guardians of the planet

when i was in grade school, there was a show on called "captain planet."  those of you who are fellow gen x-ers should remember it.  it involved the hero, captain planet, and his planeteers who sought to save the earth from those that sought to pollute and destroy it.  at the time, there were those in the church that called the show evil and said that it was teaching pantheism and planet worship, etc.  while there was a goddess on there named gaia, most kids knew it was fiction, but it was part of something in gen x-ers that was uniquely different from their baby boomer parents.  kids began to pay attention to pollution, and how we were treating our planet, and that resulted in a new environmental awareness that would shape the next generation.

with the advent of this new environmental protection, the pendulum unfortunately has swung to the opposite direction to a sense of hyper-vigilance, and organizations such as greenpeace and the epa have effectively vilified those who are environmentally conscious, branding them all as "environmental whackos" and other misnomers.  the church even went so far as to condemn anyone who became environmentally conscious as being guilty of planet worship, essentially saying that they were worshiping the creation instead of the Creator.  while there are those that do that, there is definitely wisdom in being good stewards of our planet.

it is very easy to develop a sense of complacency when it comes to our planet.  i have done it myself when i decided to fill up the empty soda can with water so that it would sink to the bottom of the lake while i was fishing.  but it is this attitude that has gotten us to where we are today.  call me a hippie or an environmentalist whacko or liberal (gasp!) or whatever you want, but having been all over the world, i have learned to appreciate the environment that much more, and now see it as a gift from God.  the problem of our not seeing the planet as something to treasure and instead as something to exploit for monetary gain is just as bad as elevating it to something to be worshiped.  traveling to the nation of djibouti gives me glimpses of what can happen when people stop respecting their environment.  garbage piles are everywhere and general filth are the norm, so when i am walking on a trail in a beautiful stretch of woods and i see trash on the ground, i am compelled to pick it up.  when i see a car spewing thick clouds of smoke out its tailpipe, i want to go tell the owner to stop driving it.  whenever i see another chemical spill, i want those responsible to pay every penny they have to clean it up and to install safeties to insure that it doesn't happen again.   george carlin had a very funny routine where he addressed the arrogance of man in thinking that we could "save the planet."  we cannot even save ourselves, so saving the planet is laughable, but it doesn't mean that we should treat it with complete disregard. 

you see, for us as CHRIST-followers, we should have a greater respect for the planet than we do.  our "pie in the sky by and by" mentality of "CHRIST is coming back, so why worry?" is akin to ms. clinton's famous statement, when asked about benghazi, of "what does it matter anyway?"  none of us knows when CHRIST will come back, and even if we did, does that somehow negate our command to be good stewards of what God has given us, the planet included?  in genesis, adam was commanded to care for the earth.  just because he messed up and was kicked out of the garden in no way diminishes that command to care for the earth.  we should be at the forefront of the push to demand environmental responsibility, and instead we are equated with those that rape and pillage the gift that God has given us.  if you don't think it is a gift, i encourage you to compare the beauty of some of the magnificent natural wonders in your own state, much less the planet, and then compare that to the desertification of areas of africa and south america and see what is left behind after man's destruction.  you will then see what a gift things such as a vast natural forest, an unspoiled stream cascading over a waterfall, or biodiversity in the many animal species that live on land, fly in the air, and swim in our waters actually are.

this post is not to get into the debate of man-made climate change or environmental legislation, but to simply get you to step back and take a look at how we are treating one of God's greatest gifts to us.  biblical mandate aside, look at how our treating the environment affects us directly in the here and now.  fly into los angeles and see the permanent brown haze that hovers over the city, and you might get an explanation as to the reason for the high number of respiratory problems and acid rain in that city.  ever had to boil your water because of a purity problem?  or better yet, ever taken a drink of chemical tainted water?  on ship, we make our own potable water using a desalinization process, and sometimes the bromide we add to the water gets too high and everyone on board suffers with the effects in the form of diarrhea.  sometimes, jp5, or jet fuel, makes its way into the water supply, and you can smell it and taste it.  so clean drinking water should be priority enough to demand that people stop dumping harmful chemicals into our water supply.  look at california and how they have wasted that natural resource and are now resorting to rationing water and stealing it from each other.  over-fishing has led to food shortages in areas of the world that rely on fish for their food source.  take a look through history at the dust bowl situation in oklahoma as a result of over-farming. 

we must realize that God's laws are there for our good, and there is wisdom behind all of them.  our planet is a finite system with finite resources, and once they are gone, save a miracle from God, they are gone, never to return.  end times prophecies speak of famine and drought, and perhaps we will have a hand in that.  it would be poetic justice that our misuse of God's resources, which could be called sin if you get down to it, would be the instrument that God used to punish us via consequences.  for those of us that follow CHRIST, Scripture is clear that those who are called stewards are expected to not just maintain, but to develop an increase (remember that parable that Jesus told on stewards?)  there are those that are doing just that as they go to other countries and teach them responsible and sustainable farming methods.  there are missionaries that help to develop clean water sources for villages that are without, and then they teach them how to care for that water source.  part of being good stewards is leaving behind a better place for our children and grandchildren than what we had.  unfortunately, i think we have been failing in that aspect, however, we are getting better.  one day we will be asked to account for what we did with the gifts God gave us, the environment included.  how will you fare?