they advocate all-natural (like, ALL-NATURAL) living. They don’t kill anything and completely live off the land.
Others jump to the other end and say, “The fact that the Bible tells us not to worship nature… plus the fact that Jesus will come back before the end of the world and set the world on fire anyways (2 Peter 3:10)… equals a complete disregard for nature! Yeah!”
To the former, I bring you Genesis 9:1-3:
“Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.
The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.
Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”
So God says we can eat everything, including meat. And for the rest of nature, you can read the Old Testament to find God using a TON of wood to build his temples and cities. A lot of trees got chopped for His glory, and He was A-OK with that.
For the latter, I bring you Genesis 2:15:
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (NIV)
Even before God created Eve**, God gave Adam his job. And what was his job? A farmer and conservationist. The first job ever was taking care of nature. Also Psalm 19:1 (famous verse) states:
“The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim His handiwork.”
The Psalms are full of verses that praise God through nature. So to the destructionist: God put us in charge of nature; it’s a reflection of His power and ingenuity. We can kill and raze, but not wantonly. Also, pollution is not very godly (looking at you, China).
So Yeah, What about Everyone Else?
As always, there’s a fine line between legalism and liberalism. Legalism is all about rules, but ignores the heart. Liberalism is all about grace and forgiveness, but ignores obedience. What is the line in this case?
Biblically, God gave humans dominion over nature. We can eat what we want now that the OT food restrictions are off. We can build and burn.
However, we are caretakers. Pollution and wastefulness are not marks of a good Christian. Resourcefulness and frugality are the marks of a caring, hard-worker.
Everyone’s situation is different. But in the end, the hard and fast rule to man’s relationship to nature is “what brings God glory?” Worshipping nature does not, and destroying nature doesn’t either.
*Most of this I remember from some literature classes years ago. I’m so old… but forgive me if I don’t get them exactly right. At least I provide the definitions so you know how I’m using those terms.
**One way to incite a female Christian to madness is to tell them a man’s job is more important than her. Why? Because the JOB came FIRST! But watch for the flying fist that generally comes afterwards…. Oh, while I’m on this train of thought, here’s another one that drives Biblically literate females crazy.
In 1 Peter 3:7, Peter calls a woman a “weaker vessel” or “weaker partner”. Go around calling them that, and watch their reactions. It’s hilarious! My sister just glared at me (case in point). Oh, it’s also a good way to know if they know their Bible.
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