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Biblical Evidence for Thinking Ecologically about Spiritual Formation - Jan 25 7:17am LU Post

Professor's Questions - Based upon your reading and study of Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age, Introduction and chapters 1-4, what biblical evidence would you offer someone who rejects the interconnected and interactive nature of the physical and spiritual ecologies God created? 

My Answer

God created an interweaved web of ecological systems that relate to each other physically and spiritually.  Today I would like to share biblical supported truth that demonstrates God created these ecological systems to be interdependent both in the physical and in the spiritual realms.  My studies have shown me that the interaction and interconnection these systems share is necessary for them to thrive. 

In the text for module two, Lowe and Lowe helped me better understand that growth cannot occur on its own and that “growth is a byproduct of an intricate series of interlocking events, conditions, and exchanges between and among living and nonliving entities.”[1]  The Bible utilized examples of soil, seeds, vineyards, flowers, and trees to illustrate that these spiritual and physical linkages do exist and promote growth.  In the Old Testament, Psalm 1:1-3 New International Version, Jeremiah 17:7, NIV. and Ezekiel 31:4-5 NIV. utilize tree strength as compared to strength in righteousness to show this relationship.[2]  Additionally, the parables that Jesus taught in the New Testament provide irrefutable evidence that these ecology systems intertwine and Jesus tied the natural and spiritual together when he explained the parables.

In the class text, Lowe and Lowe state “Jesus taught his parables upon the assumption that what is valid in one sphere (the natural) is valid also in the other (the spiritual).”[3]  These parables illustrate many examples of natural and spiritual interaction and were firsthand knowledge from God taught to the disciples by Jesus.[4]  A fascinating point I would like to highlight from my reading is that before Jesus taught using parables, there was not a single use of this type of teaching, that is, teaching with parables, in all rabbinic literature.[5]  The explanation Jesus provides about the parable of the sower of seed is an excellent example in Mark 4:13-20, NIV.   Jesus directly relates the parable to where the seed is sown and to people and their ability to grow spiritually if the word is planted in them correctly and protected so it can grow, just as a farmer would do for a plant.  Other seed examples in Mark 4:26-29 and 30-32 state that God is responsible for growth in both the physical where a seed is concerned and in the spiritual where a soul is concerned.  First Corinthians 3:6 NIV. also confirms that God is responsible for growth; these statements in Mark and 1 Corinthians directly link the two realms.     

Several additional Bible passages support these concepts of physical and spiritual interaction.  Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:15-21, NIV. uses the analogy of a physical body to compare to the church members and how they form the body of Christ.  Lowe and Lowe do an excellent job stating that “The ecosystem-like functioning of the human body is at the heart of what Paul conveys in Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4. The “one” and “many” language Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 12, as well as the whole body/every joint contrast in Ephesians 4:16, support an ecological view of the body of Christ.”[6] When something goes wrong in a relationship within the church body the entire church suffers because of these God-designed interactions.  If you attend church regularly, you have more than likely witnessed firsthand the tear-down of a relationship or two as people are being people.  As a final thought, Genesis 3:6 and 22-23, NIV. the perfect ecological system God created for man in the Garden of Eden was ruined in the physical and spiritual realms and is carried over to mankind as sin to this present day and will remain until the final day of judgment.   

[1]Stephen D. Lowe and Mary E. Lowe, Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age: Spiritual Growth through Online Education (Downer’s Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2018), 28.

[2] Ibid., 29.

[3] Ibid., 4.

[4] Ibid., 38.

[5] Ibid., 38.

[6] Ibid., 55.