Now mater where you fit on the theological spectrum, care for God’s creation is a priority, though if we are being fair, we often speak about and think about it in different ways. Even though that is true, it is, or at the very least should be, a priority for all Christians. Whatever creation theory that you prescribe to, if you believe that God created, then it is only natural that you believe that humans, the pinnacle of all creation, have a unique place in it. That place is to be a good steward.

In both of the creation narratives in Genesis, it is clear that humans have the unique role to “subdue” and exert “dominion” over creation. The Christian tradition has seen this as a call to stewardship over God’s creation. While numerous verses make this clear, Genesis 2:15 might be the best example.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

It is worth noting that this occurs before the fall from grace where sin and death entered into the world, so creation care is a part of God’s original design for humanity, not something new that has come about.

What Is Stewardship?

Understanding that we are stewards of creation, it is then paramount to know what a steward does. The “Dictionary of the Christian Church” speaks about stewardship.

“The management of property by a servant on behalf of its owner, and more particularly in modern times, the organized pledging of a specific amount of money to be given regularly to the church, often designated ‘Christian stewardship’.”

John Wesley’s sermon “The Good Steward” (https://fmcic.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/A5_Wesley-Sermon-51_-GOOD-STEWARD.pdf) has many thoughts on stewardship as well. In it he says the following:

“And, first, we are to inquire, in what respects we are now God’s stewards. We are now indebted to Him for all we have; but although a
debtor is obliged to return what he has received, yet until the time of payment comes, he is at liberty to use it as he pleases. It is not so with
a steward; he is not at liberty to use what is lodged in his hands as he pleases, but as his master pleases.”

I encourage you to read the entire sermon as it expands a great deal on what we are actually stewards of.

Not An Environmental Lobby

Proper care for our natural environment does not make the church an environmental lobby. In many cases, environmental groups, and in some cases the government, act contrary to what has long been proven to be good stewardship of natural resources. I will briefly mention two examples.

In the Frazier Park area of California, the U.S. Forest service planned to cut down dead and dying trees, as well as removing brush as a way of trying t prevent forest fires. Doing this has long been considered good care for forested areas. Several conservation groups filed lawsuits to stop this. This is not good care for creation, but the environmental groups say that doing nearly anything to a natural area is wrong. Stewardship however is an active process, not a passive one.

In a different story, a family was fined over $53,000 for clearing brush behind their home. To be fair, this was on a nature preserve the butted against his property. Also to be fair, he was in danger of losing his fire insurance if he did not have a defensible zone around his home. The family certainly can not afford that, and was in a terrible position. More importantly, why was there a need to clear brush on a nature preserve? The act of preservation should include regular maintenance.

All to often, care for the environment is thought of as leaving nature be rather than actual stewardship. Even in Eden, idyllic as it is presented, there would have been work. Fruit trees do not prune themselves, even in Eden. Christians then need to be mindful of this and, even in matters of public policy, need to practice, and advocate for, the actions of stewardship and not the passive approach that has become popular.

The Earth Is The Lord’s

Numerous Psalms speak to nature as it relates to God. Psalm 24 reminds us that the Earth is the Lord’s and Psalm 19 reminds us the nature declares God’s glory. This is an important aspect of creation care, as our proper stewardship becomes an active part in declaring the glory of God. Likewise, when we are not proper stewards, the glory of God is not properly declared. While the idea of stewardship of creation is new linguistically, it is not new theologically. In the early church, the property owned by those involved in the church understood that it was to be held in trust for God and to be used for the benefit of all. Proper stewardship now is the same idea.

For some, proper stewardship means that we do not use fossil fuels, for some it means you should not eat meat, etc. The reality of proper stewardship is given in Eden. Yes, it is work, but yes, it is also responsible usage. We are given the ability to use the resources that are available to us, but of course, not to abuse them. Should we use wind power where it is feasible? Of course we should. The same with solar and geothermal, etc. Are electric vehicles an option? Of course. So are fuel efficient gas powered vehicles. All of these things exist in balance. It is not an either or situation.

Climate Care

This is one of those places where everyone gets up in arms it seems. The question seems to always be two fold. First is the climate changing, and second is it because of humanity. The answers and arguments rarely ever present an accurate picture however.

The reality is that we do know many things. Every living creature has an effect on the environment, whether positive or negative, most often a mixture of both. It is irresponsible to say otherwise. What are the long term effect of that? The truth is that while there are many ideas out there, we do not know. Every international climate projection has proven to be alarmist and incorrect. The effect of that has been entirely to much denial that we contribute to the environment. We have co2 levels not seen since prehistoric times near as we can tell (the Ordovician period to be exact-something like 500 million years ago according to the best scientific data we have available). That said, the temperature then were much higher than they are now, reaching their crescendo about 23 to 32 million years ago (the Oligocene era according to the best scientific data we have available.). The most reliable data however only spans back about 800,000 years thanks to Antarctic ice cores, and that data does little to illuminate what is happening now. The further back the data goes, the more skepticism we need to apply.

The simple truth is that the environment is a far more complex system than we currently fully understand. We can formulate theories, and certainly should study it, but we must do so while accepting the reality that we do not fully understand it. This does not mean that we should do nothing of course, just that we have to have the humility to know what we don’t know.

The Forgotten Part Of Stewardship Of Creation

There is one core part of good creation stewardship that has been neglected for far to long, and in fact has not often, if ever, been included in the discussion of good stewardship. While it is very true that we are charged with being good stewards, we must never forget that we are also a part of creation, not separate from it. Because of that, we are also stewards of each other. For the Christian then, how should we express that? Some things are simple to see. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner. (Matthew 25:35-45) The best way that we can provide good stewardship however is much more simple, but certainly not easy.

“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.  When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20)

By fulfilling the entirety of the great commission, including the teaching aspect of it, we can have far more impact of creation than through any public policy initiative, activism, or anything else. I, as an individual, can do little to actually affect the Earth as a whole in regards to stewardship. What I can do is fulfill God’s desire.

“This is good, and pleases God our Savior,  who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.”  (1Timothy 2:3-6)

By doing this, I can be God’s agent, through Christ, for change in one person, teaching, among other things, proper stewardship of creation. They then can do the same, and so forth and so on. Doing this alleviates many of the climate concerns that we have and encourages the proper action of stewardship. Proper stewardship for creation is best expressed in proper stewardship of each other, for in that we not only may populate the Kingdom of come, but change the kingdom that is here.