Does God Care?

4 month old swangus calf nursing on mom.

Throughout the pages of your bible, The Creator God’s character and nature are revealed by His many acts. But one of the first characteristics that we see in scripture is His creativity. And the Apostle Paul makes us aware of this in Romans when he states:

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

(Romans 1:20 ESV)

All things that spring from the earth, whether a chicken or a stalk of corn, come from this sovereign creative act of God, and this truth indicates His ownership of all things. Therefore, the wise should seek to bring all of the ways of his work in agreement to the standard God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things as set forth through very clear biblical principles. After all, as you begin to study the scriptures, one of the first things that you will realize is that it all belongs to God and is just temporarily on loan to us and as the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 states, God expects a return on investment.

This spiritual revelation should greatly influence the farmer’s motivation and dedication to proper land stewardship and animal husbandry. Many men and women labor tirelessly on homesteads as means to feed their families and out of abundance their local communities, while others toil simply as a way to inherit wealth and prosperity. Choosing to ignore the fact that while their methods may be monetarily profitable, they are not ecologically beneficial. The testimony of Scripture is clear that God’s ultimate purpose in all of His actions is His own glory. The farmer, then, must match God’s highest desire, having His glory as the fuel that powers all of his work. Remember the old WWJD bracelets? Well, if we began to ask ourselves as producers as well as consumers, if our production or purchases brought God glory, would that change anything? It should….

You may think it’s odd to speak of God’s glory in relation to agriculture. I mean, how much does one’s spiritual motivation affect your ability to clean out chicken coops, move cattle and plant fields? Realistically as an average consumer on the outside looking in, it is true that it may be hard to see a marked difference between the everyday practices of the Bible believing and non-believing farmers, but that is far from saying there is no difference at all. Because the difference in what motivates someone is huge in the eyes of the Creator. The farmer who labors for years, driven to bring glory to God, is pleasing to God, even if his practices are only slightly different than the atheist farmer who owns the cattle pasture across the road.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

(Matthew 6:1-4 ESV)

While if taken only at face value this scripture is about how we should give to the poor, but it also brings to light a more profound point and that is all we do, even in secret, our Father in Heaven sees it. So, we should ask the question: What type of farmer or rancher would you trust with your health? A believer in the Creator God, who knows he will one day answer to for every decision made or a non-believer who has no fear of a higher authority? Hmmm….

In the Psalms King David wrote:

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

(Psalms 19:1 ESV)

God fashioned the universe so that from the smallest microbe in the soil to the loud bellow of a 2-ton bull, creation is united in singing the chorus of God’s glory. The farmer through good stewardship practices joins in by using the earth to display the glory of the God who created it. For instance, God’s glory on the earth is displayed when one small seed produces a harvest so big that it feeds a family. The farmer or rancher has an obligation, therefore, to use all of God’s resources in a way that brings God glory and at the very least does not cause his neighbor hardship, and this obligation must influence how they steward the resources with which they have been entrusted with. Again, I reference Matthew 25:14-30. 

Few occupational callings are as observably connected to creation and the Creator as farming and ranching. I say this because they literally experience the curse that God first pronounced in Genesis 3:17–19.

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

(Genesis 3:17-19 ESV)

Sadly, as a byproduct of this, some farmers choose to use the land without consideration to the consequences of the course of action they are choosing. In The Unsettling of America, Wendell Berry explains:

“The standards of cheapness and convenience, which are irresistibly simplifying and therefore inevitably exploitive, have been substituted for the standards of health (of both people and land).”

It is this “standard of cheapness and convenience,” as Berry puts it, that drives much of the farming practices which dominate not only American agriculture, but that of the world. Godly farmers must examine the Scriptures closely and honestly reflecting on how its principles might dictate their stewardship of the resources that the Creator has entrusted to their hands.

And when we come to this realization, it should drive us to practice sustainability in food production, by supporting farmers and ranchers who do. Though God has entrusted us with an expanse of workable land here on earth, its resources are not unlimited, and farming practices in general can do great harm to God’s land if the farmer only views the land as a means to profit, not as a resource entrusted to them by God. We have to begin to see this truth! Because this truth should drive farmers to truly value their property and resources, and ask the question: Do my agricultural practices bring glory to God or kill His creation? Put another way, to exhibit biblical wisdom in farming is to consider the long-term health of the land, working to unlock the life-giving and nourishing potential it possesses.

