#creation mandate

[wisdomfish]

Homosexuality is a serious sin. It ranks with the sins that attack the creation ordinance. While the blood of Christ is more powerful than the power of any sin, while grace is stronger than any sin, a sexual sin that attacks a creation ordinance warps both the mind, body, and soul of a person. Sexual sin lures others into its trap. And a sin that now has civil rights backing acts as a powerful bully, punishing the righteous as it rewards the sinful.

Rosaria Butterfield

[biblebloodhound]

The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)

In many ways, primeval history remains alive in our daily current events.

The Tower of Babel, by Hendrick van Cleve III (1525–1589) At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down. They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and fire them well.” They used brick for stone and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city…

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[kdmiller55]

A Monument to Man’s Futility

A Monument to Man’s Futility

1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and…

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[betchadidntknow2000]

Creation Mandate and Our Unique Purposes

Creation Mandate and Our Unique Purposes

Made with YouVersion Bible App which you can download on any of your devices here: https://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app/ So, this is something I’m super passionate about. This is talking about stewardship. God looked down and was like we need something on this planet to represent who we are as a Trinity. Those beings must multiply as we are multiple and they must rule the earth with a gentle…

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[pastorkevinc]

The Ark Encounter and Creation Museum

The Ark Encounter and Creation Museum

This week my family and I had the privilege of visiting the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum in northern Kentucky. As a parent and Christ-follower, I realize many people have both heard about both these museums and may be considering whether or not to take their families there on vacation. Because of that, I wanted to create a quick review for both. Bottom line: we enjoyed both destinations as a…

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[natetheantiquarian]

Awakened Church: Part 1

Awakened Church: Part 1

Awakened Church: Race Relations in the Pentateuch and Hermeneutical Interaction with Woke Church

When it comes to discussions on race relations, sides are quickly chosen, and the battle lines are drawn. Each side is ready to do whatever it takes to destroy the other. While this reaction is expected in the broader culture, unfortunately it is true in the Church as well. To make matters worse, the…

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[natetheantiquarian]

Awakened Church: Part 1

Awakened Church: Race Relations in the Pentateuch and Hermeneutical Interaction with Woke Church

When it comes to discussions on race relations, sides are quickly chosen, and the battle lines are drawn. Each side is ready to do whatever it takes to destroy the other. While this reaction is expected in the broader culture, unfortunately it is true in the Church as well. To make matters worse, the…

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[philarious-blog]

A Radical Lifestyle Change

I am very, very happy to be a former subscriber to Newsweek magazine. I mean, it just got weird, and I'm not even talking about politics. But one of the parts of Newsweek that I enjoyed for a decade or so was George Will's column.

George Will was the commencement speaker at my college graduation in (gulp!) 1999. I remember distinctly his talk about the changing challenges of national defense, how the United States would have to worry about threats other than the traditional "nation." How prescient he was! September 11, 2001 was about 28 months later.

The Beginning

As it turns out, one of Will's columns in Newsweek has now proven to have a profound impact on my life. It was originally published in July of 2005, and it is entitled "What We Owe What We Eat." I heartily recommend it. I remember reading it then, being disturbed by it, but ultimately doing nothing with it.

Fast-forward a year, to July of 2006. Christy and I welcomed our firstborn into the world. We began to consider the health benefits of organic meat and dairy products for our child. We also noticed how good they taste. And, to be perfectly honest, we started being able to pay a little extra for them.

Remembering the Will column vaguely, we started slowly to intentionally buy "free range" or "humanely treated" animal products whenever we could. Living in the Atlanta area affords us access to some great supermarkets, farmer's markets and even local farms that sell things we have a high degree of confidence in. For years now, we have bought mostly this type of meat and dairy. But not exclusively. We have done it largely at our convenience, when we felt like it to make ourselves feel better. And we haven't really thought through the hoards of pre-packaged products that contain dairy (ice cream? frozen waffles? pie crust?), not to mention the food at the restaurants we frequent.

Until now.

