Finding Faith ... in truly taking the stewardship of God's creation seriously

EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2021 I began a new venture writing a newspaper column titled "Finding Faith" for the Forum Communications Co. network of newspapers and websites. I was asked to contribute to the company's ongoing conversation about faith, lending a Lutheran and fairly ecumenical approach to the discussion. The column was published in several of the company's papers and websites, including The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. This column originally appeared as a "Finding Faith" column on March 4, 2022.

The Rev. Devlyn Brooks at his home church, Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn.

By The Rev. Devlyn Brooks

If we as people of faith are to take our role in creation seriously, then we ought to be listening to the extreme cries of grief from our world and all of the natural things on it.

In a story this week, the New York Times warned that “The dangers of climate change are mounting so rapidly that they could soon overwhelm the ability of both nature and humanity to adapt …”

The reporting was based on a report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was convened by the United Nations. More than 270 researchers from 67 countries took part in the work. Its findings include that “Rising heat and drought are killing crops and trees, putting millions worldwide at increased risk of hunger and malnutrition,” and that half the world’s people currently face severe water scarcity.

And unfortunately, I think that many here in the United States believe we are too smart and too wealthy to be affected by the changing climate, but that comes par for the course with our feeling of superiority over much of the world. But the fact is that our storms are getting worse, and our coastal cities are in just as much peril as those around the world.

As faithful people it is we that should be leading the charge on protecting our planet, and all of the beautiful creation that exists on it. This will require a change in our theological thinking about the earth, as a long time ago, some in the Christian faith placed man at the pinnacle of God’s creation. Theologians declared that because God gave humans a special responsibility within creation to cultivate, guard and use it wisely -- known as stewardship -- that this placed humans above the rest of creation.

This is understandable because we humans, born with our egos, see ourselves as the pinnacle of creation. Thus, rather than seeing ourselves as an active part of creation, we believe we have more power over the future track of creation than we do. We overemphasize our place in the universe and deemphasize everything else in creation.

So, if we are going to rectify this terrifying path of environmental catastrophe that we are currently on, it’s going to require a theological change in mindset from humans lording over the earth, to humans working in concert with creation. Because after all, that really is all we are … just a part of creation.

If we humans are to preserve this earth, the only known source of living creation we know of in this universe, then it should be people of faith who lead the charge. After all, we are interdependent on God’s creation, and thus it is our responsibility to live in harmony with it.

Simply put: It is our job to protect all of creation, ending the abuse and destruction of it, and there is plenty of scriptural evidence for that.

Devlyn Brooks, who works for Modulist, a Forum Communications Co.-owned company, is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He serves as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He can be reached at devlyn.brooks@forumcomm.com for comments and story ideas.