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Monday, April 27, 2009

Earth Day 2009

We just celebrated another "Earth Day" ... you know, where we all celebrate ... the Earth. The notion is that we all need to become aware of the environment, to protect the Earth, to keep nature safe. Some might think that this is irrelevant to Christians. It shouldn't be. We were given the mandate to be God's representatives on this planet. We are to be the caretakers, so to speak.

It seems, though, that it is very easy to slip into extremes on the topic. One side will be very happy if human beings were exterminated so that our planet will be better off. Plants and animals rise to the highest exalted position, and humans are the problem. You know, like the ominous line from Bambi: "Man was in the forest." On the other side you'll find the extremist that says, "We were commanded to dominate the planet, and I'll do whatever I please to it."

Someplace in between I think we'll find the truth. On one hand, we are tasked with the job of taking care of our world. It is not because our world is more important than we are. It is not that we are not allowed to use the resources God has built into this world for us. We are simply to be responsible about it. We are to take care of the weak where we can. We are to manage our environment to the best of our ability, simultaneously making use of and maintaining it. On the other hand, we know the end game. We've skipped to the back of the book and we know how it comes out. If we were tasked with making this planet better and better all the time at all cost, we'd find a problem. We'd be running against God's stated outcome. We already know that the final outcome of the planet on which we live is destruction by fire from God.

Somewhere between "Dogs are people too, you know" and "Use it up" I think we'll find the truth. First, this world doesn't belong to us, so we are not free to abuse it. Conversely, this world was built and put in place for our benefit, so we are expected to use the resources that are available. Beyond that, as representatives of God on Earth, we need to be responsible without being fanatical. We need to take care without being "tree huggers" because, frankly, "hugging" a planet that is scheduled for demolition just doesn't make a lot of sense.

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