Am I My Brother's Keeper
I am My Brother's Keeper?
Hundreds of years before the first advent of Christ there was a question asked; "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9) Think about it.
Are we really free from being our brother's (the people we come in contact with) keeper? No.
While we are not responsible for the decided actions of another, we are responsible for our actions, which may lead them to their actions. For example, when I was baby sitting one day one of the kids I was baby sitting decided that it would be perfectly alright for them to go outside and play with their little brother, even though neither were to be released from the house until they had finished their jobs and especially not by themselves. When at last she convinced him that it would be perfectly alright to go outside and have fun...unfortunately for her, big brother came along. Now big brother happened to know the rules, and alas! Guess who was to blame for both little sister & little brother being outside? Little sister was. Yes, little brother was wrong too, but he was only wrong because of listening to his older sister and thinking that if she said it was alright, it must be alright because he was trusting her judgement of when it was right to go outside and when it was not, being that he was younger.
There are many ways in which I could be held responsible for tempting or brining another into sin. For example, gossip. If I hear a version of a story about someone else and go to a friend and "Hey, did you hear about such and such?" I am tempting them to evil surmising and to just believing what I said and thinking bad of someone else, when I may not even know myself the actual facts about what happened.
Another way I could lead someone into wrong would be by compromising and saying "Well you know, it's not such a big thing...." or "I don't think we should be so stuck up about what we believe..." What I think shouldn't be the thing to base our actions on. We should take our "brother" to the world of God and say "What sayeth the Lord?"
I think that one of the easiest ways to tempt a brother to sin is by flattery. When we flatter someone instead of pointing them to Christ we tempt them to look at themselves and feel self sufficient. We tempt them to take their eyes off of God and put them on themselves. We may not be intentionally doing this, but we need to think about it and guard them against it. Can you imagine how terrible it would be to cause your brother to stumble and never return to Christ?
Now for one of the biggest things to guard against. Tempting a brother to lust. This is especially important for girls to think about. I know for me I love to please and that can lead to trouble. When I care about someone I want to show them that I care and do anything to make them happy. I trust them so I am tempted to take away all boundaries and lay aside all reserve. Remember, its not because I intentionally want to wrong or tempt them to wrong but what it is like is saying "Ok, I care about you, so go stand out in that busy highway and don't get hit!" Sure, I could trust the guy to dodge vehicles for a while, but that's putting him on dangerous ground. It is ok to trust completely, but I am my brother's keeper. If I truly care about them I will do everything in my power to guard them against stumbling. This is a constant struggle but through Christ we can become overcomers.
We need to get over this "but I didn't mean to so it's alright" attitude. No, we didn't mean to, but that is not what counts. We need to mean not to. I didn't mean to slam my sister's fingers in the door, so does that mean that it's ok to go on and act like nothing happened? I mean, she is the one that put her fingers there in the first place, so its her fault, right?!!!! Wrong! Once you have done wrong and see that it is wrong it is your duty to change that. Tell the person you wronged that you were wrong and ask for forgiveness and then watch and pray that you will not repeat your mistake. It may not be easy but think of the effect not saying anything could have on that persons life. Once I slammed my sisters fingers in the door, do you think I kept on being careless and slamming doors shut without looking to see that no one had their hands in the door? No, of course not!!
The Bible says "To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin." It's really important that we understand this. This isn't simply saying that if we do wrong it is sin, it's saying that if we know to do good and we do not do it, that is sin. I think the New Testament story known as the story of the good Samaritan is a great example of this. When you see someone in need of help and pass him by, it is sin. We're told to love our brother and to help him when he is struggling.
I think that so many of us say we're willing to help others. We tell ourselves that if we had been one to pass that poor wounded man in the story of the good Samaritan by we would have turned around and stopped and helped him, yet when we're driving down the street and see someone holding a sign "Will work for food" we lock our doors and nervously wait for the light to turn green. We're afraid to take the risk involved in helping our brother. I myself struggle with this. I believe though, that if we truly desire to help others and lead them to the Lord, He will put his protecting arms around us and give us strength and courage. He doesn't just tell us to help others and put ourselves at risk without promising his protection.
Aside from the tramp on the street, we even have friends who are struggling that we are afraid to reach out to because of what it may involve. We're too busy. Friends, if we're too busy to be doing what God is asking us to do, something is wrong. Remember, our life work is not to make money, own lands, or please ourselves. God has put us Christians here for a purpose and that purpose is to work for others through Him. Everyday hundreds go down to Godless graves, having never heard of a Savior of love, or having never been shown by us how wonderful God really is. Remember, you may be the only Bible some may ever read. Are you willing to take the challenge, to lay aside your selfish desires, and take up Christ's cross and trust that the Lord will give you the strength you need, the grace you need, and will empower you to decide that "I am my brother's keeper"?
~JnH