Thursday; June 20

One of the most famous stories in the Bible is the conflict between Cain and Abel. We’ll maybe a better way to put it is the conflict between Cain and God. The struggle between the two brothers was pretty straight-forward; but the one between Cain and God was a bit more protracted. After being warned by God about his attitude toward Able (and the Lord), Cain killed Abel. When this happened, God confronted Cain in this infamous exchange, “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ And he said, ‘I do not know. Am I my brothers keeper?’” (Genesis 4:10). In addition to lying to God about his guilt, he also dismissed the humanity he should have displayed to his brother. What followed was God’s punishment and another line in the legacy of mankind.

Most of us are familiar with this encounter, but there are times I am a bit haunted by Cain’s question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”. I guess my struggle with the issue is “How much of my brother’s keeper should I be?”. I think all of us agree that we have a responsibility to care for our neighbors, but does that mean we have to be responsible for what they do? Are we compelled to try our best to keep them from doing what we don’t think they should be doing? To what extent should we go to keep them on the straight and narrow?

I believe we should help others be better, but I wonder if we take on too much of other people’s choices. What would happen if we were committed to help others, but were comfortable allowing them to live with the consequences of their own choices?

Think About It!

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