"Wednesday is Earth Day"

I was in Target the other day. Nothing odd there. I am in Target probably more often than I need to be. After picking up what I needed (or didn’t need depending on your perspective) I went up front to check out. At the cash register my items were then placed into a red canvas bag instead of the typical white plastic one with the big red bulls-eye that I am accustomed to. “Save a bag, plant a tree”, said the lady behind the register. “Wednesday is Earth Day”.

Wednesday is Earth Day. Hmm. My first thought was one of hippies and tree huggers and global warming movies by famous ex vice presidents. I actually chuckled to myself a bit. But my next thought was a little more unnerving. Here was the question that came to my mind. Is the great commission true? No, not that one. I’m talking about the FIRST great commission, before Mathew 28. I am talking about the commission given to mankind in the Garden way back in the beginning. Is Genesis 1:28 true?

You see we are a people who, based on the Holy Bible as our ultimate authority, espouse a particular world view. We believe that God is sovereign over all areas of life and that we, as creatures unique in His kingdom, are bearers of His very image. We are then as bearers of this image, commanded to “subdue” the earth and “have dominion” over it and all of the creatures therein. We have been given a particular responsibility, that being to “subdue” and to “have dominion”.

The new ESV Study Bible in discussing this particular passage puts it this way. “Here the idea is that the man and the woman are to make the earth’s resources beneficial for themselves, which implies that they would investigate and develop the earth’s resources to make them useful for human beings generally.” The notes continue, “These commands are not, however, a mandate to exploit the earth and its creatures to satisfy human greed, for the fact that Adam and Eve were ‘in the image of God’ implies God’s expectation that human beings will use the earth wisely and govern it with the same sense of responsibility and care that God has toward the whole of his creation.”

With the same sense of responsibility and care that God has toward the whole of his creation……ouch.

I wasn’t chuckling anymore. I was actually leaning more towards repenting. Repenting for my minimalistic picture of what “subdue and have dominion” actually mean. Repenting over my lack of care for something that God cares deeply for. Repenting for my lack of engagement in the preservation and stewardship of his creation. Repenting ultimately for my complete abdication of responsibility for God’s creation and its resources to people who do not share in our biblically based world view….and then making fun of them for how they carry out, in their own fallen and marred way, the responsibility that I have so flippantly ignored.

So by all means, as image bearers of the Creator of the earth and all of its resources, go forth, subdue and express dominion “with the same sense of responsibility and care that God has toward the whole of his creation” and in the words of my new friend the Target lady...

“Save a bag, plant a tree. Wednesday is Earth Day.”