Sustainable Christians

Sometimes I think the environmental problems we face tend to be, or could be, problems of Biblical proportion. So I decided to see what the Bible says about sustainability which actually starts in Genesis. In Gen. 1:28 God commands humans to “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over every living thing.” Certainly, ALL countries have fulfilled the command of "be fruitful and multiply..and fill the earth" to the point where it has become a problem. However, its get worse. The Hebrew word which we translate as “subdue” is kabash. This word is primarily used in a military context, where a soldier subdues an adversary by stepping on his neck. And the Hebrew word which we translate as “dominion” is rada which means “tread down” or “trample.” Clearly, Gen. 1:28 does not support the argument that we need to be good stewards of God’s creation (Fuesler, 2010). Wow, are you serious?

Surprisingly, many Christians use the argument that the world exists to serve the needs of humankind. According to Gen. 1, we have been created in God’s image to subjugate and trample the earth, or, as some say: to “Drill baby! Drill!” We are now killing God’s creation. We are stepping on our own necks and on the necks of our children! Who cares about the environment...we're tasked with the salvation of others for eternal life and this world will soon pass away. Wait a minute, are these Christians reading their Bibles?

God also gave humans another command. According to Gen 2:15: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to till it and keep it.” The Hebrew word which that we translate as “till” is avad. This word means “to work and serve.” Avad is used over 250 times in the OT, most often in connection with serving God. Here it’s used in the context of serving God by working the garden. It is, after all, God’s garden! The Hebrew word for “keep” is shamar which means “to guard” in the sense of preserving or protecting (Fuesler, 2010). .

It is very clear that we have fulfilled the mandate of Gen..1:28 to fill and subdue the earth, our primary vocation now is to serve God by guarding and preserving creation. It is, after all, God’s creation and we are all subject to it (Fuesler, 2010)! As humans we need to remember that we have no right over nature but have the utmost responsibility for the care and protection of it.


Fuesler, R. (2010). Fill and Subdue. Sermon at United Methodist Church. Atascadero, CA.

Steven Karst, Chattanooga