Are we our brothers keepers?

"I don't know, said Cain, Am I my brothers keeper?" That was Cain's flippant response to God after he killed his brother. God had asked Cain, "Where is Able?" And Cain threw it back in God's face like, "Why are you asking me? I'm not his keeper, you are." He was trying to keep God at bay with his temper. Today we misquote that scripture and say, "Aren't we our brothers keeper?",  as though that is something God asked us to do.

Gal 6:1 says, "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted." I guess I always read that scripture and assumed that I should be my brother's keeper and he should be mine. I felt I had a responsibility to address every sin when I saw it. But there was always a yuk factor in that for me. I felt like I was rushing ahead and forcing an uncomfortable conversation. I thought I was doing God a favor and protecting them from his wrath as I used shame and fear to manipulate them to repent.

But God has been revealing his grace to me and walking me into a much different space. Someone close to me recently revealed some sin she was involved in and is not sure she wants to repent. I listened and felt no judgement at all, only compassion. My heart simply broke for her and the others whom her sin was hurting. I loved her deeply in the midst of her sin and was able to be honest and gentle with her. This time it felt very right because my sharing came from a place of deep love for her and the others involved. As I begin to see God's generous grace extended toward me, that grace naturally flows through and onto others. I think we sometimes forget that after the resurrection, grace took the place of the law.

Many prefer the law because it gives the illusion of control. We think without the law, what would keep our sin in check? God says that love is more powerful. The law doesn't affect the heart, it knows no compassion. Grace wraps it's arms around us when we are missing the mark, and gently aims us in the direction of life. Grace is patient and long suffering. The law is in a hurry to clean up the messy exterior, but neglects the heart where true and lasting change occurs. The law makes us relationally challenged. We try to obey it and force ourself to share our faith or confront sin. Grace teaches us to love everyone in our path and allows the spirit to lead.

I recently heard a story about a woman who used to be a prostitute and became a christian. She continued to wear her prostitute clothes, not even realizing it, when she would get together with the women for a bible study. The women in her life didn't feel the burden of setting her straight. Their focus was to help her know the God of amazing grace. They gave her space to heal and grow and left space for the spirit to work in her life. Seems to me that's how God does things with me, he doesn't tackle all my issues at once and overwhelm me, but reveals one layer at a time. As they loved her without condition, she was freed up to hear the spirit whisper to her. She trusted that these women loved her and it allowed her to feel safe enough to open herself up to their influence. One day she noticed what some of the other women were wearing and looked down at her own clothes and said, "Are my clothes inappropriate?" When the spirit brought this to the surface for her, she invited the women she trusted to weigh in on the matter.

Jesus is the head of his church. He knows how to lead it, it's up to us to follow him. He left us his spirit to guide us, not a religious system full of rules and obligations. Are we listening? We often place more emphasis on following our interpretation of scripture rather than walking with Him. I believe all scripture is God-breathed, but only God is infallible. All truth is only found in Him, not in any one man or any particular religious system. We forget that all scripture points to Him, not the other way around. The Spirit is someone I neglected far too long. The brand of religion I embraced emphasized listening to and following man and his fallible interpretation of scripture over listening to the Spirit. I thought listening to the spirit was just following your feelings and emotions. I believe God gave us one another to walk alongside, but He gave us his Spirit to walk with daily to lead us through this life. His spirit guides, directs, and reveals things to us to protect us from harm and to point us toward a full life.  

The bible says, "My sheep will hear my voice".  Some people refer to that voice as their conscience or a nudge. I notice when I feel the yuk factor, that may be a sign for me to take a step back, and pray. Now, when the spirit blows, I listen. I want to respond to his nudges and surrender to him. He whispers ever so gently to my soul. Like ignoring the oil light in the car when it comes on, we often ignore his nudges and find ourselves trying to run the show... often right into the ground. When I override the spirit, I often later think, "Why didn't I listen?" God is our keeper. He invites us to walk with Him and alongside each other as we encourage one another to look to Him, who is Life.