Volume 43   Number 9                                                                                     May 2001

“And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”~ I John. 2:17

Recently many in our country celebrated the holiday “Earth Day”. This is a day set aside for our country to “honor the earth”. This is a day when we are encouraged to consider what we are doing in regard to the earth’s resources and to the earth itself. It is a day when we are encouraged to consider how we might “preserve” the earth for the coming generations. This is a day that many people take very seriously. Unfortunately it is misguided, for it is a day that can easily encourage us to neglect other much more important days such as the 1st day of the week, the day of our obedience, a day to serve others, and more importantly, the Day appointed as in Acts 17:30-31.

This earth we live on is a doomed planet. It is resigned to a fiery destruction (2 Pet. 3:10), and Paul teaches us that Creation even looks forward to such a completion, (Rom. 8:19-22). Yes, we are stewards of the earth, for God has certainly given it into our care. It is for this reason it is a good thing that we not purposely seek to destroy the earth, but we are not taught by God to “respect” or “honor” the earth in the way we are encouraged by the world. Keep in mind the words of the Creator regarding man’s responsibility to the earth in Gen. 1:28-30.

It is my judgment that “Earth Day” is mainly an attempt to make the earth another god for man to devote himself to and to worship (like we don’t have enough false deities). “Earth Day” emphasizes caring for the land, oceans, sky, rivers, etc. It is of interest to note that many who honor this day are concerned for the physical environment when it is our moral environment (or lack of it) that should be our primary interest. Many of the political groups that have encouraged this holiday seem to be diametrically opposed to making moral changes. Why is that? Would it be they are not interested in the Creator, but prefer the created as Paul teaches in Romans 2?

As Christians, our emphasis should be on other more eternal concerns such as serving others, seeking the Lord’s will, and working toward the salvation of others and our own souls. While this earth and all that is in it has an unavoidable end, our souls have been created to live forever. The world is encouraging us parents to be concerned for the earth, so it will be here for our children. But far more important is the salvation of their eternal souls so that we may live in the unpolluted and undefiled “new heavens and new earth wherein dwells righteousness”!

We as Christians should not make “caring for the Earth” as our priority. Our primary goal should be preaching the gospel of Christ as the only power able to save the world. Yes, those in the world should be our chief concern and not the earth we live on.