"Build
houses...Put in gardens and eat what grows...so that you’ll thrive… and not
waste away. Make yourselves at home there and work for… welfare… things will go
well for you." Jer.29:5-7 (MSG)
Many of us have heard next to nothing about being
stewards of the environment we live in except occasionally from the lips of
politicians seeking to gain the favour of the electorates or from NGOs throwing
clichés such as ‘Go Green’ and the like around. We are used to lengthy sermons
about being God’s stewards on earth who will give detailed account to Him on the last day. Yet, it seems to elude
most if not all that the account will include our stewardship of the
environment God placed us in.
Believe it or not, God cares deeply about His
creation, and we as His stewards are charged to take good care of the
environment. Ever wondered what the very first assignment God gave man is? ‘…to
work the ground and keep it in order (Gen 2:15, MSG).
The world marked World
Environment Day 2017 with the theme ‘Connecting People to Nature’ I will like
to lend my voice to the campaign albeit from a biblical perspective while
helping all and sundry see that the theme for the year is really an apt
reminder of the truth that connecting people to nature is really about
connecting people to God and the truth about God- the One who called nature to
be and upholds it by the word of His power- as in Romans
1:19-20:
They know the truth about
God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world
was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God
made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine
nature. So they have no excuse for not
knowing God (NLT- Emphasis added).
June 5 of every year is the United
Nations’ most important day for encouraging awareness and action to protect the
environment with over 143 countries participating annually, with the support of
major corporations, NGOs, communities, governments and celebrities.
The environment is defined as the
surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or
operates. Place on the other hand
means a location or a region of land. Biology professor David Koetje provides
insight into caring for our place: “Faithfully
caring for creation requires us to develop a stronger sense of place. Place
relates to the distinctive features of specific landscape, habitats, and
communities…A critical first step towards redeeming our fallen relationship
with our land and their inhabitants is attentiveness
to the distinctive natural and cultural features of place. Faithfully
administering our calling requires us to serve these places. The term most
often used to describe our caring for creation is stewardship- management on
behalf of a higher authority. Because a steward is subject to God, she cannot
simply do as she pleases with creation…Stewardship applies to all our
relationship within creation: land, water and energy; ecosystems, habitats; and
species; our places, our bodies, our work…”
Therefore in our quest to connect people
to nature, the following points must be carefully considered:
Care wisely and humbly for all
creatures, first and foremost, fellow human beings, recognizing their proper
place in the created order.
We must be conscious of the saying
‘cleanliness is next to godliness.’ You and I have a role to play in keeping
our environment clean and safe. Hence, all Christians must support the
campaigns such as the #PickUpThatTrash campaign launched on Twitter after the
dastardly flooding experienced in Lagos recently.
The understanding that life on earth is
a trust must be ingrained in everyone’s subconscious. All we have are gifts from
God that He has entrusted to our care and management. We never really own anything during our brief stay on
earth, it was God’s property before we arrived and He will loan it to someone
else when we die. Our culture says if you don’t own it, you won’t take care of
it. But as God’s children, we live by a higher standard (1 Cor. 4:2).
Equally important is the fact that we
owe it to ourselves to take care of the earth. We have to live in this
environment, for now, it is the only home we have!
In the same vein, we owe it to posterity
to leave this place better than we met it.
We must pass on a usable environment to those coming behind. After all, it’s
their right too.
Lastly, and most importantly, we owe it
to God. This is God’s place, not ours to do as we please. At the
end of our lives on earth we will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well we handled what we were
entrusted with i.e. everything we do, including daily chores, has eternal
implications (Mt.25:21).
Our fundamental responsibility to act as
God’s steward of the environment and connect people to Him means that we have a
duty to take part in “putting in gardens” not just literally, but by adding
colour to and working for the welfare of our environment in various ways possible,
so we all can thrive therein and not waste away. Consequently, things will go
well for us as the above scripture suggests.
Silas
Emovwodo is Vice President, Rebraining Nigeria Group, an NGO and a Youth
Minister and Teen Counselor in Foursquare Gospel Church, Transfiguration
Center, Opa, Ile-Ife. He has a mandate to clean and feed God’s flock with a
passion to see young people walk and work with God. He wrote via
silasoghenemaro@gmail.com
