September 2010: What WE Say
Adapted from the Book of Resolutions of the United Methodist Church 2000 (The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, Tennessee, Copyright) Environmental Stewardship, 1984
A Theology of Stewardship and the Environment
All creation is under the authority of God and all creation is interdependent. Our covenant with God requires us to be stewards, protectors, and defenders of all creation. The use of natural resources is a universal concern and responsibility of all as reflected in Psalm 24:1: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.”
In the Bible, a steward is one given responsibility for what belongs to another. The Greek word we translate as steward is oikonomos, one who cares for the household or acts as its trustee. The word oikos, meaning household, is used to describe the world as God’s household. Christians, then, are to be stewards of the whole household (creation) of God. Oikonomia, “stewardship,” is also the root of our word “economics.” Oikos, moreover, is the root of our modern word, “ecology.” Thus, in a broad sense, stewardship, economics, and ecology are, and should be, related.
The Old Testament relates these concepts in the vision of shalom. Often translated “peace,” the broader meaning of shalom is wholeness. In the Old Testament, shalom is used to characterize the wholeness of a faithful life lived in relationship to God. Shalom is best understood when we experience wholeness and harmony as human beings with God, with others, and with creation itself. The task of the steward is to seek shalom. (To read this entire document, visit “Living Green” on the church website.)
Stewards of God’s Creation. The concept of stewardship is first introduced in the creation story. In Genesis 1:26, the Bible affirms that every person is created in God’s image. But this gift brings with it a unique responsibility. Being created in God’s image brings with it the responsibility to care for God’s creation. God chose to give human beings a divine image not so we would exploit creation to our own ends, but so we would be recognized as stewards of God. To have dominion over the earth is a trusteeship, a sign that God cares for creation and has entrusted it to our stewardship. Our stewardship of all the world’s resources is always accountable to God who loves the whole of creation and who desires that it exist in shalom. The intention of creation was that all should experience shalom, to know the goodness of creation. In the Old Testament, “fullness of life” means having enough, sufficient, to experience the goodness of creation. By contrast, our age has come to define “fullness of life” as more than enough. The desire of many for excess begins to deny enough for others, and shalom is broken.
That all should participate in creation’s goodness is a fundamental of stewardship.
Another theme of shalom is that in creation we are all related. Humans are not self-sufficient. We need God, others, nature. The story of the garden (Genesis 2) attempts to picture the complete and harmonious interrelatedness of all creation. There is shalom only when we recognize that interrelatedness and care for the whole. When we violate the rules of the garden, we are dismissed. In ecological terms, when we violate the principles of ecology, we suffer environmental damage.
As the story of the garden shows, God’s intention of shalom was not carried out. Sin intervened, and the shalom was broken. But God offered a way to restore shalom - redemption. And as God’s stewards we have a role in that redemption. Stewardship, then, is to become involved wherever wholeness is lacking and to work in harmony with God’s saving activity to reconcile, to reunite, to heal, to make whole.
Stewardship has to do with how we bring all of the resources at our disposal into efficient use in our participation in the saving activity of God. Environmental stewardship is one part of our work as God’s stewards. As stewards of the natural environment we are called to preserve and restore the air, water, and land on which life depends. Moreover, we are called to see that all life has a sufficient share of the resources of nature. With new hope rooted in Christ and with more obedient living as stewards of the earth, we can participate in God’s healing of creation.
