We ARE Our Brother’s Keeper
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I had a new believer tell me recently that Christians are really friendly at church. My friend said that they’ll tell you “Hi, so good to see you, I’ll pray for you this week.” But then they say, “See you Sunday,” and you get to endure your week all by yourself.
Unfortunately, I had to agree that too many of us do that exact thing. It’s sad, though, because we ARE our brother’s keeper. I am my brother’s keeper. And if you are a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, so are you.
But when was the last time we really took care of our brothers and sisters in Christ?
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- When was the last time we sat across the table over lunch, and just listened as our brothers and sisters poured out their hearts about whatever’s going on in their lives?
- When was the last time we invited another family or couple over for our family movie night?
- When was the last time we asked someone to lunch?
- When was the last time we organized a potluck, a game of kickball, or a trip to the zoo with other believers?
We sit back and enjoy our lives. We are glad to have friends when we need them. But way too often, we let everyone else do the reaching out, and assume that they are actually reaching out. We take and take and take, but rarely give. We rarely give of our time or our conversation. We rarely include others in our fun. We stick to ourselves and our own family circles.
But there are people out there who have no one.
There are people out there who are starving for godly companionship.
There are people out there whom you think don’t need you, but who would actually give an arm and a leg to have you reach out and spend time with them.
“Why don’t they ask?” you say. Well, they don’t ask because they refuse to be so petty as to hold it against you that you don’t make an effort to spend time with them. But they are lonely anyway. They are islands, and they don’t know how to reach the shore.
When will we start reaching out?
When will we develop give-and-take relationships where we take care of one another, instead of letting everybody just take care of us?
When will we truly love our brothers? When will we get life-on-life with the people that we claim to be family with?
We ARE our brother’s keeper. {Click here to tweet this!}
I am my brother’s keeper, and you are your brother’s keeper.
How are you doing at this work of keeping?
If you’re doing a terrific job, I’m proud of you. But if you’re not doing so great, how can you change that?
- Can you invite another couple out to lunch, dinner, or a movie?
- Can you invite another family to go the park with you?
- Can you invite people to your home for a meal together–just because?
We’ve got to get better at this, Church. We’ve got to start loving people:
- We’ve got to spend time with them because we love them, not because they can do anything for us.
- We’ve got to take care of one another.
- We’ve got to get back to the work of keeping one another; of getting life-on-life with the people we love.
- We’ve got to reclaim hospitality, even if the kitchen’s not clean, the floor isn’t vacuumed, and the food isn’t perfect.
I am my brother’s keeper, and so are you.
Who can you help keep today?
This is truth that resounds with me because I am most guilty of the “us four and no more” mindset. Never reaching out to anyone..talking the talk but not walking the walk. I pray God would lift us up out of our comfort zones and into real compassion for others. There are lonely new Christians all around us and oh so many lost and wounded people who would melt if someone just noticed them. It is time to take the lampstand out where everyone can see it. Thank you Jamie for reminding us that we are suppose to have the HEART of Christ. Remember….to the world, you may be one person….but to one person, you may be the world.
Thanks for the gentle reminder Jamie. I am trying just to reach out to friends more by even texting them or emailing them to say something as simple as, “you were on my mind so I am just saying hello.” That has led to either over-the-phone or in-person conversations that have been amazing. The same has happened to me recently. I have had people reach out to me to ask how I was doing and it has led to some comforting conversations about life. It’s reassuring to know that even if we are separated by geography, our friends are there for us and vice versa. Now the challenge is to do this with others. The people who may not be close friends but still need someone to talk to or for someone to listen. It’s my goal this year to see how I can do this more. Thanks for the daily reminders and inspiration. God bless you and your family.
Our church has been preaching and teaching about this for some time and to be honest, until the past couple of days, I thought, what can I do? I have a very bad past but I’ve come to realize that that shouldn’t stop me. It didn’t stop Paul and look at his past. He became a vessel for Christ and Today he is with Jesus as we speak because of that. I don’t know where to start but I read some of a book once called praying for strangers where the woman just picked a random stranger to pray for a day. My first prayer is always for my family because I neglected them for so long for selfish reasons and they need all the help they can get as I continue to grow and God continues to shape me to what he wants but I think starting now, I’m going to start praying that God will use me in the life of each person I come in contact each day. It may even be something as simple as a hello and a smile and it may make only a tiny dent in there life, or it may be prayer that they need or a shoulder but somebody has to break the ice that so strongly stands between us and that way God Can use us to further His kingdom and hearts will be ready and who knows? Those lives and souls that we reach through Christ will hopefully further the chain themselves. Thank you Jamie. Your right. We are our brothers keeper. I am loving this season of rest and of growth. God bless you all
Hi Jaime,
I think you’ve hit on something here. May I just add from experience that what I believe to be the most neglected people in church are, divorced and or single mothers. I’ve been there and its a lonely place to be with all the couples. I can honestly say that in all my years experience and especially in a new church, and this is sad, but not one invitation to lunch or dinner, and not one time has anyone offered to babysit or asked if I needed anything. I feel the world is much better with this than the church. Maybe its because “Christians” are very judgmental about someone’s perceived sin, and there is still stigma on divorcees. The other thing I noticed is that married women are threatened by a single woman. So, in my opinion this is an area that needs to change. We truly are our brothers keeper. Thank you Jaime. God bless.
Your teaching is so true. In my life, I have exerienced that it is far easier to get non-christians to respond to overtures & invitations of hospitality, and be able to have a real relationship with them. So unfortunate as many of God’s chosen do not come from closeknit familities and have good suport systems….. He came for many on the edges of society (tax collectors, etc. ?). He loves all of us, so it is important to remember to love/accept/really relate to those we encounter in our lives.
That’s how i feel.. I always text my friends but i said to Father God this morning, why doesn’t any one ever text me to say hello was thinking of you etc…
This is HOLY fuel for me!!
I was getting to this place where I was considering a layback and give space to some brethren and “sisteren”(sisters). I have been always without reciprocate wink from “friends ” reaching out to people, but I get the sense they don’t want me to get in touch and I feel like pushing myself on them, sometimes they get back and I feel like I made them guilty to respond. COVID-19 brought some people who will not respond to my greetings and scriptures I sent, I thought because I am bachelor @45 they have no respect for me. I am however, grateful for this teachings and counsel. As always God bless you, Prophetess.
Wow sister straight from my heart I always felt it but didnt see many addressing this issue thankyou that you voiced it out , i feel very alone, i reachout to others but others dont reach out to me genuinly especially i experienced this with christians, I have u beliver friends actually they call me more than any christian friend does. Its like they are more focusses on their families and stuff. I try to forget and remind me God woudnt want me to focus on it but then its like its more evidently getting stronger love in christianity is becoming colder towards each other,i am prayin for God to me make an examoke of how to become a giver and not expect anything in return with time of others still it hurt sometimes when people dont even bother checking on me..we need to strongly address it and pray for body of christ to not raise boundaries when others need love and some time out of theie busy schedule , I am from India, imagine we are just 10 percent of the whole hindu nation here , I am looking for people who could pray with me and do bible study with me ,please keep me in prayers