Man is unique – he is the only creature on earth to be made in God’s image and given the dominant position (Gen. 1:26,28). That dominant position brought with it the responsibility of stewardship with the creation. Everyone I know would fall into the category of being a conservationist and not a single one subscribes to the view if its alive, kill it; if it flows, dam it; if it moves, shoot it; if it grows, cut it down. None would be considered environmentalists though. Most people believe that thought and care must be exercised in the leaving of the physical world to the next generation. But today it is commonly believed it is not enough to be a conservationist, one has to be an environmentalist. This is old-world pantheism (nature is God) dressed up with a new name.
To be sure, God encouraged the idea of long-term impact- planning in Israel. Deut. 20:19,20 gave instruction concerning harvesting of trees, 22:6,7 spoke of preserving breeding hens while 23:12,13 legislated the burial of excrement. But in all fairness, would you say that God’s emphasis was upon such matters or on other concerns? Is God’s view and God’s plan for the world man-centred or bio-centred? Certainly balance can get out of whack – Rom. 1:25 speaks of worshiping the creation rather than the Creator. Jacques Cousteau said “population growth is the primary source of environmental damage” and a State of the World forum in 1995 said that world population should be cut by 90%! We need to ask whether the world was made for man or man for the world. God said in Gen. 1:28 to fill the earth so whatever is involved in an expanding population is certainly within proper bounds in God’s sight. The Lord made the world to be inhabited (Isa.45:18).
Some time ago Ted Turner enthroned himself to save the world. If you asked him “Why?’ he would have said “Because I am rich and smart”. He said Christianity is a religion for losers and that Christianity is not environmentally friendly. So he urges the worship of trees and flowers and rivers and rocks. He praises the religions of India where nature is god. (He needs to walk the streets of Calcutta to see the product of several thousand years of Hinduism.)
In short, in a generation anthropocentrism (man-centred values) has been denounced as the cause of most of the world’s problems and biocentrism has been promoted as the new order. So the cockroach is as important as you or your husband or wife or neighbour. Jesus ‘cursing’ of the fig tree becomes a criminal offence of the first order. All sorts of people have been influenced by this notion . Take Billy Graham for example. In an interview with Cal Thomas he was asked why he seemed reluctant to speak out on abortion and he answered I think the top social issue of our time may be ecology. I think that’s more dangerous… and I’m going to start speaking out on that. So saving the soul has been replaced by saving the environment! Ex-Prime Minister Rudd said Climate change is the moral issue of our time. But this is not something unique to our time.
Jonah became an environmentalist. We remember him for the big fish episode, but his task was to preach repentance to Nineveh which he did successfully in what may have been the most successful sermon ever. But then he became angry because the Lord spared the city. Whilst waiting to see what would happen to the city He sat under a gourd which gave him some shade and respite from the sun. God destroyed the gourd leaving Jonah exposed to the elements and he fainted. As God pointed out to him (Jonah 4:9-11) he was more concerned about the gourd than about the fate of 120,000 people in the city.
The prophet’s system of values was skewed. So are many today. When Jesus asked the rhetorical question “Are you not worth more than many sparrows?” the modern caretakers of the earth would answer “no!”. David M. Graber, a biologist with the U.S. National Park Service, said that a particular species of a free-flowing river is of more value to me than another human body, or a billion of them. John Muir, Sierra Club founder, wrote in a Prayer to Alligators: Honourable representatives of the great saurians of older creation, may you long enjoy your lillies and rushes, and be blessed now and then with a mouthful of terror-stricken man. Environmental theorist Lynn White Jnr. wrote “We shall continue to have a worsening ecological crisis until we reject the Christian axiom that nature has no reason for existence save to serve man”. So by that view progress is obtained by denying God’s word and disobeying him. If we go in that direction we shall end up worshiping tumblebugs as did the ancient Egyptians. Paganism is always just around the corner – it’s already with us. We have come so far in such a short time that we can have people who fornicate, commit adultery, steal, lie, get drunk et. al. but say “OOh I use a paper straw – I feel so righteous!”
When man gets away from God he is in free-fall and who knows where he will end up. Robert Muller, a former Assistant Secretary-General of the U.N. referred to our brethren the animals, our sisters the flowers. On the eve of the opening of the 1992 Earth Summit, a midnight-to-dawn homage to the “Female Planet” was held on Leme Beach. After dancing all night, the worshipers followed a Brazilian tribal high priestess to the water’s edge, where they offered flowers and fruits to “Iemanje mae orixa, mother of the powers, queen of the seas”, and then invoked the blessings of the seagoddess upon the summit’s deliberations.
Some time ago I noticed in a local newspaper a profile of a local citizen, chosen at random, given by asking a series of questions. One of the questions was “What are you angry about?” The answer was The damage done to the environment for commercial gain. The next question was “What are you happy about?” The answer? Everything else! Isn’t that amazing! Wars, all manner of suffering, injustice, murder, rape etc. never rated a mention!
What can we say? First, this world was never intended to last forever. There will come the day when it will end (2 Pet. 3:10), and that won’t be by an increase of a couple of degrees! But God made a promise in Gen. 8:22 that while the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. We need not have what I call a “chicken little” mentality with respect to the environment where we run around crying out the sky is falling, the sky is falling! Second, God, not man, will destroy the earth and it will be God, not man, who decides when (1 Thess. 4:13-5:3). Life will be going on as normal on the last day (Matt.24:37-39)
How then shall we live? The Christian understands that this world is not his home – that he is just a pilgrim passing through to an eternal heavenly dwelling. The most important thing is not what happens to this world, or even to our body, but what happens to our eternal soul. Jesus didn’t come to save the planet, or eradicate poverty, or fix up the world’s economy or a thousand other problems and causes. He came because of the sin problem to enable man to live eternally. He came to set an example and His focus was on people first, not the environment. Living here has its problems and challenges, including the environment, but God is a faithful Creator (1 Pet. 4:19) and He can be trusted to maintain a habitat for man.