AM I MY BROTHER’S BROTHER?

That is the question Cain should have asked in reference to Abel instead of Am I my brother’s keeper? There is no indication that God expected Cain to serve his brother as keeper, but he was expected to treat him as a brother. It might even be an indignity upon a person for someone to keep him, but it is always enhancing to the soul for one to be brothered by another.

Cain not only did his brother in by waylaying him, but he has also mislead a lot of preachers by his irrelevant answer to God’s question. God had not asked him if he had taken good care of Abel. He was not being called to account for his guardianship over another. The question was simply Where is your brother Abel? He replied that he did not know, which of course was a lie, for he had enticed Abel into the field where he had murdered him. And then he blurts out Am I my brother’s keeper? as if in defiance. The answer to that was of course No, you are not your brother’s keeper, but you are your brother’s brother, so where is he, what have you done? But a lot of sermonizers have been misled by Cain’s non sequitur and have assumed that we are to do better than Cain and be faithful keepers of our brothers.

While the term “keeper” occurs hundreds of times in scripture, there is no suggestion in any of the passages that a man is obligated to keep another. It is God who is the great keeper of his people: “The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand” (Ps. 121:5); “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock” (Jer. 31:10). And we would all be pleased for God to say to us what he said to Jacob: “Behold I am with you and will keep you wherever you go” (Gen. 28:15), and to pray as did David: “Keep me as the apple of thine eye; hide me in the shadow of thy wings” (Ps. 17:8). Jude 24 points to the keeper that we all desire: “Now to him who is able to keep you from falling . . .”

In the Bible man is a keeper of sheep, cattle, doors, gates, houses, baggage, wardrobes, forests, and even thresholds, but never of a brother. In another sense he keeps commandments, sabbaths, covenant, the law, judgment, and sound wisdom, but never another man in any sense of obligation. Jailors keep prisoners, masters keep slaves, and kings keep concubines, but brothers do not keep brothers. We are not each other’s keeper because we are brothers.

But it is easy for us to assume this role, especially if we are leaders in the church. We tell people what they should read and should not read; we tell them where they can go and not go. And we sometimes dare to dictate who mayor may not be visitors in their homes. We are tempted to serve as Master over other people’s consciences, telling them how to think and how to behave. We are often monumental in sticking our noses into other people’s business. Some congregations assume guardianship over other congregations, as if it were not enough for them to watch out for their own affairs. It is one thing to provide for the poor and to help the needy, but something quite different to assume the role of keeper. Nowhere does the Bible say anything like “Thou shalt be thy brother’s keeper.”

We readily acknowledge God as our keeper, for we know he has domination over our lives, a rule and control that we want him to have. But we are not to rule and have dominion over each other. This is why there should be a minimum of government intervention in our personal lives. If the government is allowed to become our patriarch, always keeping us secure with one kind of program or another, then we surrender much of the freedom God gave us as individuals. But many people are quite willing to yield the management or their own lives into the hands of public program, and it is this same mentality that is willing for clerical powers to monitor their spiritual lives.

We too need to hear the question God asked Cain. Where is your brother? In one sense the answer has to be that every man is our brother, and so each person with whom we have to do is to be treated with dignity. And the first rule of social intercourse is for each person to take care of himself, serving as his own keeper. The first commandment should be that we are not to be a burden on anyone else, and each one should take precautions to see that this doesn’t occur in his own case, even in instances of prolonged illness and old age. Paul has this responsibility in mind when he says that each man is to bear his own load (Gal. 6:5) and that a man is not to be allowed to eat if he will not work (2 Th. 3:10). The world as well as the church should heed Paul’s words: “I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me” (Acts 20:33). He didn’t want anybody to be his keeper.

There are of course the poor and needy who will always be with us and who should have our help, but always in such a way that their own personal dignity is preserved. We are not to become their keepers, but to help them to be their own keepers. This is the problem with government welfare projects. People become nonbeings in their dependence upon a welfare that stifles their initiative. The government might keep zoos and archives, but not people. Whenever a system keeps people it assumes that those it keeps are pawns to do with as it pleases.

In a special way our brother is every person who is in Christ Jesus, purchased by his blood. This makes us blood brothers. While I am not to be such a person’s keeper, I am to be his brother, and I should treat him as a brother. This calls for love, kindness, forbearance. It certainly calls for acceptance —a gracious acknowledgment of brotherhood with all who are disciples of Jesus.

We are more like Cain than we may realize. He tricked his brother, leading him into the field under some pretext, planning all along to do him in. Many of our brothers have been deceived in similar ways, whether through secret recordings or public writeups. One can commit fratricide in ways other than club or sword. It is noteworthy that it is while urging upon us love for one another that John urges us not to be like Cain. “And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous” (1 Jn. 3:12). The apostle goes on to assure us that we have passed from death to life if we love the brethren. So Cain’s problem was that he did not love Abel.

Cain was probably surprised by God’s searching question about the whereabouts of his brother. He had to say something, hoping to divert God’s attention. So he blurts out, “How should I know where he is. Am I his guardian?” He knew he was not Abel’s guardian and he knew God had not asked this of him. So God could have said, “Right. You are not his keeper, so I’ll look for him elsewhere.” But Cain had killed and God knew it. He was not calling Cain into account for guardianship but for brotherhood. Cain had no way out. He was doomed because he had broken the law of love and brotherhood. How tragic!

But are we all that different from Cain? The Lord may ask us about our brothers that we ignore and even maltreat. “But they are our brothers in error!,” we protest irrelevantly, not unlike Cain. God could ask us to name some brothers who are not in error! “They are our liberal brothers” or “Yes, but they are anti’s” are non sequiturs that get close to Cain. Still God asks Where is your brother? We are like Cain when we reply that our brothers are only those in our own little party, and we are like him when we are willing to commit fratricide, with words and actions if not a stone, so as to preserve our party image. We are like him because we hate instead of love.

God isn’t asking us to be our brother’s keeper, not even in terms of keeping him for the party. But he is asking us to be our brother’s brother, and this transcends all party lines. When we find the real Jesus we will find our real brothers, and in him we will accept everyone of them. —the Editor

The Hartford Unity Forum, Dec. 27-28, features nine men and women discussing baptism, pastor system, work of women, inerrancy of scripture, cultural influences in church order.. Carl Ketcherside, presiding. For info: Berdell McCann, 127 Donna Dr., Hartford, II. 62048, 618-254-6454.