Enjoy The Earth

We think that God wants us to enjoy the Earth.  We think it’s a concept found in the bible and it also makes good sense.

God created this Earth for us. He made it beautiful and useful, he invented the concept of fun and enjoyment.  Certainly, part of Jesus’ message is about controlling ourselves and resolving our priorities, but that doesn’t mean that we should eliminate God’s gift.

In Genesis, God created a garden for man to live in.  He intentionally made it good.  Genesis 2:9 says that “..the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.” God provided the Garden of Eden for man to have and enjoy.

Even after humans messed that relationship up, God restored his covenant with Noah and even made the deal a little sweeter.  After the great flood, “...God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the Earth… everything that lives and moves will be food for you.  Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything’.” Genesis 9:1-3.  God gave the Earth to man once again through Noah, and this time we get to eat meat too.

Since that time God has preserved the Earth for future generations.  The psalmists celebrated God’s faithfulness to repeatedly renew the Earth for them and their children.  When David (pretty much God’s favorite person) wrote Psalm 65 he said “You (God) care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly.  The streams of God are filled with water.” and “The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.  The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantles with grain; they shout for joy and sing.”

Throughout the old testament God blessed the people that honored him.  He helped them prosper and enjoy their time on Earth, most significantly through their lineage.

When Jesus came, he shifted that.  No longer do we honor God for worldly success, but we honor God for the sake of love and an afterlife.

But that doesn’t mean we should stop enjoying the gift that God has given us.  If anything, we should enjoy it more.  This world is practice for the new Earth that is to come, the glorious paradise that we will inherit.

There is evidence in the bible that Jesus liked to have a good time.  His first recorded miracle (water into wine) was done at a party.  He frequently ate dinner with people who knew how to make the most out of the world.

At one point, Jesus was talking about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (big religious jerks) and he said “’For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, “He has a demon.” The Son of Man came both eating and drinking, and you say, “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, friend of tax collectors and ‘sinners’.”’”—Luke 7:33-34.  Jesus often referred to himself as “the son of man”.

Jesus said that he came eating and drinking.  We can assume that the Pharisees are exaggerating when they said that he was a “glutton and a drunkard”, but nonetheless, Jesus certainly wasn’t a stranger to a good time.

As long as the things we do glorify God, we should put this Earth to good use and make the most of the short amount of time that we have here.  Paul instructed the first church in Corinth thusly, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31.

The Jewish religion followed a lot of rules to try and earn God’s favor and make up for their sins.  So many early Christians had trouble understanding what rules didn’t apply now that Jesus, the Messiah, had come.

Paul spent a lot of time telling people what they shouldn’t do, and why certain Jewish laws and customs were still good things.  But he also said that the earth still belongs to God, and as long as our hearts were in the right place we shouldn’t sweat it too much.

For starters, the Jews had a lot of laws about what they could and could not eat.  But after Jesus came many of those rules no longer applied.  Pual explained that now we can “Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, ‘The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.’” 1 Corinthians 10:25.

That guy from Ecclesiastes who was trying to figure out the meaning of life didn’t get very far.  But he did learn that enjoying the earth is important.  He said that we should “Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do.  Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil.  Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun – all your meaningless days.” - Ecclesiastes 9:7-9.

This doesn’t mean that there are no longer any rules.  We still need to make serving God our first priority.  Obviously there are things that are self-destructive and interfere with our ability to have communion with others and with God.

Using resources frivolously isn’t worthwhile either.  If we could spend a year in Europe or buy 20,000 meals for starving families in India, the choice should be obvious.  Our fun should be centered around community, enjoying our friends and sharing experiences.  Buying is the least of all ways to have a good time.

This also doesn’t mean that we have a license to make a ruckus of everything.  We won’t be able to enjoy the Earth for very long if we destroy it.  It wouldn’t be a very loving thing to mess everything up for the next generation.

In the words of ComFest 2007, “No planet, no party”.

God put man on the Earth to take care of it, to keep it nice.

But as long as we’re respecting God’s wishes, aligning our priorities correctly and taking care of this spectacular gift that God has given us, it’s okay to enjoy it a little.

“However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all...” Ecclesiastes 11:8

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Please leave your thoughts below.

Comments

Brad I must say, It started out great but in the end I was quite dissapointed. The Enjoy the Earth stuff was great and you’ve got a good point of view.

Did you really have to throw in the environmental garbage, not to offend the slews of earth lovers that probably read your blogs daily, but come’on man…

The Earth is alright, the folks at comfest may be the reason there won’t be an earth soon, but it ain’t going to happen because of pollution or whatever.

I may just go throw a brief Earth ‘Ruckus’

Speaking of which, y’all have been putting quite abit of miles in. You better be buying them carbon offsets.

Sorry to disappoint.  You keep on keepin’ on.

Genesis 2:15—The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Brad,

Your reverence toward the earth is thoughtful and carefully balanced with your desire to enjoy life, soberly facing the damage that is done in the course of its enjoyment. I agree: If one can live well in a productive manner and with minimal environmental impact, he ought to. We know that there is enjoyment and satisfaction to be found not just in the empty and wanton consumption of natural resources, but also in the contribution to social solidarity and the common good.

This society gives us the ‘right’ under heedless legislation to abuse our children’s prosperity, lending those who believe that law and morality are always congruent an excuse to dismiss their paternal responsibility. Yet without a legal mandate or even the moral guidance of religion, both of which tell us what we ‘should’ do, someone aspiring with compassion and humanity and love and empathy may still see what we ‘could’ do for the young in giving them a green future. What do we really want to do? As (I’ve heard) an ancient Native American saying goes “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, but borrow it from our grandchildren.” I think that sums it up pretty well. It’s a shame that a people so environmentally careful was replaced by another so careless, and that after the smoke cleared the latter did not find any use for it’s wisdom, which was cast aside along with any memory of that holocaust. Perhaps revering human life is inherently revering the planet itself, which is why taking care of it seems to be such a challenge for us humans.

Well said John.