Eviromental Stewardship - Week 7

By

Richard Won

For “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” (I Cor 10:26 ESV)

           

An awesome week in FCD on Stewarding The Creation Of God. Probably, one of the best topics in FCD.  The premise is God created and owned the earth and He intended it to be fruitful and abundantly full of life. We are called to steward it which is an honorable position (I Cor 9:17) In order to preserve the earth we need to think of sustainable community development such as recycling of plastic, paper and metal. Earth dwellers to be more contended in life and consume less, accumulate less, use less goods and stuff. Basically, it is Recycling the material; Refusing toxic and chemical waste; Re-educating the mindset; and Renewing the land by planting more trees;

            Some of the key ideas and community principles I have gained:

1. God loves the beautiful earth and He wants it to be abundantly fruitful. John of Damascus says, “The whole earth is a living icon of the Face of God”
2. Beware of the pitfall of over consuming, over spending and over possessing of stuff that I do not need. It creates toxic waste which pollute the earth. The key in community development is educating the masses to be contended rather than drawing our identity from stuff.
3. The rule of thumb in environmental issue is if it is good for people but bad for creation, then it is no good at all.
4. In Community Development, a good steward of God’s creation must think in terms of long term, long haul and bringing lasting change and inner transformation of the heart and mind
5. Helping the community to rethink of the lie that they have no choice in environment injustice. A world-view change in the hidden assumption can lift up the community with hope and life.

            What have I learned? I can worship the God of creation in nature, in the lake, in the mountain and in the animals. George Washington says, “Nature itself is a broadcasting station through which God speaks to every hour” Nature is speaking so loudly but we can’t hear it due to our own occupation of self. John Scothis Eigena says, “Christ wears two shoes in the world: scripture and nature. Both are necessary to understand. At no stage can creation be seen as separation of things from God”

            I can help to sustain the earth and the environment by doing my part in recycling of paper, plastic and metal. It may be a drop in the ocean but that one drop can make a difference. Never despise the days of small beginning