Brothers keeper ?

[Boaz]

Are we as Christians our brothers keeper ?

[buckwheatpaul]

The Bible says so....but sometimes they make it difficult to try to witness to or share the WORD!

[Ickisrulz]

This is where a defining of terms is necessary. We are not keepers in the way Cain was asking (i.e, keeper or master of livestock). Cain posed his question in such a way to elicit the answer "no" from God.

We are to treat others in the way we want to be treated within the bounds God has given. We do what is best for others.

[Thundarstick]

I'm sure that you will lead more in God's way, than you will ever drive to Him!

If you don't believe me, see how far you can push a 20 foot rope.

[GhostHawk]

John 21:17

"He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep."

Seems pretty clear to me. He does not expect us to do HIS job. But he does expect us to try. To work at being shepherds of his flock. To aid and assist, to feed, to visit, to heal the sick, to defend the defenseless.

At least that is the way I see it.

Not that I am very good at it.

[Pine Baron]

Simple answer. Yes.

[Blackwater]

Of course. But the REAL question is, "Do we act that way typically?" And sadly, we fall so short of doing that so very often. Our "modern" world has given us so many "built in" excuses for following our OWN wills rather than His, and "cover stories" to CLAIM we were doing His will when in fact, we were serving our OWN wishes, that it's a wonder Christianity hasn't wholly disappeared! But some of us stay humble and rooted enough in His will, that we keep things going, in spite of ourselves and our willful natures. We're to attend to the poor, the stinky, the filthy just like we do the "clean" and "tidy." But often, we don't do that, and there are innumerable excuses for that. Yes, we DO have to prevent our getting AIDS or other communicable diseases, but we CAN do a LOT more than we often do. And the unique thing about helping the lowly, is that what we get out of it FAR exceeds the simple things we can put into it!

We are keepers of ALL our brothers and sisters, even those we don't WANT to "get involved" with. Did Christ advise us to do that, in order to keep us humble? I dunno. He never gave us that little tidbit of info. But it sure looks that way to me, at least. Christ never said following Him would be easy. He just promised it'd be worth it.

[GhostHawk]

A fact many do not want to think about. When the day comes when a generation can grow up around the world without ever having had to go to bed hungry. When there is no one that they knew who died from pointless violence. When every single human in the world has a roof over their head and enough to eat. And if they want more, they have the option to work for it. When that day comes. The terrorists recruiting young boys for their work are going to have tough tough pickings.

Not that will ever live to see it.

We saw it happen in this country, back in the baby boom era. All of a sudden everyone was doing well. Who wants to join the KKK and take a chance on jail when all is well?

Not many, few and far between. And those that would mostly are broken, flawed in one way or another.

Don't get me wrong, I am a strong supporter of conservative values, of helping yourself first, then your neighbors.

But the liberals are not all wrong. Some of their idea's have merit, just the way they go about it is all wrong.

[Blackwater]

And the thing about helping the most downtrodden among us, is that almost ANYTHING you give them, from a simple cup of coffee to whatever else they might want or need, is SIGNIFICANT to them, no matter how inconsequential it may seem to us. The downtrodden are often "poor in spirit," and as such, ANYTHING you can say or do to inspire them, is significant. It's hard (maybe impossible?) to err when trying to help them. Not all are ABLE to "help themselves" at some stages in life. Sometimes, they need a helping hand to get them to a point where they CAN take the good advice they may be in no position to hear or understand at the moment. But if we don't do it, who will? Nobody but honorable believers really feel much obligation to help everyone they meet, no matter what their condition or stage in life. We can't help them all, but when one is right in front of us, how can we turn away from them, and not have it affect our conscience and self image? We'll always be our brothers' keeper, whether they accept what we offer them or not. And who knows what their memory of our attempt might mean to them some time later? Not all our efforts (and possibly very few?) yield instant results. If we have faith, at least we can know that we have at least tried to help, and leave it up to God and the person involved whether and when that effort might sprout forth fruit.

Truly, our Lord gave us the very BEST advice and council we'll EVER have in this world!