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STEWARDSHIP The biblical
vision of man’s place in creation puts him between animals and purely
spiritual beings: the angels and God. Man has responsibilities over the
creatures below him, but not, as some radical environmentalists have
charged, because the Bible gives him the right to exploit nature. All
things are God’s, and man must watch over and care for all created
things in honor of him. In the Old
Testament, God commands Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply, and
fill the earth and subdue it” (Gn 1:28). In the New Testament, Jesus
warns the disciples in a parable to be just and care for the Lord’s
household, because when he comes again, they will be judged for their
stewardship (Lk 12:41-48). In its
fullest sense, stewardship means that all things and all actions should be
directed toward glorifying God. Our labor and its fruits, our lives in our
families, and our conduct toward the natural world and human society all
fall under different forms of stewardship. When we choose what work to do
or when to rest, how to spend money, and who will be our leaders, we
should be guided not only by immediate aims but by God’s Revelation
about his creation and his ultimate aims for the whole world. In recent
years, the image of stewardship has been especially applied to concerns
about the natural environment. This is a proper development, now that the
human race has grown to the point of having a global impact on nature,
with serious implications for its duties to future generations. Stewardship,
however, does not and cannot mean so great a reverence for nature that
human beings do not shape and use the world around them. In fact,
stewardship obliges us to make the natural world productive for the common
good of all. The notion of stewardship operates within the framework of
universal moral laws and can never be used to justify limits on population
through contraception, abortion, and other morally illicit means. Properly understood, stewardship should lead the Christian to recognize the full meaning of Christ’s words: “Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required” (Lk 12:48).
See:
Animals; Creation; Environment; Population; Universal Destination of
Goods. Russell
Shaw. Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Catholic Doctrine. Copyright ©
1997, Our Sunday Visitor.
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