All science is beautiful, whether it’s ornithology, zoology, botany, meteorology, or astronomy. When you go outside to reflect, it’s a hard choice whether to look at the birds, the clouds, the animals, the trees, or the night sky! Many Christians, however, have a negative attitude about science. They think that because so many outspoken scientists are atheists, science must somehow lead to disbelief in God. Not so. In fact, the Apostle Paul points out that the natural world is itself evidence for the existence of God (Romans 1:21).
There are three R’s to help maintain a biblical focus about the natural world:
- Regard
- Respect
- Relationship
Regard: The Bible tells us that God attends the death of a sparrow. Think of that! If the great Originator of the sparrow also attends its death, how can we care less? Most of the species extinctions humankind has witnessed are the result of our failure to give attention to what God gives His attention to. Learning to love what the Creator loves can only increase the intensity of our spiritual experiences. Think of all the biblical stories where people met God in the wilderness. Could it be that we often miss the voice of God because we are regarding only human entertainments and artifacts?
Respect: George MacDonald, 19th century Christian author whose writing inspired C. S. Lewis, had a reverent respect for the natural world. In the book titled Discovering the Character of God he wrote, “The flowers are joyous, inarticulate children, come with vague messages from the Father of all.” As Psalm 145 says, “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made (Psalm 145:9).
Relationship: Evangelical theologian John Stott is an avid birder who motivated the founder of A Rocha, a Christian nature conservancy. Stott writes in the forward of Harris’ book titled Under the Bright Wings, “Christian people should surely have been in the vanguard of the movement for environmental responsibility, because of our doctrines of creation and stewardship” (https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1276265). As Dean Ohlman says in thinking about Stott’s words, “Our relationship to the natural world is that of steward—the one who is responsible to care for what God has made. Homo sapiens are the only responsible species. How responsible have we been?
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