Talking the Walk
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July 2007 Talking the Walk
Ideas that Build Our Case
Stewardship
By PAUL HANSEN, Society of Christian Philosophers
Most evangelicals will agree that the Church has a responsibility to be good stewards of creation or the resources under its control. But ‘stewardship’ with regard to creation has become an ambiguous term. To some, it means primarily utilization and exploitation; to others, it means primarily conservation and cultivation—two extremes that lie on a continuum of political policy opinion. The crucial and controversial question, then, is: What should creation stewardship look like in practice? We'll unpackage some of these ideas in our new column called Talking the Walk.Some critics presume that the climate of the planet cannot become catastrophic. Some cite a few obscure scriptural promises alluding to “self-regulation” of the planet (Psalm 104:5–9), then leap to the general assertion (or assumption) that it is impossible for humans to ruin the planet (suggesting that to doubt God’s sustaining hand over the planet is to demonstrate a lack of faith). If that’s what they are claiming, they are patently wrong. John records heavenly voices announcing that God, in anger, will “destroy those who destroy the earth” (Rev. 11.18). Moreover, all we need do is look at our track record. Through human activity, 80 percent of the world’s forests have disappeared. Potable ground water is severely threatened in drought-stricken countries. Tuna “stocks” are threatened by overfishing. Elephants and tigers face extinction from illegal poaching for ivory and medicinal use of tiger bones by some superstitious Chinese. The Great Lakes and the Hudson River have been polluted by industrial discharges.
The list is long and factual, so no mere appeal to “wishful theology” can negate such actual results. That’s why “creation care” is a legitimate stewardship calling for biblical believers. Even if one thing on the planet (such as climate) were “self-correcting,” it does not follow that everything on the planet is “self-correcting.” At least some things humans have done to the planet are cataclysmic and irreversible. And the reason is precisely because we, more than any other species, are uniquely capable of manipulating Nature—for good or for ill. Humans are tremendously creative and problem-solving creatures (mentally), but the physical resource base is still finite and subject to depletion and pollution.
From the general principle (a) “The Earth was made especially suitable for mankind,” some seem to draw the illicit inference (b) “Therefore, we need not exercise any restraint in our use of it.” Of course, this does not follow. But the extreme arrogation of ‘Nature’—as if we were not a part of it, or as if we were immune to the laws of entropy—engenders an attitude of disrespect for non-human life and discourages any form of “stewardship” that would be inconvenient for us or disturb our economic agendas (maximization of profit). And if that is the Church’s attitude, then we provide a poor example to unbelievers by our lack of concern or our misplaced priorities. Biblical stewardship of “the garden” is not to be construed merely as utilization, but conservation as well.