At the heart of stewardship is an understanding of the cultural mandate in Genesis 1:28, "...And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it'..."
The story of the Bible can be summarized in three words: Creation; Fall; Redemption. What was formed has been deformed and needs to be reformed. The Scriptures move us from a Garden to a City. The book of Genesis tells us that paradise was originally an undeveloped Garden of Eden. The book of Revelation reveals a new Jerusalem- a developed, perfected city- that comes down from heaven.
As I was eating lunch with my wife- Amy- yesterday, we were discussing that many Christians long for a return to the Garden of Eden. The Amish are an example of this. They shun all forms of technology because they believe these intrusions have destroyed the beautiful things in life. But technology is not bad. It is only been perverted and deformed by sinful uses- pornography, criminal intent, spam, video game addictions, online gambling, etc... Technology can be redeemed and reformed for God's uses and become a beautiful thing- such as sharing pictures with family, access to truth and allowing someone like myself to work from home.
There is nothing wrong with progress. Progress is a great thing. God has called each of us to do the maximum amount of good to the maximum amount of people that our resources will allow. We have been instructed to use money, abilities, time and health to participate in moving God's creation from an undeveloped Garden to a developed City.
In John 20:15 we are told that when Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene after His resurrection, Mary mistook Him for the gardener. Is this significant? The Creator moves from a Gardener to a King.
I don't believe as Christians we should make statements like things are worse today than they have ever been. It's an easy statement to make as we look at all the evil and sin in our world. But sin has always been ugly. God and His creation have always been beautiful. Yes, the earth and everything in it will be refined through fire. This will be a time of upheaval that the world has never seen. But God is in control. He knows the date and time that He will bring this to completion. It will be a time of great hope for those who are known by Christ and a time of fear for those who Christ doesn't know- Matthew 7:21-23.
In the meantime, we should hate what is evil and cling to what is good- Romans 12:9. As stewards of God's creation, we should pray and work towards bringing His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We should not be wary of words like progress. But we should also not shun truth which is rooted in thousands of years of tradition. We should seek to be a biblical progressive.
For His Glory,
Ashley Hodge
No comments:
Post a Comment