Save the Planet!
How many superhero cartoon plots revolve around that theme? Many of us have grown accustomed to the
thought of a dastardly villain trying to destroy the world in some way, with our
favorite superhero in a race against time trying to foil his evil plan. Our childhood fantasy can be such an
internalized plot that it becomes our life’s narrative as adults, a morality
play that helps justify our existence, or at least makes us want to reduce our
carbon footprint.
But in our adult “Save the Planet” narrative, for many
people the superhero is science, and the villain is religion, specifically
Christianity.
I had an enlightening conversation with Tyler, an
environmental science major, which helped me better understand this mindset. Tyler isn’t closed to all things spiritual,
but he helped me understand why he rejects those beliefs that place man in a
more important position than other living beings as being made “in the image of
God”. If we were specially made by God,
rather than by random chance and evolutionary processes, then we must conclude
we have a God-given purpose to live out.
According to Genesis 1, part of that purpose is to “Be fruitful and
increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea
and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the
ground.”
Unfortunately, the many generations before us far too often felt
that the vast resources of air and ocean and land were theirs to exploit, with
no understanding of sustainable and responsible stewardship.
To “subdue” the earth doesn’t mean to destroy it. It means to control it, to manage it for our benefit. And here Tyler and I respectfully disagreed. For Tyler, since man is the relative newcomer
in the world and the culprit destroying the environment, man is the enemy. The earth should be “saved” for its own sake
and not for the benefit of man. For
myself as a Christian, since man is made in God’s image with inherent worth and
value, we are called to steward the earth and use its resources in a
sustainable manner for ourselves and for the benefit of future generations.
In many ways, we can have the same goals when it comes to
the environment, but for different reasons.
I believe we need to avoid viewing mankind as the enemy. Being made in the image of God, the enemy of
our souls would love to see us destroy one another, not to be fruitful and
multiply. Satan would love for us to
view one another as of no greater worth than animals, to put the interests of
animals above that of fellow human beings, and at the same time rejoices when
people learn to treat animals with cruelty and begin to treat one another the
same way.
Science is not the superhero or the savior. It has been the biggest tool used to destroy
the earth, and it is time we use it to live in harmony with nature. And Christianity is not the villain trying to
destroy the planet either. It can and
should motivate us to serve future generations by being responsible stewards
here and now.
PS – I was able to record the first third of our
conversation before my camera ran out of memory. View it HERE
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