transcript
Speaker 1:
[00:04] Well, you see them everywhere now, in strollers, in tiny sweaters, on just about every commercial jet flight now that I'm on, for babies. And it turns out how we treat those pets says more about our own hearts than it does about the pets themselves. There's a deeper question here, Pastor John, about what happens to us when a pet starts to fill a hole that only a person could fill and should fill. So we are talking child pets. And when I saw this question come in a few weeks back, I knew I had to ask it, and I've been looking forward to this day ever since.
Speaker 2:
[00:41] Yeah, well, we'll see. It's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1:
[00:44] At the very least, it'll be fun. Maybe even edifying. Today on Ask Pastor John, fur babies and pet stewardship. The question is from Samuel in New Haven, Connecticut. Pastor John, hello, thank you for entertaining my question. It's a cultural one. You seem like a man who loves dogs. I do too, which is why I love the end of APJ 1001. Do pets distract Christian life? There you mentioned your golden doodle Dusty and all that she taught you over the years. And in April, 2014, in an article, you mentioned in passing a dog in your childhood in South Carolina. So what do you think of this society in which we live? Increasingly treating dogs and other pets as children, as child replacements by single women who have a nurturing instinct, or especially by married couples who could have children, but choose instead to spend their discretionary money on pampering those pets with unnecessary clothes and expensive food, flying them on jets, using resources that would easily support a child, and throwing it to the dogs, as Jesus put it in Matthew 15 26. I'm sure you've seen this. How does it strike you?
Speaker 2:
[01:57] When I saw this question, I thought to myself, you know, when I'm dead and gone, somebody's going to say, not only did Piper waste his time and money on a dog, he also wasted everybody's time in answering questions about whether you ought to have a dog. But then I thought, well, if not on Ask Pastor John, then where? Who else would make himself a shooting target over dogs and cats and fish and pet turtles? So here we go. If your culture is poor enough, you eat dogs. No shame. I would certainly eat a dog before I'd let my kids starve. If your culture is rich enough, you kill other animals like fish and chickens and feed your dogs, and then you bring them in the house and brush their hair. Clearly, how we relate to animals as pets or as food is mainly culturally determined. So let's ask what biblical factors might shape a culture's attitude toward animals or pets in particular. And the first thing I would draw attention to is Genesis 2.19. The Lord said, It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. That's where we get complimentarianism, by the way, from that word right there. Complimentary to him. Now, out of the ground, the Lord had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called the living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds, and the heavens, and every beast of the field. But for Adam, there was not found a helper suitable for him. The main point of that paragraph is, when God created all the animals, he did not make any of them as a satisfying partner for a human being. That's the point. For Adam, there was not found a helper suitable for him. So animals are not designed by God to solve the God-given longing for companionship, expressed in the words, it is not good for man to be alone. That problem is not solved by animals as God designed it. This doesn't mean you can't enjoy the companionship of an animal. It means that when that companionship starts to function like the companionship of a human, it's moving against God's design. The Bible considers sex with an animal a perversion, Leviticus 1823. And Jesus had very harsh words for those who had more compassion for an animal than for a disabled human being, or I might add, an unborn human being. The next text I would cite is Proverbs 12.10. Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. In other words, even though animals are not human, and should not be treated as human, nevertheless, how you treat them says something about being human. Indeed, it says something about being righteous and not wicked. Now, the text, of course, is not about pets, but it is certainly relevant to whether you kick a mangy dog into the gutter, or whether you feel some pity and try to relieve its pain. And you can see pretty clearly, I think, that it's not a great leap from that sense of biblical pity to taking the dog home and finding that the affection turns into 10 years of care and dog-human friendship. The third text I would refer to is 2 Samuel 12.3, where Nathan, remember, the prophet, indicts David for his adultery and his murder by telling this little parable. