I believe future years will see the lines drawn between those who worship creation and those who seek to simply care for it. Yes, there are soldiers on both sides seeking to create a phalanx which will overcome the other, hoping the American public will once again be vulnerable and buy the lie that the environment is more important than the individual. I am not promoting the wholesale destruction of planet earth with that statement, for I believe God put us here to be committed, wise stewards of His gift and investment of the earth for man. I believe there is a balance which must be kept and that worship of the earth is a notion fraught with danger to both the literal soul of man and the "soul" of the earth.

Man's Dominion

God created man to harness both the resources and power of the earth to grow and glorify His creation. It is no accident that the first chapter of the book of Genesis in the Bible speaks of the magnificence of God's creation. He spent much time in "The Beginning" speaking of how "it was good" when a part of creation was made. When God created man, He said that He gave man "dominion over the fish…birds…cattle…every creeping thing." He went on to tell man to "be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it…having dominion over everything that moves on the earth." Man was made above all of His creation, as he was made in the image and likeness of God. Nothing else in creation was created in this manner. Nothing else possessed a soul or spirit other than man.

It is God's Established Order

What happened to prodigal earth? To quote one writer, "The original order of man's environment on earth must be distinguished from what it became following the impact of man's fall, the curse (that man would toil and work on the earth), and the eventual deluge. The agricultural, zoological, geological, and meteorological disharmony to which creation became subject must not be attributed to God. The perfect will of God, as founder of creation, is not manifest in human sin. Our present world does not reflect the kingdom order He originally intended for man's enjoyment on earth..." I believe it is this fact which must be the foundation for a balanced view of our environment-acknowledging man's pre-eminence in God's creation and His interests at the forefront of all debate, yet also acknowledging that a protected and restored earth is in man's best interests and ultimately aligned with God's, the Creator's, perfect will. Every philosophy must have a foundation and only the amoral individual could care less and adopt a narrow stand based upon a purely selfish motivation. The most selfish and narrow-minded person is the one who worships creation instead of the Creator, the triune God. This one would put a snail darter's interest above personal and property rights which man has been endowed with as our Bill of Rights aptly states.

Who Will Rule?

It will be interesting to see if the worshipers instead of the creationists take center stage during future years. If left wing politicians become the bellwether for an ignorant, lazy, apathetic electorate, then mankind, in America at least, will see its stature as the express image of God become archaic at best, vacuous at worst. If, on the other hand, balanced environmentalists (who also believe in the sovereignty of God first and man second) take a front seat, the role of civilized man will help lead all nations on earth to a more affluent, peaceful existence. We should not allow a philosophy of "anti-man" to take the lead in spiritual, political, and intellectual circles. Look at the foundation of your heroes' beliefs before signing on to their philosophies and ask yourself where it puts you in the scheme of things, the big picture. Does it put you a little lower than the angels, the spotted owls, and the freedoms being eroded by "green theology?" One has to eventually decide which God they will serve and then build a life's philosophy from there. We have no choice. There has never been a time when our decision will have a greater impact on civilization.