There remains no doubt that BES is overlook and neglected by the Church today. How often do you hear your pastor speak of Christians as being protective stewards of God great creation? My answer is never. I cannot recall a time I heard a pastor - not just encouraging not polluting the earth - but actually living in such as way as to help alleviate the groaning of an ailing planet! (Inset: Terrestrial biomes classified by vegetation.)First, let us define "environmental stewardship" (ES). According to the EPA it is "the responsibility for environmental quality shared by all those whose actions affect the environment." Personally, I feel like this is a deficient definition from the EPA. Considering how "hot" a topic ES is, I expect a bit more from the Environmental Protection Agency. I find it quite peculiar, but moving on now...
BES then, can be defined as: "One the basis of a biblical worldview and ethics, as well as of sound science, economics, and public policy principles, ... sound ES celebrates and promotes human life, freedom, and economic development as compatible with, even essential for, the good of the whole environment" (from A Biblical Perspective on Environmental Stewardship, from the Acton Institute). Another definition states, "ES is an approach t the earth and its resources that attends both to the demands of human freedom and flourishing and to the Biblical call for human beings to exercise caring "dominion" over creation" (from Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship, from the Acton Institute).
The biblical basis for ES is broad, beginning in Genesis and ending, not surprisingly, in Revelation. According to William Johnson in his article, The Bible on Environmental Conservation: A 21st Century Prescription, there are some 2,463 verses within God's holy Word discussing the proper stewarding of His creation. Francis Schaeffer declares, "God's calling to the ... Christian community ... is that we should exhibit a substantial healing, here and now, between man and nature and nature itself, as far as Christians can bring it to pass." Russell E Train states, "I find it difficult to accept that it is the will of God that humanity should degrade, desolate, and ultimately perhaps destroy His creation on Earth. yet this is the corse on which we are embarked." Train is a founding trustee of the World Wildlife Fund, a past president thereof, a former board member, and currently a chairman emeritus with the WWF.
So, now that BES has been defined. I would like to briefly address two of the primary supporting verse for BES, both found in Genesis. See Genesis 1:26-31...
And Genesis 2:15, "Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it."Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
The key principles are:
- All men are made in God's image;
- Man receives from God the power to "subdue" and "rule";
- A command to fruitfulness;
- Placement of man in the garden;
- A call for man to cultivate and keep Eden's garden
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