To recognize and embrace both God's original intent for creation, and His redemptive purpose in it, is the overarching scope of Christian agrarianism. But why is it necessary to define "Christian Agrarianism" at all? Oughtn't we be content with "agrarian Christians?"

 

A definition ought to provide a basis for agreement. As world economic turmoil amplifies, agrarianism will claim an ever-larger cross section of humanity as adherents. Many will recognize the need for more decentralized, local economies with an agrarian foundation. Some will be Christian some will not. The more important thing for Christian agrarians is not that they're agrarian, but that they're Christian. Yet, since "isms" are generally spirit-driven ideologies, and rather than throw out agrarianism altogether, I feel it is necessary to make a distinction between those agrarian ideals inspired by communism, humanism, and animism (for instance) and those inspired by the Spirit of Christ.

 

To make my point clearer, let me digress a little further. Communist agrarianism would promote those beliefs and practices that recognized the State as lord and master of creation. Humanist agrarianism would promote those beliefs and practices that recognized mankind as the lords of creation and masters of their own destiny. Animist agrarianism would promote those beliefs and practices that deified nature and made it the lord of mankind. Christian agrarianism would promote those beliefs and practices that recognized God as Creator and Jesus as Lord and redeemer of both mankind and creation.

 

If these distinctions are as important to you as they are to me, then we have a basis for agreement that I choose to call Christian Agrarianism. You may call it whatever you like or choose to call it nothing at all. But ignoring these distinctions won't make them go away and if they won't go away then we're obliged to handle them responsibly.

 

To solve a problem, we must first define it. That agrarianism may slip into something less than wholesome is a legitimate concern, a threat that we should have the foresight to recognize and, if possible, to prevent. My first step toward such vigilance is defining the problem. But if we don't even know what Christian agrarianism is we won't know when it's being threatened or violated. We won't recognize the problem unless we have certain convictions, a definition of Christian agrarianism, against which we can judge circumstances and behavior.

 

Convictions are the definitions of the soul -- lines that it refuses to cross or neglect. As a Christian agrarian, it is my conviction that agriculture is part of the whole redemption package. The earth, having been created by God and delegated to mankind as his primary venue of responsibility, must be included in man's total redemption. To ignore or neglect this stewardship aspect is to leave our redemption incomplete.

 

That is not to say that mankind is in any way the author of any aspect of his own redemption -- only that refusal to embrace this aspect of redemption belittles God and calls into serious question the issue of His lordship over our personal lives and over the earth in which we live. Mankind cannot work out his own salvation with fear and trembling apart from recognizing that it is God who works in us to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13). It is only in recognizing His lordship that we are able to grasp our redemption in full measure of faith.

 

If the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, and if He is our Lord, then the earth over which we have been appointed as stewards must be as fully the subject of redemption as our own personal lives. Why else would the creation eagerly wait "for the revealing of the sons of God" except that, though our redemption, it would be "delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Romans 8:19-21). That, to me, sounds like redemption.

 

The deliverance of creation from the bondage of corruption is the bedrock of Christian Agrarianism. But it cannot occur outside the broader context of the redemption of mankind. The two are inextricably related. If we pursue man's redemption, the eventual result will be the glorious liberty of creation under the stewardship of the children of God. And if we pursue the glorious liberation of creation, it will eventually lead us to the redemption of mankind -- for it can be gained in no other way.

 

Christian agrarianism recognizes the integrity of nature with man. The two are inseparable in constitution as well as in purpose. Man was formed out of the dust of the earth. Nature was formed as the venue in which mankind was to cultivate maturity. It was to be his arena to work out his relationship with God, with other men, and with nature, over which he was appointed steward and which would sustain him.

 

Thus, we define Christian agrarianism as faith in the full redemptive purpose of God for nature and man, and as faith in the primary agent of that redemption, Jesus Christ. And we do so because the lives we live are inseparable from our faith in God. A definition of Christian agrarianism is unnecessary only if mankind can be separated from the venue of his redemption. We define Christian agrarianism precisely because we believe mankind is inseparable from creation or from the single agent and process through which both are redeemed.

 

"For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross."                                 Colossians 1:19-20

 

I do not believe this means that Jesus died on the cross for the giraffes or the whales or the rainforests. Rather, the outworking of our redemption includes the redemption of the earth we were appointed to tend. The earth can arrive at a redeemed state in no other way than through the redemption of mankind. And mankind can apprehend his redemption in no other way than through faith in Jesus Christ and the redemptive efficacy of His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.