God has provided us with a beautiful world to live in. He has carefully crafted every detail so that all parts of His creation can live in harmony. He reveals Himself to us through the Bible and through the Holy Spirit, but also through the beauty of creation. Unfortunately, many things that we do as humans can destroy that creation. This destruction is because of broken relationships with God, with others and with the world we live in and is a result of sin. Our job as Christians is to work to restore those broken relationships.
God has entrusted us to care for His creation. He has given us the privilege of ruling over it, not as self-seeking and corrupt dictators, but as stewards who want to do the best we can for the glory of the Creator. My question is this: Are we doing all that we can do to appreciate and take care of this gift that God has given us? I believe that because we are Christians who know that God created the heavens and the earth, we should be more excited about and willing to care for that gift than people who are not believers. Christians should be leading the pack in trying to take care of what God has given us rather than sitting on the sidelines.
Those in our community see how we act and observe whether or not we practice what we preach. If we say that God created the world and we are the caretakers, is that evident in the way we live our lives as Christians? Is that evident in the way we conduct our worship and church activities? Are people in the community saying, “Now those Christians are a great example of what caring for God’s creation is all about!”? Unfortunately, I don’t think that most of us (myself included) are generating these kind of comments. I know I have been a part of the environmental problem rather than the solution. God, our Lord and Creator, is calling us to step up to the plate to appreciate the gift He has given us and to care for it. Luke 12:48b says “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” God has given us so much, but he has also given us responsibility. Many people in the world face inconveniences every day (walking miles for water, hand washing clothes, living without electricity). Most of us have the option of convenience, but it doesn’t mean that the convenient way is necessarily the right way. Serving God may make us uncomfortable at times, but no one said being a good steward would be easy.
I challenge you to think about what you can do individually and what we as a church can do together to be better stewards of God’s creation. In doing so, we may be pleasantly surprised at the positive effect it will have on how the community looks at us, and maybe even on our bank accounts. If nothing else, we will be doing what God requires of us.
A few suggestions to get started:
- You can start making small changes that positively affect God’s creation immediately. We have a great recycling system in our country. Use it to its fullest potential! Try to cut down on waste at church and social events by bringing your own reusable mug rather than using paper, plastic or Styrofoam cups. Bring your own reusable bags to the grocery store and say “No” to paper and plastic. The list of ideas is as endless as your imagination, but you can start the journey toward being a better steward today.
- There is a great book by Edward Brown called “Our Father’s World”. This book is easy to read, challenging, and full of great ideas on how we as Christians can take that next step. I highly recommend it and I would be very willing to reread this book and discuss it with anyone who is interested. It may also be a great book for small group or book club discussion.
