I Shall Not Want.
Fall 2021
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” The twenty-third Psalm teaches that the Lord supplies not only His people’s current and future spiritual needs, but the Shepherd also meets our present physical needs—food, water, safety, rest.
The New Testament reiterates this promise. Christ teaches that God knows our needs even before we pray for them. Teaching that we should be more concerned about spiritual than physical matters, He also points out that God so values His people that we should “take no thought, saying What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or Wherewithal shall we be clothed? . . . for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” He illustrates this point by reminding us that God cares for the birds and plants, and His children are of greater value than they are. (Matthew 6: 8, 25-34; Luke 12: 22-31)
After thanking the Philippian church for sending gifts to meet his “necessity,” Paul comments, “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4: 16, 19). While essentially tucked in a thank-you note, this promise appears to reiterate the concept that putting spiritual matters first (in this case, giving to meet another Christian’s physical needs) results in God supplying His people’s physical needs.
Looking at these promises some Christians find not only comfort in and assurance of God’s care, but also license to engage in certain practices which many consider wasteful and unwise. What is an appropriate, Christian view of human use of natural resources?
Natural Resources
Although we may think of natural resources as being valuable commodities found in an area (oil, trees, aluminum, gold, etc.), ecologically speaking natural resources are anything and everything in an area which can be used to meet the needs of an organism in that environment. For frogs, pond water is a natural resource. Frogs do not live where suitable water is lacking. If the water supply is adequate and their other needs are met, frogs thrive in that area. If the pond dries up, frogs either suffer, migrate, or die.
The same is essentially true for humans. But unlike frogs, humans are the ultimate ecological managers. (See Current, Vol. X, Issue 1, p.10.) To survive we cannot only relocate, but we also can move natural resources. We manipulate environments to suit us. Food or other staples found in one area can be moved to a place that lacks them. Dry deserts can be irrigated to produce strawberries. Wetlands can be drained to become pastures. To obtain prized natural resources, like gold and gems, humans have relocated and managed vast amounts of natural resources.
God’s population growth command (“replenish the earth”) was made prior to man’s sin (Genesis 1:28). We can assume that the pre-Curse world would be able to sustain that population. After the Flood, the “fill the earth” command is repeated (Genesis 8:1). It seems equally logical that the postdiluvian world has the natural resources to sustain a “full earth” population. But because of man’s sin, the earth’s bounty is not available “just for the picking.” The Curse involves human “sweat” and the earth producing “thorns and thistles” (Genesis 3:17-19). But does the Curse limit the natural resources available to humans?
God’s mandated population growth is joined with the so-called Magna Carta of science: the “subdue” and “dominion over” phrases of Genesis 1:28. Science is man’s method of solving the physical problems of subduing and having dominion over the physical world. This verse gives man the authority to engage in scientific endeavors. Apparently, science is part of God’s plan for meeting our physical needs. We need to manage earth’s natural resources (think: “sweat” overcoming “thorns and thistles”). To do so God has given us the needed mental abilities (think: science and wisdom) and authority (think: subdue and dominion). The natural resources are there, but humans must physically and mentally work to obtain them.
Since the world had abundant natural resources and mankind had the authority and ability to use them, it appeared that all humans needed to do was “go out and get what you want however you can.” That mentality seemed to work well—in the past.
Kinds of Natural Resources
It is true that some natural resources are virtually limitless. There is an abundance of water on planet earth; running short is virtually inconceivable. The water may not be where we want it (deserts lack water, other areas have too much), it may not be in the desired form (ice cap water is unusable for many purposes) or it may be mixed with undesirable substances (certain chemicals dissolved in water make it unusable for many purposes; for example, salt water cannot be used to irrigate most crops). These problems are not because of a planetary lack of water, and with work, can be solved.
Some natural resources are renewable. Lumber, for example, can be grown. We may need to practice forest husbandry and have to work out distribution difficulties to maintain the supply, but for the foreseeable future, globally running out of wood would be a result of mismanagement. The same is true of foodstuffs and some other natural resources.
Some natural resources, however, are limited. There is only so much aluminum in the world. When we first recognized aluminum as a natural resource, the supply may have seemed limitless, but it is getting harder to obtain, and there is no way of producing more. To supply future needs, we may need to recycle it or, perhaps, devise a substitute for some of its uses. The quantities of natural coal and oil are also limited. These resources, however, are not recyclable. Ways of using less can postpone the problem of running out, but if the Lord tarries beyond the point of our consuming the earth’s supply, alternative energy sources will need to be found.
For many natural resources, the older “go out and get what you want however you can” methods are demonstrably not wise. As the earth’s population has increased, challenges in meeting our physical needs have also grown. Unless Christ returns, those challenges will likely increase. Some Christians point to Scriptural promises and assume that, if the Lord tarries, God will need to work miracles to supply their needs.
Miraculous Supply
When necessary God has worked miraculously to supply the physical needs of His people. Occasionally this has been on the long term, grand scale. Examples: forty years worth of daily manna and water from desert rocks to meet the needs of over a million people (Exodus 16:15-36, 17:1-7). Some miraculous supplies were grand scale but short term: Christ feeding thousands from five loaves and two fish (Matthew 14:14-21). Other miraculous supplies are on the individual level: ravens bringing food to Elijah and the widow’s endless meal and oil (1 Kings 7:3-7, 17:9-13). These and other miracles of supply served not only to meet the needs of people, but they were also testimony of God’s power and care for His people both then, since they were recorded in Scripture, and now.
Today God can work miracles to supply our physical needs. But He is not limited to what could be termed “obvious miracles.” Rather than ravens, a kind person may be His instrument of supply. The supply of food may appear explainable, but actually God was no less involved in the supply than He was in the endless meal and oil for Elijah, the widow, and her son.
While some Christians assume that a lack of natural resources will cause God to work miracles to fulfill His promises, others claim “Jesus will have to come back before then.” If there is Scripture to support the idea that what humans do or don’t do in anyway affects the date of Christ’s return, I have not found it. After checking what Scripture teaches about Christ’s second coming, to me it seems almost heretical to imply that the day we run short of some natural resource(s) sets the date of Christ’s return.
Mismanagement of Natural Resources
Generally in Scripture the recipients of miraculous supply were in need because they were doing what God commanded or expected them to do. When God puts one in a place where normal supply is not possible, He can miraculously supply. But what if the short supply is not directed by God, but is the result of mismanagement?
Suppose a man works, is paid, and thieves rob him on his way home. The money needed to meet his family’s needs is gone. We can understand him calling his family together to pray, reminding God (and themselves) of His promises, and expecting God to answer.
Suppose the man gambles away the money on his way home. As he calls his family to prayer, we sense something is wrong. God supplied their needs. Their current need is not because God directed them to this situation. Mismanagement has resulted in their need. It could be argued that God resupplying would be endorsement of the gambling and justification for doing it again.
God has promised us safety, but we do not jump off the roof to experience the thrill of the fall and the joy of God miraculously catching us before we get hurt. We are not to “tempt our God” (Deuteronomy 6:16; Matthew 4:7). Does this apply to the thrill of gambling and God’s promise of supply? Is God obligated to supply the family’s needs a second time? Should this reasoning be applied to man’s use of the earth’s natural resources?
Our just God will keep His promises. The method He uses, however, may not be what we expect. Although the eternal punishment of sin can be washed away by the blood of Christ, the temporal results of sin should still be expected. And we have no way of knowing what the scars of a particular sin will be.
What environmental scars may humans face because of inappropriate use of the world’s natural resources? What should be a Christian’s position regarding our use of natural resources? Those are topics for future articles.
Mr. William Pinkston