This summer, I sat on a plane stalled on a runway. What transpired during that time frightened me, made me laugh, and became the reason for this article. The plane landed at a Houston airport and began to taxi. Then, we stopped for about 45 minutes. At one point while waiting, a flight attendant loudly told the lady next to me, “Ma’am, you cannot let the cat out of the bag!” That’s right, the lady seated directly next to me was unzipping a pet carrier to let a cat out. No, not the proverbial cat. A real live cat was getting ready to launch onto my face! Well, at least that’s what I thought might happen. Sure, it was a kitten, but for all I knew, she was about to let Mufasa or Scar disfigure my face right there in aisle 22. Everything is bigger in Texas, you know! The flight attendant basically saved my life that day.

Unfortunately, the cat lady wasn’t the only one on that flight who seemed to prioritize pets over people. After seeing my life flash before my eyes, I proceeded to be privy to a subsequent conversation behind me that said: “We don’t deserve dogs. They are wingless angels…I’m a dogs-over-people person all day long.” Cats on a plane, dogs as angels, and dogs superseding people. This is the world we seem to live in these days, and it’s not how God designed it (well, maybe the cats on a plane thing is my own issue).

So what is God’s design? After each of the first five days of creation, God said, “It was good” (Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25). Those days included the animals in the air, on the earth, and in the seas. Animals are good in God’s design, but God’s words about creation changed after the sixth day: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Now, what was created on that sixth day? Mankind! The creation of humanity caused God’s response to his creation to move from “good” to “very good.” But why?

Mankind is the pinnacle of God’s creation because mankind is the only thing God made in his own image (Genesis 1:26). In God’s world, mankind is more valuable than animals. The first command given to Adam was, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28). In God’s perfect creation, people were given dominion over animals.

Unfortunately, it seems that in the brokenness of the sinful world, many people, including some professing Christians, have begun to give animals, specifically pets, dominion, or at least value, over men and women. According to the American Pet Products Association, people in the United States spent over $150 million on pets in 2024, and that number is only rising in 2025. At home stores, multiple aisles are often stocked with pet supplies. Home stores, not pet stores! You can now even subscribe to meal delivery services for your pet! The American obsession with pets is out of order.

When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, he replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). All the Law and the Prophets hang on two commands: love God and love people. Order matters here, and what’s left out matters too. The most important thing we can do is prioritize God. The second most important thing is to love people. Animals, including pets, don’t even make the list.

In fact, there is little to no mention of pets in the Bible. The only implicit reference comes when a parable is given about a man who “had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him” (2 Samuel 12:3). Is this a reference to a pet? Maybe. Is it referenced in a parable? Absolutely. In biblical interpretation, it’s critical for us to understand parables by understanding that all the details of a parable aren’t to be magnified in order for the point of the parable to be understood. Nathan’s parable isn’t specifically about pets. The point was to show that David failed to value human life by having Uriah killed after David’s affair with Uriah’s wife. So the one potential reference to a pet in the Bible is meant to show the value of human life.

The Bible is clearly about God and his relationship with people, not people’s relationships with animals. Having a pet is not wrong. Prioritizing your pet above God and people is absolutely wrong. I’m not anti-pets. We owned a dog for many years (and a fish for a couple of weeks). The Bible does not say we should be anti-pets. However, the Bible clearly says that we should love people above everything except God. My concern is that many people are becoming so pro-pet that people are ignored, at worst, or unconsidered, at best.

As a pastor, there’s a temptation to avoid talking about hard things, like money, in order to avoid ruffling feathers. But pastors must ruffle those feathers because we know the dangers of a misprioritization of money. Money is dangerous for your soul, but not wrong. In the same sense, pets are dangerous too. Not wrong, but dangerous…for your soul. 

Feathers, fur, and human hearts may be ruffled in the process of addressing misprioritizing God’s creation. And if you’re prepared to fire off a comment or email, please pause first and remember, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). Your ruffled heart may be demonstrating where your treasure truly lies.

Consider the following questions to evaluate your heart in this matter:

• Am I more considerate of my pet’s needs than people’s needs?
• Am I more concerned about my pet’s comforts rather than showing hospitality to others in my home?
• Do I spend more money on my pet than I give to God and his Church?
• Do I have to avoid spending time with people because I have to prioritize my pet?
• Do I think some people might avoid coming to my house because of my pet?

These are just a few questions that may reveal a love for pets that is out of order. Veritas, may we always be found as a group of people who love God over people and people over pets. (Also, my personal opinion: Don’t ever be found letting the cat out of a bag on an airplane.)