Summary: The “Dominion Mandate” is a shorthand nickname for the instruction God gave to Adam and Eve. Does the way you exercise dominion honor or disregard Him as Designer?

Your heart squeezes as you pass the house again, its peeling paint, broken windows, and leaking roof a testament to the ravages of time.  In your mind’s eye, you see the stately beauty it once was.

The formerly-imposing building is only one among many suffering decay due to abandonment.  If they’re to be made useful again, they require repairs — and there are two general schools of thought regarding how to do this.

Just Make it Work

Some builders care little for the original design of the house.  It only matters that it functions as a house when they’re done.  They might rip out the damaged hardwood floors and replace them with laminate — or lay down carpet over them.  Add plastic siding.  Patch up holes or worn-out parts in whatever is the easiest or cheapest way.

At the extreme end of this school of thought are those who believe that newer is automatically better.  They might go so far as to gut the house and replace the entire interior with modernist features executed in plastic, metal, and plywood.

These houses, when finished, might function just fine, but they don’t reflect the original vision of their designers.  Some, in fact, diverge significantly from the original design.

Restore it to its Former Glory

The other approach is restoration.  Some builders specialize in this, and their first step is to develop a clear vision of what the home originally looked like, in all its glory.  How did the designer intend for it to appear, before the years took their toll?

With this in mind, the builder aims to repair the building by adhering to that original design as accurately as possible.  This takes more care than the other approach.  It may often be more costly.

But it honors the designer and his skill, where the “make it work” approach disregards him.

The Dominion Mandate

You might have figured out where I’m going with this already, but let me make it plain.  The “Dominion Mandate” is a shorthand nickname for the instruction God gave to Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, exercising authority (dominion) over everything else God had made.  (Gen. 1:27-29)

Much of humanity perverts this idea of dominion, lording it over the world God made as though it’s merely raw materials to serve our vision.  We disregard the Designer and, with Him, His design.  Often, we think we can do better than His design.  Christians often defend this type of thinking on the basis that the Fall undermined that design, rendering it irrelevant.

But that is not the kind of dominion we’re called to exercise.  We’re called to act as God’s agents in the world, under-kings subject to the King of all kings.  Properly exercising that delegated authority does not permit us to disregard Him.

Rightly Exercising Dominion

Rightly exercising dominion is a lot like restoring an historical home.  We start with the assumption that God is an excellent Designer, and what He made was “very good.”  Yes, the Fall caused damage — just as time and weather cause damage to once-lovely homes — but the Design is still good.

Our job is to see and know and value that design and then, with care and attention, work toward the restoration of God’s Creation to its former beauty.

This can be slow and difficult.  Sometimes it costs us.  But our own cheap substitutes pale in comparison to the glory of the world that God created to reflect Himself.

Do you trust Him enough to believe His design is GOOD?

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather God found me lovingly polishing his hardwood floors (figuratively speaking) than carelessly ripping them out to replace them with plastic.