My
Brother’s Keeper
Genesis
4:1-11
Recently I used this phrase in Sunday morning
worship. On the way out one of my
parishioners said, “We’re not our brother’s keeper, we’re our brother’s
helper.” It took me a few seconds to see
where she was going, but I figured it out.
Her meaning was sociopolitical. Her point was that we are not to keep our brothers and sisters: that is, we are not to care for them in such
a way that they become dependent on us for everything—food, clothing,
shelter—so that they remain in a subservient relationship to us, never
achieving independence. Too often we
help people so much they remain in that relationship not only for the length of
their lives, but for generations. My
wife and I saw the disastrous results of that policy when we lived in eastern
Kentucky.
What my friend meant was that we should help them when
and how help is needed, but constantly move them to a place where they can care
for themselves. As the old adage says,
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
I agree that the goal of any helping program should be
the eventual independence of the person being helped. Many organizations are using this approach
successfully with the women of some African countries. By teaching them useful skills, and giving
them seed money to start businesses, they are preparing them for a lifetime of
being able to feed themselves and their families.
I believe the biblical account meant keeper in a different sense.
For whatever reason (we’ll never know why on this earth) God was more
pleased with Abel’s sacrifice than with Cain’s.
We are told nothing of what was in the hearts of the two young men, and
certainly nothing of what was in God’s heart.
After Cain’s sacrifice was rejected God gave him a choice: “If you do well, will you not be
accepted? And if you do not do well, sin
is crouching at the door. Its desire is
for you, but you must rule over it.”
Cain chose the path of least resistance, and got rid of
his problem (he thought) by getting rid of his brother. When God asked Cain, “Where is your
brother?” Cain replied, “How should I
know? Am I my brother’s keeper?” God’s reply seems to indicate that Cain was
indeed responsible for his brother.
In this sense, to be your brother’s keeper does not mean
to care for him to the point of keeping him dependent on you. It means to be responsible for the safety and
well-being of our brothers and sisters, not only doing them no harm, but seeing
that they are treated justly and fairly.
Cain violated his brother’s right to life, and by doing so failed to
look out for Abel’s welfare.
Let me suggest an alternate word that might fit better
than either helper or keeper.
The word enabler has negative
connotations because of the way it is used in psychology. An enabler in this sense is one who allows another
person to keep the worst of her bad characteristics, reinforcing them to the
point where that person continues to be less than she could be by taking
responsibility for her faults and seeking to overcome them.
I suggest we use the word
in a more positive sense. The one who
teaches another to fish, thereby giving him a way of supporting himself for
life, is an enabler. He enables the fisherman to become
independent, to care for himself without needing to be dependent on another
person.
We
should all seek to be our brothers’ and sisters’ enablers.
I
think God would approve.
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