April, 2008 Message

Genesis 1:28 says that humankind is to “subdue the earth” and have “dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon earth”. One could read this passage and assume that we are free to treat the earth in any way we desire. Some environmental activists have charged Christians with just such an understanding of the Bible’s mandate.  But a fuller reading reveals how mistaken such an assumption would be.

The Hebrew word translated as dominion in “radah”.  It is a word that can be used to mean total control over something, and in the harshest sense. But the word does not force such an understanding.  The word is also use dint he Bible to speak of God’s authority over humankind.  And scripture is filled with pictures of how God’s authority over us is exercised in the most loving of all manners.  It reveals how in all of God’s ways he watches out for our best interests, even is causing the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike.

There is much more that could be said on this topic, but in this short essay I won’t go into greater detail.  I think you will agree that the Bible gives a picture of God’s dominion as benevolent.  And so should be our dominion.

Supporting this is the view of the relationship between humankind and the rest of the universe presented in the creation story in Genesis 2.  There we see humans created from the same elements as the rest of creation.  We see a common source of life in the breath of God.  We may have been placed at the top of creation’s hierarchy by God granting us the responsibility of authority over other living things, but our very existence is still interwoven into the existence of all creation.

So we have a mandate from God to be respectful stewards of the earth.  Wanton destruction, frivolous consumption, and such things are diametrically opposed to the duty God has placed upon our shoulders. We share a common ancestry with all life, and we all bear the burden of living in a sinful, fallen state, but God has assigned to us the task of caring for his world.  For most of us, this isn’t anything new.  In spite of what some folks claim, the vast majority of Christians have always felt a God-given responsibility to the proper care of the environment.

But let me offer and understanding that may be new to many of you.  And it goes back to that Hebrew word “radah” which we sometimes translate into English as “dominion.”  There is another, more nuanced meaning within the word.  The word implies that one has the power of life or death over another.  To have dominion is to hold the fate of another life in your hands.  That is an aspect of humankind’s relationship to the rest of creation we are only now beginning to understand.  And yet, God told us of it way back in the first chapter of the first book of scripture.

We are the only living thing that has the ability to wipe out other species completely.  We now know that there are animals that use tools like we do, that communicate as we do, that even exhibit emotion just as humans do.  But none the power to so affect the environment that they can bring another species to extinction. Except humankind.  And that, friends, is an awesome responsibility.

I pray that each of us realize the tremendous power God has given us, and be faithful to God’s mandate in our living. The choices we make everyday have great consequences.  Our way of living can minimize our impact upon the rest of creation.  Or we can live in such a way that we jeopardize the very existence of life.

The Psalmist writes: “when I look at they heavens, the work of they fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established; what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou doest care for him? Yet thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crow him with glory and honor.”  Yes, we are more than simply another life form in God’s creation.  But with our place of authority comes great responsibility to respect all creation.  Even more than being green, God commands that we be loving.  For God so loved the world….

Rob