The issue in all this is that we have strayed from our Fathers Word and so we have lost sight of the principles of agriculture laid out so clearly in scripture. Because the fact is that this concept of caring for the health of the land (regenerative agriculture) is not new! God made provisions for the welfare of the land, such as allowing fields to have a Sabbath rest every seven years (Lev. 25:3–4). This command is a gracious act of God on the part of His creation, where He guards it from being overworked and stripped bare. This wisdom also mandates the need for proper animal husbandry practices. There is a temptation in agriculture to view farm animals, such as cattle and chickens, as tools, a means to a desired end, no different than a hammer and nails, but whether the animals are wild or a part of food production, they possess a great worth, especially in the eyes of He Who created them. Proverbs 12 characterizes a righteous man as caring for the life of animals and the land.

Better is a person of humble standing who works for himself, than one who pretends to be somebody important yet has no food. A righteous person cares for the life of his animal, but even the most compassionate acts of the wicked are cruel. The one who works his field will have plenty of food, but whoever chases daydreams lacks sense.

(Proverbs 12:9-11 NET)

Deuteronomy 25:4 forbids farmers from muzzling an ox while it is treading wheat. God cares about the welfare of ALL of His creations, regardless of whether they are headed toward food production or not.

While it is tempting to view the vocation of farming through a romantic lens, picturing the farmer as a lone laborer providing food for himself and his family. While in some instances that may very well be the case, his farming practices and crops will likely have a much wider impact, whether it is a consumer or those who work on the farm. To that end, the godly farmer must consider how his faith dictates the treatment of his neighbors, the livestock and the land.

The guiding principle in a farmer’s interaction with the environment that surrounds him or her must be love. After all, Jesus told His listeners the second greatest commandment was to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39). If we are honest though, this is much easier said than done. The application of love as it pertains to farming is simple, but profoundly far-reaching in its outcome. I’ll give you an example. Love for one’s customer will drive the farmer to strive for excellence in his or her production methods and offer a fair price for the product. Love for neighbor, then, is the characteristic that governs every decision that the farmer makes, from crop selection to produce packaging.

Love is not only reserved for those who are considered wealthy. God has prescribed in His Word that love and care, should be given to those who have little. This principle is shown to us in (Leviticus 19).

“‘When you gather in the harvest of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must not pick your vineyard bare, and you must not gather up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and the resident foreigner. I am the LORD your God.

(Leviticus 19:9-10 NET)

 The business of industrial commercialized farming would tell farmers that this approach is unwise, as it would reduce the crop and thus profits would suffer. But God tells the farmer otherwise, informing us that when we experience the blessing of a plentiful harvest, we should be gracious to those who are experiencing difficulties.

Love for our neighbor is not limited to our current neighbors, either. And this is something that everyone needs to understand. The scriptures admonish us that our sin can have a detrimental impact on future generations as well. By way of things like dysfunctional relationships or poor reputations, so can a farmer’s production methods have ill effects on those who will live on after him or her.

Just look at the landscape around us, overworking the land can and has led to the desertification of large pieces of earth. Not to mention the swaths of dead zones we find all around our coast lands that don’t support life anymore. Right here in our own Gulf of Mexico there is a dead zone the size of Rhode Island, which will cause future generations in that area to turn elsewhere for food.

Thus, farmers find themselves in a difficult situation, seeking to meet the needs of the population while not destroying the earth in the process. Farmers must utilize their resources wisely, allowing their love for present and future neighbors to drive their pursuits.

The few present-day farmers that are left, like any other worker in the contemporary world, must use Godly wisdom to navigate the changing landscape. After all, technological advances constantly promise greater harvests and productivity, and farmers in this globalized agricultural market now must compete with farmers around the world, not just with farms across town.

While this article doesn’t answer all the questions, it is a first step in helping farmers (and consumers) see their work in light of the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. And it is the servant-mindedness of Jesus that farmers must imbibe. Though they may spend the majority of their work surrounded only by livestock and crops, farmers must see this solitary labor as a loving act of service to God, His creation and His children.

Family, this is sound advice for not just farmers or those involved in agriculture. It is advice for a world and society that is struggling to find equilibrium in life. We should apply these principles in our everyday life as they lift up the two greatest commandments, to love God and love our neighbor Matthew 22:36-40.

Any questions, comments or concerns? You can reach me at thenolackfarm@outlook.com.

Until next time, Stay strong in your faith, love your family and support your local community farmers!

And remember those who fear God will Lack nothing! Psalm 34:9

Kevin