Comics, The Earth, Recycling, Environmental Activism and Much More!

Calvin and Hobbes is my absolute favorite comic. If you come to my house (you are invited), you will see prominently displayed on my desk the complete works of Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes author. Thanks Mal!). I love it for a number of reasons, but mainly because Calvin reminds me of me, inquisitive, a little crazy, sometimes disobedient, loves exploration, like to talk to self and stuffed animals, and so on.... I also enjoy it because it is a comic strip that isn't afraid to jump into deeper issues. I mean, the strip is called "Calvin and Hobbes," both those figures are pretty esoteric- John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes. I usually try and weave some Calvin and Hobbes into my teaching materials. So today Calvin has some wisdom for us.

This is a big question that all humans have to come to grips with at some point in their lives. As Christians we kind of have a vague idea of the answer to this question, "Why are we here?" The ol' "meaning of life" question. Normally you hear a few categories of answers, which Hobbes lays out for us: (1) literal, sarcastic answer(my favorite), (2) the scientific answer, and (3) the obvious answer. But Calvin want's the deeper answer- this is the answer most of us want. 

We also have Lucy's take on this question. Charlie Brown says we are here to make others happy. That is quite interesting, sounds pretty good, but not biblically accurate. Her response is quite funny and I think might relate to a lot of us... haha. 

So what does the Bible say about this? Well, lots, actually. As you might expect, the Bible is a book that rather specializes in answering this question and I could write for days about it. So I am going to pick one idea, maybe a central idea. This whole thing of "Why do I exist?" 

It is important because we all want to know that our lives have meaning. We want to know that we aren't just sitting around wasting our time. That we were made with a purpose- and of course, I submit we were.

The pat answer is, "to glorify God," which is the "big" answer. But that is too vague for now. There are 2 types of angles we can take here: "Why do I exist," (1) In relation to the earth and (2) In relation to God. Today I am interested in (1) In relation to the Earth. 

So why did God make you in relation to this floating ball you live on? This is kind of the, "your obligation as a responsible God image-bearer," lesson.

Gen 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.” 

In this passage we have an number of things going on:

(1) Practical: Populate- make babies. Fill the Earth. This is a pretty practical one. The Earth needs people, make them. I think we have this one covered. Well, we as American's and Europeans are bad at this one, but in general we are decent at it.

(2) Functional: Take Care of the Earth: This is a harder one. This passage does not give us license to exploit Earth's natural resources, as I have heard (erroneously) elsewhere. We were called to maintain God's original order and purpose- before God created it, Earth was a state of utter chaos. God gave it design and purpose. Think about it, God created earth and created us to take care of it. How does God take care of the Earth? Not by exploiting it.

Our role is to maintain that design and purpose. We can use Earth's natural resources, but in a responsible manner. I'm no hippie and I don't fall prey to the "green fad." Why? Because that green stuff is fear mongering to put other green stuff (cash money) into people's pocket. While I am not going to fall prey to their fear mongering, I am going to follow God's instructions in Genesis- which is to take care of the Earth.

As human, we are made from clay. We were created out of the ecosystem. We are part of the ecosystem. Sure, we are unique in this ecosystem, but that doesn't give us free-reign to destroy it.

So what does it mean to "subdue the earth, to rule over the fish and the birds and all the creatures?"

God's original design was for a perfect ecosystem. One where man and animal co-existed in harmony- each performing its God appointed task. Mankind as the sole image bearer of God served the functional role as "God's Representative" on Earth. As such, was the effective head over creation on Earth. Man therefore was responsible as the administrator/leader of Earth's many inhabitants. What that would have functionally looked like, I don't know. As a summary- man was appointed to rule on Earth because that is what God does, He rules. Man was uniquely gifted for this task, but we screwed it up.

How did we screw it up? Sin. Adam and Eve's sin brought chaos to this order- ushering in the change agent that would wreak havoc. Man lost His "job" as God's representative- we cut ourselves off as a result of our rebellion. Therefore, a new plan was set into motion in order to restore order- we call this "redemption," or, God's act of getting creation back in order.

And this is the grand theme of the rest of the Bible- God's redemption through Jesus Christ. It's there and it's not square.

I could go on for hours about this, but I'm not going to because I don't have hours. The take-away from this is this: I love animals and the ecosystem. Taking care of it is not just for hippies, Californians, and people from the Pacific Northwest, it is for all people. Being "eco-friendly," is not "anti-Christian," or whatever else- it is responsible. To what extent you should be "eco-friendly," is up to you. Should you go get a Prius? I don't know, do you want good gas mileage at the expense of good looks and power? That is a personal choice. But you should make babies too. How many? I don't know, 7 (that is the holy number).



So in closing- make babies and take care of the environment (but don't smoke pot, its bad for you).

PJ