Earth Day is
Monday, April 22. This year the focus is upon climate change and how that
impacts human society and the natural world around us. People on every
continent will be called upon to see how man’s interaction with nature may be
hurting it. Whatever your feelings may be concerning the reality of climate
change and its causes, the truth is by living on this planet you are affecting
it.
I grew up on
a farm. We grew most of our food. It was not unusual on a mid-summer day to
look around the dinner table and note the only thing we had not raised was the cornbread.
My mother refused to use the corn meal my father would occasionally try to
grind. The milk, the beef, the vegetables, and the fruit had all been raised on
our farm. My father’s guiding philosophy was “Take care of the land and it will
take care of you.” Another part of my father’s philosophy concerning farming
was expressed one day while surveying a 20-acre field of half grown corn.
Leaning on a gate at the edge of the field, Pop said, “It’s good to be able to
work with God and raise a crop like this.”
The East
African word of wisdom has much truth, but it comes up a little short. “We have
not inherited the earth from our parents. We have borrowed it from our
children.” It misses the issue of true ownership. While we care for the land,
we are stewards, but stewardship is far more than a matter of economics. It is
far more than just acknowledging that others will use the land after we are
gone.
It is a
matter of understanding who the real Owner is and acting accordingly. It is a
matter of understanding the world is not ours to do with as we please. It is a
matter of understanding the consequences of our actions not just for the
generations who follow us but also in our accountability before the One who is
both Creator and Owner.
The Psalmist
wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those
who dwell therein.” (Psalm 24:1, RSV) A good steward will care for what does
not belong to him in the same way he would if it was his own. He will make sure
it is there for him next year even though he must use it this year. He will
understand even as he depends upon that resource so will those who come after
him whether it is to be his children or a stranger.
Humanity is
a steward of this planet and its resources. Even if we had other planets to
which we could go as colonists, we would still have a responsibility for this
world. The fact that we are stewards would not change. We have a
responsibility. We must consider ourselves accountable. To our children, yes,
but even more so we must consider ourselves accountable to the One Creator and
Owner.
Global
warming may well indeed be related to the way we have used our natural
resources. It may be related more to the fact of our wastefulness than our
simple use of those resources. Even if we have used the resources in a
responsible way, when we impact our environment in a way that changes it, we
are to be held accountable. We must live in this world in a way that shows we
are not thinking in a sense of personal ownership.
Christians
more than any others should understand their positions as stewards. Caring for
the earth should come as a natural part of worship of the Creator. Recycling is
good economics for both the present and the future. Using fewer resources for
personal desires makes more materials available to meet the needs of the poor
and more food for those facing hunger. Good stewardship of the earth should
always point to a responsibility for our fellow man.
Earth Day
should be every day for those who honor the Creator above the creation.
