My Brother's Keeper?

In the Book of Genesis chapter 4 we see a story of God talking to Cain. Right before this passage Cain had killed his brother Abel and presumably buried his body (see verse 10). So after the murder, in verse 9, God comes to Cain and says, “Where is Abel your brother?” Cain then proceeds to lie to God’s face and says, “I do not know.” Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, he makes a smart aleck remark, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” I believe Cain was saying, “Is it my job to look out for Abel?”

This phrase is used a lot in our culture, and I believe it is used wrongly. You see Cain knew he was busted. He knew that God knew what he had done. So Cain did what many people do, he made a snide comment to try and deflect from his guilt. Nowadays it seems Cain’s question has gone from rude comment to gospel truth. People use what Cain said to justify their actions. They use it to justify not helping the poor and needy. They use it to justify not sharing the Gospel and to justify not speaking out when they see someone committing sin.

This phrase came up in a discussion my wife and I were having with some of our workers. One of the workers was accused of breaking the rules. His supervisor then said, “I suspected what you were doing, but I thought am I my brother’s keeper?” Immediately after the supervisor said that the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Yes you are.” He then proceeded to rattle off a number of verses in the Bible that supported what He said.

So I would like to posit, in agreement with the Holy Spirit, that yes indeed we are our brother’s and sister’s keeper.

One of the most important verses in support of this is Ezekiel 3:16-21, “ At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.

“Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

I know you may be thinking, “That was for Ezekiel, he was called to be a watchman not me.” Therefore I take you to Jesus’ own words in Mark 16:15-16, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned…” Does that not sound like the same mandate given to Ezekiel? Are we not called to be watchmen, telling others to turn from sin, repent and turn to Jesus?

How about what Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:15-17, “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector”?

From these verses alone can we deny that we are our brother’s keeper when it comes to their committing sin?

Are there any other verses about being my brother’s keeper? Glad you asked. 1 John 3:17 says,” If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”

If we see someone in need, is it not our duty as “our brother’s keeper” to help them out?

Matthew 5:42, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”

Proverbs 3:27, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.”

James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”

So we can see from these verses, and many more in the Bible, that indeed we are our brother’s (and sister’s) keeper. We live in a “live and let live” society these days. People are afraid to speak out when they see sin in the world. They are afraid they will be cancelled and ostracized.

The public schools for years have been teaching moral relativism, that there is no absolute truth, no absolute right or wrong. Millions of children have been taught that, “whatever you think is right for your life is okay and you can’t judge anyone else for their life choices.” But there is an absolute truth. It’s called the Bible. It tells us to love one another as Jesus loved us and gave His life for us. It tells us that if we do love one another then we will speak up when we see someone walking “the path that leads to destruction.” It says that we should help those in need. It says that we are to be our brother’s keeper even when it’s difficult or uncomfortable.

So the next time you find yourself wondering, should I say something?” or “Should I do something?” now you know.