I-61 Ministries

“Nature, the world, has no value, no interest for Christians. The Christian thinks only of himself and the salvation of his soul.” – Luwig Feuerbach, THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY.

MISREPRESENTED

That’s a pretty stinging indictment. But sadly it’s one that we as the church must own up to as being too true too often through the course of church history. God’s people, whether Old Testament Israel or the New Testament Church, have too often been sucked into the mold of the culture, rather than being the transforming “yeast” slowly permeating and changing the culture from the inside out.

“No longer be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you can test and approve what God’s will is — His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). That’s our mission as God’s people, individually and corporately — to refuse captivity to a culture that identifies man as the measure of all things; that sees creatures and creation as disposable resources existing solely for our benefit; and holds to technology as the answer to the world’s ills.

Because the church has not consistently borne a testimony that transcends corrupt culture, but rather all too often has only mirrored it, many critics of Christianity line up pointing fingers at the church and at the Bible as only contributing to the problem or even as being the problem when it comes to the environment. The Scriptures, it is often claimed, sanction the exploitation and degradation of the earth. Some would insist that the Bible is anti-ecological, and so should be tossed aside — or at least shelved for a generation or two. If the Bible is only contributing to all of our ecological woes, why bother with it? Why not scrap the Bible and try to find inspiration from other sources?

Our contention is that this is an incorrect evaluation of the Bible. Far from promoting the exploitation and degradation of creation and its creatures at the whim and convenience of humanity, the consistent teaching of the Bible repeatedly calls humanity to caring, responsible stewardship under God over His creation. We believe the key elements of the Biblical teaching on creation and the environment are all evident in the first chapters of Genesis (Genesis 1-12).

TRUE OWNERSHIP :: Genesis 1:1-2:25

The creation account in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 is foundational to the entire Bible – which is perhaps why so much controversy has attached itself to these chapters. What is clear from the Genesis creation account is that our world is:

…To be cherished and protected.
Creative power resides in God alone; He created “the heavens and the earth” i.e. everything. On days 1-3 he formed the formless, and on days 4-6 what is empty was filled. Humanity does not own the planet – we are only tenants on another’s property (see Psalm 24:1-2; Leviticus 25:23) From the beginning, humanity was entrusted with the task of caring, responsible stewardship.

While some have misconstrued the words “subdue” and “rule” in Genesis 1:28 to imply a free hand to pillage, rape and degrade creation for humanity’s pleasure and profit, we believe these words must be placed alongside the companion words of Genesis 2:15 “serve” and “protect.”

The Biblical mandate to “rule” over creation must be understood in conjunction with Jesus’ teaching about the true nature of leadership – that he who would “rule” must be the servant of all (see Matthew 20:20-28). This was a value Jesus demonstrated by washing His disciples’ feet in loving devotion and humility (see John 13:1-17). So we believe that as disciples of Jesus the call upon us is to humble ourselves and seek ways by which to “wash the feet” of His creation through loving stewardship over it.

…Created as a habitat for all living things, not just for humans.
Though humanity is unique in being made in the “image of God” and is called to rule as God rules, humans were created on the same day as animals and were initially told to eat the same food as animals (see Genesis 1:24-30). Humans are not the only creatures blessed by God; the blessing of God is pronounced upon all living creatures.

All living creatures are seen by God as having intrinsic worth irrespective of humanity’s needs – God sees them as “good” before humanity is even on the scene. We believe it is foundational for us as disciples of Jesus to know where we live – in a home shared with all other creatures, all loved and valued by our Creator (see also Psalm 104:1-35).

…Theocentric, not anthropocentric.
Man may be the measurer of all things, but he is not the measure of all things. Humanity’s needs, wants, and desires are not the pivotal focus of creation; God, the Creator is (observe the repeated phrases in Genesis chapter one – “God said…God saw…God called…God made…etc.). All creation, including humanity, is summoned to worship the Creator (see Psalm 148).

We believe that this biblical, theocentric worldview gives the human being, with his special position on earth as responsible steward, the only real chance to understand himself as a member of the creation community. We believe this theocentric perspective, rooted in Genesis and reflected throughout the Bible, is the only way to develop a sustained and effective ethic of environmental responsibility.