.
Over last week, the internet was agog with uproar over the
killing in a Zimbabwean park of a popular lion named Cecil The Lion. The uproar
and condemnations that have followed the killing of the lion by an American
dentist, Walter Palmer, have evoked a question that concerns Christians: does
God really care how we treat animals?
One man, Benjamin L. Corey seems to agree in the
affirmative. In fact, see his position below:
The answer, of course, is very much YES.
In fact, we see this revealed at the very beginning
of God’s story. Genesis chapter 2 tells us of the vocation God intended for
humanity: caring for the environment and animals.
“Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to
cultivate it and keep it.” Genesis 2:15
As I’ve explained previously, this vocational
assignment in Genesis is what we call the “original mandate” meaning it is the
first thing God required of humanity: caring for the environment and the
animals. This means that environmentalism and animal care is absolutely central
to an identity that flows from God– if one were to abandon the central calling
as environmental caretakers, one would be abandoning the central vocation God
assigned to humanity.
Later in Scripture we see God identify a concern
for the welfare of animals as requirement as to whether or not one is living righteously,
and reiterates that for the God-follower, caring for animals is not an optional
calling we can just set aside. (Proverbs 12:10, Proverbs 27:23)
The reason why God is concerned for the welfare of
animals is that God repeatedly lays claim to the animals of the earth as
God’s own personal property. (Psalm 50:10, 50:11, Psalm 104:24-25)
Additionally, we see that God’s plan of redemption
even extends to creation/animals themselves, as Christ ushered in the process
of reversing the impact of sin on everything– not just humans. Further, in
John’s Revelation he saw a vision of heaven where even the animals will
worship God. (Romans 8:19-21, Eph 1:10, Col 1:19-20, Revelation 5:11-14).
Finally, Scripture includes a stark warning: those
who rejected the calling to care for the environment/animals– instead behaving
in a way that is destructive towards God’s property– will pay the ultimate
price. Such people will not enter the new Kingdom, but will instead be
destroyed by God at the final judgement. (Revelation 11:18)
Does God care how we care for animals? Um, yeah–
God does. That’s his personal property and God’s holding us accountable for
what we do with it.
What can that mean in a practical sense? Well, I
think it’s easy to sit in judgement of the dentist who killed Cecil the Lion–
it certainly was a heinous and callous act to kill for the fun of killing.
However, those of us who eat meat often participate in horrific abuse of
animals by not properly researching where our meat comes from, or by failing to
only purchase meat that was raised and harvested ethically. Between locking
pigs in crates where they spend their entire lives without being able to stand
up, or a variety of other very common types of animal abuse, you and I are
often as guilty as Walter Palmer without even realizing it. We need to
repent of that.
Yes, God cares about how we treat his animals. Yes,
killing Cecil the Lion was a disgusting and unnecessary action. But yes, you
and I are often participants in the abuse and mistreatment of God’s personal
property. Let us use this news story as an opportunity to begin researching
where our meat comes from, and adjusting our consumption/purchasing
habits in a way that shows God we honor his personal property.
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