Stewardship and Dominion: The Unique Place of Humans in Creation

Scooter the cat understands stewardship now--after I tamed him!

One of my favorite lectures that I attended at the Acres U.S.A. conference was Keith Berns’s session on “Stewminion: A Biblical Approach to Environmentalism.” Keith coined the word “stewminion” by combining “stewardship” and “dominion.”

As Keith pointed out, a lot of people get uncomfortable with the word “dominion.” “Some people think dominion means we can do whatever we want to creation because we are supposed to pound it into submission,” he observed. “I don’t think anybody in this room feels really good about that thought.” Destruction and degradation were not what God intended when he told Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” There’s a big difference between destroying things and ruling them wisely.

After giving Adam and Eve this command, God put them in the Garden of Eden “to work it and take care of it.” That’s where stewardship comes in. Keith explained that the Hebrew word āḇaḏ, translated “work” or, sometimes, “cultivate,” actually means “serve.” A Jewish man in the audience (who loved the presentation) explained that different nouns derived from āḇaḏ can mean anything from a slave to the priestly servants who served in the Temple. Keith loved that insight. “Stewardship is the responsible overseeing and protection of something worth caring for and serving,” he said.

Humans innately have both the power of dominion and the responsibility of stewardship. We can’t help it. No matter what we do, we are exerting dominion over nature. Oh, I know the biocentrists like to talk about “biospheric egalitarianism,” “more-than-human beings,” and even “biospheric democracy.” But think about it. Have you ever heard of trees clearcutting a city, or pigs keeping humans in CAFOs? Whenever I try to imagine such an absurdity, the trees or pigs start to take on human characteristics—because whether or not they should, only humans can do such things. Trees and pigs are both amazing creatures, but humans are something different. Something more. Created from the earth, just like the animals and plants—but also created in the image of God.

The fascinating thing is that animals know we are different and that we have dominion. We’re the only creatures on earth that can tame and train animals to happily do what we want them to. This truth really hit me after an experience I had with one of our barn cats, Scooter. When he first moved into our barn, he was so scared of us that we only caught glimpses of him running away. Then I started feeding him popcorn. At first, he waited until I set it down, and then he grabbed it. Then he started snatching it out of my hand. Finally, one day he let me run my hand down his back and decided that maybe that wasn’t so bad. And now, as soon as I walk in the barn, Scooter runs over, rubs on my legs, and asks to be petted. Other animals can’t tame each other like that. Only humans can.

Acknowledging our twin responsibilities of stewardship and dominion is not anthropocentrism. Anthropocentrism believes that humans have unchecked power and no accountability. Stewardship and dominion, in contrast, are theocentric. It was God who gave us the mandate to steward and dominate creation—and it is God who will hold us accountable for what we did with that mandate. We can’t shirk our responsibility of dominion and stewardship. The question is—will we be good stewards or bad ones?