Blasphemy and Creation Care
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” Psalm 150:6
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise Him all creatures here below.” (from The Doxology)
In the book I wrote about on Sunday, Tending to Eden, the author allowed several leading voices in Creation Care to write small essays. One of these was written by Tony Campolo and is called “Creation Care and Worship.” In this brief essay Campolo argues that “we humans are not the only ones called to worship God.” He believes that the Bible teaches that all of God’s Creation was created to offer its Creator worship and praise. There are certainly numerous biblical passages that back this claim. Psalm 148, for example, says “Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds…”
If we understand that all things were created to worship God it will help us see Creation in a new light. Perhaps it will even come to help us appreciate more our fellow worshippers and create within us a desire to learn more about them. Recognizing that everything on earth was made to worship God will also affect how we treat the earth and its creatures. We will do all we can to help preserve all species for, as Campolo says, whenever another species is made extinct “we have silenced a special voice of praise to the Almighty.”
In the final paragraph of his essay Campolo says, “To interfere with worship is blasphemy. Thus, the obliteration of the environment has blasphemous dimensions to it. Considering what we have done to nature, we need to repent, because we have hindered nature’s glorification of the God who created all things in heaven and on earth to praise his name.”
We can and should avoid blasphemy by being good stewards of God’s Creation and by making sure that we add our own voice in offering praise to God. When all of Creation offers its praise to God what a beautiful song it must be!
–Chuck
(This cardinal and pika I photographed are just two examples of those who join us in praising God.)