Our Conviction

In the last couple of weeks, we have felt truly called - even convicted - by our Creator to change our eating habits so that, as much as is within our control, the food we consume comes only from plants and humanely treated animals.

Let me say at once that this is our conviction. Eventually, we hope to be able to articulate our rationale to the friends and family that ask us about it. But we really, really, REALLY don't want to lay guilt trips on anyone. There's always a danger in coming off as holier-than-thou with lifestyle choices. But given that it took us 6 years to get here from the time I first saw Will's column, a large dose of humility is in order.

Resources for the Next Steps

To help us flesh out our plan, we've bought a couple of books. One is called Good Eating by Stephen Webb, a Christian who is also a vegetarian. I have read nearly half of this book, and I must say that it is a disappointment. Webb makes some very good points about the creation mandate and the fallacy of the concept of "animal rights."

This resonates strongly with us. We believe God gave humanity dominion over His creation, but not domination. We are not free to do with the Earth and its resources just as we please to satisfy our own desires for convenience or efficiency or cheapness, which is an all-too-common (if subconscious) interpretation held in conservative American churches. We are only regents of creation, serving under God's ultimate authority. Thus, we are bound to preserve and protect the way of life God intended for all of his creatures. After all, just because animals are below humans in the order of creation doesn't therefore mean they have no spiritual value whatsoever.

But Webb's argument begins to break down when he examines the theology of the post-fallen world and the specific Biblical instructions regarding eating and sacrificing animals. He holds some views that are certainly unorthodox and, I believe, based on incorrect or incomplete exegesis. (I am not fool enough to suggest that "unorthodox" and "incorrect" are always synonymous.) Thus, while his argument that many of today's large-scale farming methods run contrary to the creation mandate is (to us) compelling, his case for a "redemptive vegetarianism" is not nearly as strong.

Still, I wouldn't dare ridicule someone for modeling their diet on the once-and-possibly-future vegetarianism of Eden.

A second resource we have yet to start reading is the one referenced in Will's column, Matthew Scully's Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy. I'm looking forward to it, and I'll be sure to post an update if it clarifies our thinking.

What this Looks Like

Practically speaking, we have a lot of learning to do. But we do have a few starting points:

For meat and dairy products we consume at home, we're most of the way to where we want to be. There is enough information on most packaging to make us feel fairly comfortable with what we will choose to buy and not to buy.

We have a whoooooole lot of label-reading to do when it comes to pre-packaged foods at the grocery store. I'll confess to being a little daunted.

As far as eating out goes, we have determined that the starting point is essentially vegan. Our limited research to date has revealed that the mistreatment of animals in the production of eggs, in particular, is as bad or worse than that related to meat production. Over time, we'll try to develop a "white list" of restaurants and menu items. (Celebration #1: Bison burgers at Ted's Montana Grill. Woo hoo!) Another more general but nice go-to option will be fresh-caught fish and seafood (we're still wrestling over farm-raised fish). This stuff is healthier for us anyway, so even better!

By FAR the hardest part of this change will be the social aspect of eating. Our initial thought is that when we are invited to dinner by someone who may not know us well, we will eat what is put in front of us. Nowhere in the Bible life is it ever condoned for the believing family to show contempt for the hospitality of others. For those we're closer to (and hence eat with much more often), we'll learn as we go. Feel free to laugh at us and call us funny names behind our backs. We know you still like us.

Closing Thoughts

This will not be easy. I am not thrilled by the notion of no more Snicker's bars, Bruster's ice cream, Chick-fil-A sandwiches and milkshakes, and a gazillion other things that have just become part of our lives. But convictions are supposed to cost you something. Otherwise, they wouldn't be convictions. They'd be fads.

Finally, though I wanted to put this out there and look forward to comments and discussion (and maybe even some tips), I want to stress that we're just starting to figure some of this out. Someone may (very fairly) point out that food is only part of the story when it comes to animal cruelty. What about clothing, cosmetics, habitat, etc.? In all honesty, we're just not there yet. Maybe we will be someday. For now, we'll have to trust in God's mercy and grace in this as we do for every other part of our lives.