Stewards of the Earth

God has made us stewards over the Earth, although some say that care of the Earth isn’t mentioned in the New Testament and therefore it is not a religious concern. They don’t see why the church should be involved.

Love God. The New Testament is concerned with saving souls, rather than the environment. However, the authority is there, but expressed in general terms. Christ said more in his two Great Commandments than did Moses in his Ten, plus all the rules of Deuteronomy. Still, many can’t relate the two commandments to our environment. The first commandment is that we must love God with all our heart, soul and mind. Genesis tells us that God has made us stewards over God’s good Earth. We can see that despoiling God’s Earth is not loving God.

Love our neighbor. Individual action is important, when multiplied by millions of people. The second commandment tells us to love our neighbor; surely, we can best express that love by preserving the good environment, both as a person and a voter. People need to be educated to the fact that preserving our environment is more than an economic problem. Christians should be conscious of the implied “Environmental Commandment.”