|
 Ecology
is the “in” thing now, and business is capitalizing on the
swing. I saw a bumper sticker on the back of a sand and gravel truck
which read, “Save Our Trees, Buy Concrete Blocks!” That has a
nice American sound to it. There is even a deodorant that advertises
it “leaves that natural scent.” Now what could be more natural
than the odor we are trying to prevent?
I
am all for seeking to understand and preserve a balance between man
and his environment, and have fought pollution and waste of our
natural resources since my Boy Scout days, but “nature” —the
world, the universe —is the product of God, and made for
man’s use it is not a law unto itself. What is “natural” (Gen.
1:) must be “dressed” and kept, pruned and controlled (Gen.
2:15); and “what comes naturally” in man is not necessarily
good. it is subject to his will —and appetites —and these too
must be kept in subjection to God’s will.
We
are intelligent beings, not by chance of “natural” selection or
even because some abstract “Nature” made us so, but because the
personal, no-less-actual-because-He-is-Spirit God made us so. The
opposites, good and evil, emphasize the intelligent faculty of man
—he has something to choose —and rejection of wrong is an
essential part of accepting right. In the exercise of restraints —those
dictated by God’s revelation and also those “discovered” in
His handiwork, the universe —we grow and develop. It is the
restrained, “unnatural” part of us (in the modern concept) that
shows we are civilized beings--more than mere animal life, but
persons, made in the image of God.
|
|
Nothing could be LESS ecological
than a rejection of the God who made this universe, and of the laws
he gave for its use and development.
I
fear some of our young people are “hanging in” with this “nature”
kick —rightly and commendably concerned about clean air, water,
and such, but failing to see that they are being sold an additional
pitch for pantheism--”nature-god” concepts. God-less and amoral
philosophers are using our current concern for ecology, as do
some business advertisers —to further their own teaching. They do
not believe a Creator exists, nor do they believe there are either
purpose or absolutes in our existence. With them ecology is not
something right or good. It simply serves their immediate survival
needs.
And
NATURE BOY, with his bare-feet and unkempt hair —doing his rather
than God’s “thing” —is the child of this philosophy. He may
not realize it. Many teen-agers, in process of growing up, find “hippy”
styles an outlet for self-assertion, for throwing off childhood. But
the “styles” originated in a far more serious rejection of
authority and one who persists in this course will soon reject
Jehovah God and His instructions. He becomes a throw-back —to be
pitied as one would a retarded child who can not mature. More so —for
this one will not mature, and must answer in judgement for his
obstinacy.
When
God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of
God —now that’s ecology.
[Previous
Article] [Next
Article]
|