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, and the poor man had nothing but one little lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, he brought up this little lamb, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now, it would be very strange for Nathan to use that little parable if such a thing were disgusting to David, or if such a thing never happened. In other words, it did happen, evidently, from time to time, that a family would become attached to one of the little lambs in the flock, which then grew up as a pet. And the fourth text, or texts, I would refer to is the dozens and dozens and dozens of texts that refer to over seventy-five different kinds of animals in the Bible, most of whom have no commercial value at all. They're just there in the wild, and the main use that God makes of them is not how they function perfectly to keep the ecosystem going, though that's his wisdom as well, but how they provide occasions for humans to see in God's creation things like strength, diligence, beauty, orderliness, perseverance, freedom, skill, humor, like the ostrich, fearlessness, balance, motherliness, filth, disgust, changeableness, slyness, subtlety, hugeness, insignificance, the sparrows who just fall to the ground in the middle of the forest, peace, wisdom, deceit, tenderness, humility, magnificence, and on and on. Just like the stars and trees and mountains and lakes and flowers, animals show that God is bent on beauty and strangeness, not just functionality. He means for all of creation, including animals, to declare the glory of God, his wisdom, his power, his beauty, his wonder. And when we ask what animals are for, we can't just answer for food, for clothing, for transport, for war. We must also answer they are to be admired and feared and stayed away from and taken hold of and copied. Go to the ant, sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise. They are to draw out of us worshipful responses toward God. So here's some of the questions that I think we should ask to test whether we're responding to animals biblically, wisely. Knowing that we're shaped by our culture. First, does this animal point us to God and help us love God more, or does it distract us from God and replace God? Two, does this animal draw out of us virtuous impulses, or does it stir up unrighteous impulses? Do we treat people better because of this animal? Three, does our relationship with this animal accord with and confirm God's order of creation, or does it distort that order? Is the animal starting to fill needs that only a human should fill? And finally, is the care for this animal hindering resources and time that should be spent blessing other people? Now, I'm trying to be careful with that last question. Because I know there are people who don't have pets who are stingy, and they're not generous to other people, and there are people who do have pets that are lavishly generous to other people. Giving up their pets wouldn't make them more generous to other people. So I'm asking, is the pet hindering generosity to others? Okay, so there I've done it, Tony. Somebody's going to say, Piper, you overthink things. That's what my wife says. To which I say, well, then stop asking these questions, and get yourself a dog, and be way more generous with other people than you are now.
Speaker 1:
[11:18] Thank you, Pastor John. I think just for the record, how many dogs have you had besides Dusty?
Speaker 2:
[11:23] I started with the first Dusty, who got killed after six months. A Cocker Spaniel my dad gave me. Then I got Blackie, who was a mongrel from across the street. She lived about 14 years. And then there was this long period, and we had kids. And finally we got Sable, when the kids were little. And then we got Dusty. And then when Dusty died after, I mean, Sable lived 15 years, Dusty lived 15 years, and we got one more, and this dog turned out to act like a cat, and we gave it away after three years. I don't think poodles are real dogs. This is a golden doodle, and it was way too much doodle, and not enough gold, and so we couldn't survive the attitude of this dog. He was very cat-like and different to human beings. So we don't have a dog now.
Speaker 1:
[12:15] Thank you, Pastor John. I'm gonna keep this exchange at the end for those who are listening. Every so often we have a little Easter egg in the outro, just for you who listen to the podcast, a little conversational bit so we keep in. And so thank you for listening. Yes, for Adam, there was not found a helper suitable for him because animals are not designed by God to solve the God-given longing for companionship. Great point. God didn't design animals to fix loneliness. They are strange, beautiful gifts meant to show us God's glory, but never to replace humans. So treat pets well, but don't let them become the thing that stops you from being generous to humans. Really good. Thank you, Pastor John. And speaking of pets, do pets go to heaven? See, APJ 537 for that. And the episode mentioned in the beginning, in the question, do pets distract from the Christian life? That's APJ 1001 in the archive at askpastorjohn.com. Both of those episodes, 537 and 1001 at askpastorjohn.com. Well, don't let her die before you say this. Next time, thoughts for a son whose mother is losing her final fight with cancer. I'm Tony Ranky, we'll see you back here on Monday.