Am I my brother’s keeper?

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" – Genesis 4v9

Notice how long it took for ‘looking out for number one’ to be a part of human culture. Cain brutally kills his brother because of his jealousy. The sin that ‘laid at the door’ and sought to rule over Cain won out. He chose poorly, he chose his own way instead of God’s way.

Able’s blood lay on the ground as evidence of Cain’s sin. ‘Where is Able? God said? “How should I know, am I in charge of Able?’ Cain replied. Cain acted like the only one he had to watch out for was himself. What did he have to do with Able?

No wonder that we have to be reminded over and over and over again in the Bible about our responsibility toward each other. When it comes right down to it we really want to focus on us, but what does God say?

Just one example will suit. What did Jesus say when He was asked to summarise the Law? ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heats and soul and strength.’ Okay, that’s grand. That makes sense. But He did not stop there – ‘…and love your neighbour as yourself.’

It is not good enough to just ‘watch out for number one.’ While I can’t control everything ‘my brother’ does there is a sense where I am his keeper. Like it or not God puts us in families and societies. Even if we wanted to we cannot close ourselves off and ignore others.

Although chances are pretty slim that we would actually murder anyone, we often do terrible harm to those around us when all we care about is us. If they make me look bad, I want to ‘get them back.’

Cain meant the question as rhetorical. “Am I my brother’s keeper?’ Well, in a very real sense, the answer is ‘Yes.”